A
Oh, the places you’ll go!
When it comes to habitat, human beings are creatures of habit. It has been known for a long time that, whether his habitat is a village, a city or, for real globe-trotters(周游世界者), the planet itself, an individual person generally visits the same places regularly. The details, though, have been surprisingly obscure. Now, thanks to an analysis of data collected from 40, 000 smartphone users around the world, a new feature of humanity’s locomotive(移动的) habits has been revealed.
It turns out that someone’s “location capacity”, the number of places which he or she visits regularly, remains constant(不变的) over periods of months and years. What constitutes a “place” depends on what distance between two places makes them separate. But analyzing movement patterns helps illuminate the distinction and the researchers found that the average location capacity was 25. If a new location does make its way into the set of places an individual tends to visit, an old one drops out in response. People do not, in other words, gather places like cards. Rather, they cycle through them. Their geographical behavior is limited and predictable(可预见的), not fancy-free.
The study demonstrating this, just published in Nature Human Behavior, does not offer any explanation for the limited location capacity it measures. But a statistical analysis carried out by the authors shows that it cannot be explained solely by constraints of time. Some other factor is at work. One of the researchers draws an analogy. He suggests that people’s cognitive capacity limits the number of places they can visit routinely, just as it limits the number of other people an individual can routinely socialize with. That socialization figure, about 150 for most people, is known as the Dunbar number, after its discoverer, Robin Dunbar.
Lehmann says his group is now in search of similar data from other primates(灵长目动物), in an attempt to work out where human patterns of mobility have their roots. For those, though, they will have to rely on old-fashioned methods of zoological observation—unless they can work out a way to get chimpanzees to carry smartphones.
【文章大意】衣服很多, 常穿的就那么几套; 朋友很多, 经常联系的就那么几个; 世界那么大, 常去的地方也就那么几个……
1. The underlined word“obscure” can be replaced by _______.
A. clear B. little known
C. accurate D. long forgotten
【解析】选B。 词义猜测题。根据后文“关于人类移动行为习惯的某些特征, 有了新发现”可知, 之前人们对这方面是了解很少的, 因此选B。
2. How many places do people regularly visit?
A. It is still unknown. B. 40, 000.
C. 25. D. 150.
【解析】选C。 细节理解题。根据第二段“the average location capacity was 25”可知, 答案选C。解题的关键在于知道“location capacity”的意思, 该段开头提到“location capacity”即“the number of places which he or she visits regularly”, 做题时注意前后联系。
3. Why do people visit the limited number of places?
A. They don’t have enough time.
B. They have to work.
C. Their cognitive capacity limits the number of places.
D. All of the above.
【解析】选D。细节理解题。根据第三段“it cannot be explained solely. . . time” “Some other factor is at work” “people’s cognitive capacity limits the number of places”可知A、B、C都对, 故选D。
4. How can the researchers get similar data from other primates?
A. Observe the primates or let them carry smartphones.
B. Work together with Robin Dunbar.
C. Carry out statistical analysis.
D. Publish essays in Nature Human Behavior.
【解析】选A。 细节理解题。根据最后一段最后一句的“they will have to rely on old-fashioned methods of zoological observation. . . get chimpanzees to carry smartphones. ”可知A项正确, 其他选项中的文字文章有提及, 但属于干扰项。
【知识拓展】长难句分析
It turns out that someone’s “location capacity”, the number of places which he or she visits regularly, remains constant(不变的) over periods of months and years.
分析: 本句是一个复合句。句中包含一个由which引导的定语从句。“the number of places. . . regularly”是“location capacity”的同位语, 对其进行解释说明。It turns out that, 固定用法, 意为“结果是”。
翻译: 研究发现, 人们的“位置容量”, 即人们经常光顾的地方的数量, 在数月乃至数年间是保持不变的。
