Rats and other animals need to be highly at tuned to social signals from others so that can identify friends to cooperate with and enemies to avoid. To find out if this extends to non-living beings, Loleh Quinn at the University of California, San Diego, and her colleagues tested whether rats can detect social signals form robotic rats.
They housed eight adult rats with two types of robotic rat- one social and one asocial for 5 our days. The robots rats were quite minimalist, resembling a chunkier version of a computer mouse with wheels-to move around and colorful markings.
During the experiment, the social robot rat followed the living rats around, played with the same toys, and opened caged doors to let trapped rats escape. Meanwhile, the asocial robot simply moved forwards and backwards and side to side
Next, the researchers trapped the robots in cages and gave the rats the opportunity to release them by pressing a lever.
Across 18 trials each, the living rats were 52 percent more likely on average to set the social robot free than the asocial one. This suggests that the rats perceived the social robot as a genuine social being. They may have bonded more with the social robot because it displayed behaviours like communal exploring and playing. This could lead to the rats better remembering having freed it earlier, and wanting the robot to return the favour when they get trapped, says Quinn.
The readiness of the rats to befriend the social robot was surprising given its minimal design. The robot was the same size as a regular rat but resembled a simple plastic box on wheels.“We' d assumed we' d have to give it a moving head and tail, facial features, and put a scene on it to make it smell like a real rat, but that wasn’t necessary, ”says Janet Wiles at the University of Queensland in Australia, who helped with the research.
The finding shows how sensitive rats are to social cues, even when they come from basic robots. Similarly, children tend to treat robots as if they are fellow beings, even when they display only simple social signals.“ We humans seem to be fascinated by robots, and it turns out other animals are too,”says Wiles.
21. Quin and her colleagues conducted a test to see if rats can________.
[A] pick up social signals from non-living rats
[B] distinguish a friendly rat from a hostile one
[C] attain sociable traits through special training
[D] send out warning messages to their fellow
22. What did the social robot do during the experiment?
[A] It followed the social robot.
[B] It played with some toys.
[C] It set the trapped rats free.
[D] It moved around alone.
23. According to Quinn, the rats released the social robot because they________.
[A] tried to practice a means of escape
[B] expected it to do the same in return
[C] wanted to display their intelligence
[D] considered that an interesting game
24. James Wiles notes that rats________.
[A] can remember other rat's facial features
[B] differentiate smells better than sizes
[C] respond more to cations than to looks
[D] can be scared by a plastic box on wheels
25. It can be learned from the text that rats________.
[A] appear to be adaptable to new surroundings
[B] are more socially active than other animals
[C] behave differently from children in socializing
[D] are more sensitive to social cues than expected
答案：ADBCD
译文：
老鼠和其他动物需要高度适应来自其他人的社交信号，以便识别要合作的朋友和要避免的敌人。为了确定这是否扩展到非生物，加州大学圣地亚哥分校的 Loleh Quinn 和她的同事们测试了老鼠是否可以检测到来自机器老鼠的社交信号。
他们饲养了八只成年老鼠和两种类型的机器鼠——一种是社交型的，一种是非社交型的。机器人老鼠非常简约，类似于带有轮子的计算机鼠标的厚实版本 - 可以四处移动并带有彩色标记。
在实验过程中，社交机器鼠跟着活着的老鼠，玩同样的玩具，打开笼门让被困老鼠逃脱。同时，非社交机器人只是前后左右移动
接下来，研究人员将机器人困在笼子里，让老鼠有机会通过按下杠杆来释放它们。
在每次 18 次试验中，活老鼠让社交机器人自由的可能性平均比非社交机器人高 52%。这表明大鼠将社交机器人视为真正的社交存在。他们可能与社交机器人有更多的联系，因为它表现出公共探索和玩耍等行为。 Quinn 说，这可能会让老鼠更好地记住之前已经释放了它，并希望机器人在它们被困时回报它的帮助。
考虑到其最小的设计，老鼠愿意与社交机器人交朋友令人惊讶。这个机器人和普通老鼠一样大，但就像一个带轮子的简单塑料盒。“我们认为我们必须给它一个移动的头和尾巴，面部特征，并在它上面放一个场景来让它闻起来澳大利亚昆士兰大学的珍妮特·怀尔斯 (Janet Wiles) 说，她帮助了这项研究。
这一发现显示了老鼠对社会线索的敏感程度，即使它们来自基本的机器人。同样，孩子们也倾向于将机器人视为同类，即使他们只表现出简单的社交信号。“我们人类似乎对机器人很着迷，事实证明其他动物也是如此，”怀尔斯说。
21.Quin 和她的同事进行了一项测试，看看老鼠是否可以________。
A.从没有生命迹象的老鼠那里获取社会信号
B.区分友好的老鼠和敌对的老鼠
C.通过特殊训练获得社交特质
D.向他们的同伴发出警告信息
22.社交机器人在实验过程中做了什么？
A.它跟随社交机器人。
B.它和一些玩具玩。
C.它释放了被困老鼠。
D.它独自走动。
23.根据奎因的说法，老鼠释放社交机器人是因为它们________。
A.试图练习一种逃生手段
B.期望它做同样的回报
C.想展示自己的智慧
D.觉得那是一个有趣的游戏
24.James Wiles 指出老鼠________。
A.能记住其他老鼠的面部特征
B.区分气味比大小更好
C.对阳离子的反应多于对外观的反应
D.可能会被轮子上的塑料盒吓到
25.从文章中可以看出老鼠________。
A.似乎能适应新环境
B.比其他动物更活跃
C.在社交方面的行为与儿童不同
D.对社会线索比预期更敏感
