雅思阅读真题（Part 2）
动物真的记得吗？动物记忆研究
本篇也叫：动物记忆、动物真的记得吗、西部灌丛鸦、灌丛鸦、动物情景记忆、动物有记忆吗
Part 2 · 考频：中频 · 最近考试：2026.4.15电子科技大学
本篇为雅思阅读真题（Part 2）《Do animals really remember?》，共 11 题，2026.4.15电子科技大学雅思考试真题回忆，页面提供完整原文、题目、答案与解析，并支持在线机考模式免费练习。本页同时提供 Markdown 版本 供 AI 助手与搜索引擎直接读取。
文章探讨动物是否拥有像人类一样的情景记忆。通过脑损伤病人KC的案例介绍情景记忆概念，并讲述加拿大心理学家Endel Tulving的定义。剑桥大学的Nicola Clayton博士用西部灌丛鸦做实验，观察它们埋藏食物后能否记住时间与地点，从而判断动物是否具备情景记忆。
A
Humans are born time travellers: we can relive events that happened long ago or imagine ourselves in the future. Clues about different kinds of memory can be discovered from research conducted on people with certain brain injuries that cause them to forget autobiographical details without forgetting the information they picked up along the way. A man known as KC in the scientific literature, for instance, could play chess with no memory of having ever played it before. He could also remember sentences psychologists taught him without any memory of the lessons. KC had lost what psychologists now call ‘episodic memory’. Dr Endel Tulving, a Canadian psychologist, defined episodic memory as the ability to recall the details of personal experiences: what happened, where it happened, when it happened and so on. Dr Tulving argued that episodic memory was distinct from other kinds of memory and that it was unique to our species.
B
But are humans alone in this respect? Dr Nicola Clayton, of Cambridge University, has performed experiments which test American birds called western scrub jays to see if they met any of the criteria for episodic memory. The jays bury several thousand pieces of food a year and remember the location of each one. Dr Clayton wondered if scrub jays simply remembered the locations or if they remembered details of the experience of hiding the food. She ran an experiment using two kinds of food: moth larvae and peanuts. Scrub jays prefer larvae to peanuts if the larvae are still fresh. However, if the larvae have been dead for even a few hours, the jays prefer peanuts. Dr Clayton gave the birds a chance to hide both kinds of food in a sandy hiding area. Dr Clayton noted exactly what the birds had hidden and where, and then put the birds in a cage. She later returned the birds to the area where they had hidden the food, in some cases after four hours and in other cases after five days. The time the scrub jays had spent away from their hiding area affected the type of food they looked for. The birds that waited only four hours tended to dig up larvae, while the birds that had to wait for five days passed the larvae by and dug up peanuts instead. To make sure they were not just smelling the rotten larvae and avoiding those spots, Dr Clayton replaced the sand with fresh sand in the hiding area as soon as the birds had hidden the food.
C
Research with other animals to determine if they are capable of episodic memory has had mixed results. When experimental rats are exploring a maze they seem to be able to recall which kinds of food they encounter along the way. Observation of hummingbirds as they feed appears to show that they remember where and when they visited individual flowers for nectar. Tests using Rhesus monkeys have found that they can remember where they put food, but not how long ago they put it there.
D
True episodic memory, argues Dr Thomas Suddendorf of Queensland’s Queensland University, involves more than just memory of information. It requires an awareness of the self and an ability to use the past to predict the future. He points to the discovery of stone tools which primitive humans used for killing animals 2.5 million years ago. Scientists assume that primitive humans had to find a way of adding much-needed protein to their diet. Paleontologists have determined that some of these tools were moved many kilometres from where they were originally made. ‘If you’ve just eaten, the only reason you’re going to take a tool with you is if you anticipate using it in the future,’ said Dr Suddendorf.
E
Recent brain scanning studies provide physiological support for this link between past and future. Daniel Schacter, a psychologist at Harvard University, studied how brains function as people think about past experiences and imagine future ones. When Schacter’s subjects constructed episodic memories, distinct networks of their brains became active, as recorded by brain scans. When they are asked to think about themselves in the future, many parts of the same episodic memory networks become active again, suggesting an inter-connection between the processing of the past and future.
F
Dr Suddendorf’s notions have spurred comparative psychologists to look for evidence that animals can also think ahead. Some studies suggest not. Cebus monkeys, for example, will eat until they are full and throw the rest of the food out of their cage, despite the fact that they will not have anything to eat the next morning. But in other studies, animals show more promise. ‘We tested squirrel monkeys to see if they could anticipate the future, and to our surprise it looks like they could,’ said Dr William Roberts, a comparative psychologist at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. He and his colleagues ran a test in which they gave squirrel monkeys a choice of between one or four dates to eat. Not surprisingly, the monkeys took four. But the scientists then began to take away water from the monkeys before they gave them the choice. If the monkeys took four, the scientists kept the water away for three hours. If the monkeys took one, the scientists returned it in half an hour. The monkeys learned to choose one. Though they were not thirsty at the time, they seemed to understand that they would become so in future.
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答案：evidence that man’s ancestors had a concept of the future
原文定位：Clues about different kinds of memory can be discovered from research conducted on people with certain brain injuries that cause them to forget autobiographical details without forgetting the information they picked up along the way;KC had lost what psychologists now call ‘episodic memory’. Dr Endel Tulving, a Canadian psychologist, defined episodic memory as the ability to recall the details of personal experiences
同义替换：「type」↔「episodic」，「described」↔「defined」，「with reference to」↔「from research conducted on」，「damage」↔「injuries」
答案：animals that can remember place and time
原文定位：Dr Clayton wondered if scrub jays simply remembered the locations or if they remembered details of the experience of hiding the food. She ran an experiment using two kinds of food;Dr Clayton noted exactly what the birds had hidden and where, and then put the birds in a cage. She later returned the birds to the area where they had hidden the food, in some cases after four hours and in other cases after five days. The time the scrub jays had spent away from their hiding area affected the type of food they looked for
同义替换：「remember place」↔「where they had hidden the food」，「Animals」↔「scrub jays」
答案：conflicting experimental results concerning animal memory
原文定位：Research with other animals to determine if they are capable of episodic memory has had mixed results
同义替换：「Conflicting」↔「mixed」，「experimental」↔「research」
答案：evidence that man’s ancestors had a concept of the future
原文定位：He points to the discovery of stone tools which primitive humans used for killing animals 2.5 million years ago;If you’ve just eaten, the only reason you’re going to take a tool with you is if you anticipate using it in the future
同义替换：「Evidence」↔「discovery of stone tools」，「man’s ancestors」↔「primitive humans」，「had a concept of the future」↔「anticipate using it in the future」
答案：experimental evidence of a relation between past and future in human mental processes
原文定位：Recent brain scanning studies provide physiological support for this link between past and future;When Schacter’s subjects constructed episodic memories;When they are asked to think about themselves in the future, many parts of the same episodic memory networks become active again;suggesting an inter-connection between the processing of the past and future
同义替换：「Experimental evidence」↔「brain scanning studies」，「relation」↔「inter-connection」，「human mental processes」↔「think about past experiences and imagine future」
答案：research into the relation between brain size and memory
原文定位：Dr Suddendorf’s notions have spurred comparative psychologists to look for evidence that animals can also think ahead. Some studies suggest not. Cebus monkeys;But in other studies, animals show more promise. We tested squirrel monkeys to see if they could anticipate the future
同义替换：「Research into」↔「studies」，「capacity for future planning」↔「think ahead」
答案：The experimental subject KC was unable to recall the process by which he learned to play a particular board game.,In the case of KC the subject’s episodic memory was affected by his brain injuries.
原文定位：Clues about different kinds of memory can be discovered from research conducted on people with certain brain injuries that cause them to forget autobiographical details without forgetting the information they picked up along the way. A man known as KC in the scientific literature, for instance, could play chess with no memory of having ever played it before. He could also remember sentences psychologists taught him without any memory of the lessons. KC had lost what psychologists now call ‘episodic memory’
同义替换：「unable to recall」↔「no memory of」，「process by which he learned」↔「having ever played it before」，「was affected」↔「had lost」
答案：The experiments indicated that the birds could remember how long their food had been buried.,Scrub jays would rather eat certain nuts than decaying moth larvae.
原文定位：The time the scrub jays had spent away from their hiding area affected the type of food they looked for;However, if the larvae have been dead for even a few hours, the jays prefer peanuts
同义替换：「how long」↔「the time」，「remember」↔「affected the type of food they looked for」，「decaying moth larvae」↔「larvae have been dead for a few hours」，「would rather eat」↔「prefer peanuts」
答案：tools
原文定位：He points to the discovery of stone tools which primitive humans used for killing animals 2.5 million years ago. Scientists assume that primitive humans had to find a way of adding much-needed protein to their diet. Paleontologists have determined that some of these tools were moved many kilometres from where they were originally made
同义替换：「ancient」↔「primitive humans」，「taken some distance」↔「moved many kilometres」
答案：dates
原文定位：He and his colleagues ran a test in which they gave squirrel monkeys a choice of between one or four dates to eat
同义替换：「offered as food」↔「a choice of between one or four dates to eat」
答案：water
原文定位：If the monkeys took four, the scientists kept the water away for three hours. If the monkeys took one, the scientists returned it in half an hour. The monkeys learned to choose one. Though they were not thirsty at the time, they seemed to understand that they would become so in future
同义替换：「wanting」↔「thirsty」，「soon afterwards」↔「in future」