Unit 13

Morals, Apes and Us

I. Unit Objectives:I. Unit Objectives: Be aware of the meaning of human being’s Be aware of the meaning of human being’s exploration and adventures exploration and adventures

How to read scholarly writingHow to read scholarly writing

Learning about cohesive devices in discourse Learning about cohesive devices in discourse

II. ProceduresII. Procedures

i. Reading skilli. Reading skill

ii. Fast reading ii. Fast reading

iii. Text iii. Text

iv. Translation skillsiv. Translation skills

v. Exercisev. Exercise

Reading skill: reading scholarly writing

Scholarly writing covers an enormous range of topics and embraces wide stylistic differences. Such writing is highly influential and widely read for purposes of serious study. The subject of scholarly writing may be some aspect of history, sociology, political philosophy, literary criticism, or many other fields. In scholarly writing colloquialisms are largely avoided, sentences tend to be highly varied and length and structure and the resources of both syntax and vocabulary open to the writer are made full use of.

When you read a piece of scholarly writing, you will finWhen you read a piece of scholarly writing, you will find:d:

A fairly high degree of formalityA fairly high degree of formality

A concern for clear presentation of material and arguA concern for clear presentation of material and argument, resultng in careful logical linking of paragraphs ment, resultng in careful logical linking of paragraphs and sentencesand sentences

A feel for stylistic eleganceA feel for stylistic elegance

Text study

About the author:

MARC D. HAUSER is an evolutionary psychologist, and a professor at Harvard University where he is a fellow of the Mind, Brain, and Behavior Program. He is a professor in the departments of Anthropology and Psychology, as well as the Program in

Neurosciences. He is the author of The Evolution of Communication , and Wild Minds: What Animals Think

Hauser argues that to understand what animals think and what they feel, we must ask about the kinds of selection pressures which shaped their minds and see the creature for what it is, no more, no less. Using the tools of evolutionary biology, linguistics, neuroscience, and cognitive science, he asks questions such as: Why can't animals be taught to speak? How do animals find their way home in the dark? Do animals lie or feel guilty? Do they enjoy sex? Why were emotions designed into animal systems? Why are certain emotions universal and others highly specialized?

Hauser works on both captive and wild monkeys and apes as well as collaborative work on human infants. His research focuses on problems of acoustic perception, the generation of beliefs, the neurobiology of acoustic and visual signal processing, and the evolution of communication.

Along with Irv Devore, he teaches the Evolution of Human Behavior class, a Core Course at Harvard with 500 undergraduate students. The interdisciplinary course, "Science B29" (nickname: "The Sex Course"), has been running for 30 years, was started by Devore and Robert Trivers, and is the second most popular course on campus, behind "Econ 10".Section teachers over the years comprise a who's who of leading thinkers and include people such as John Tooby and Leda Cosmides, and Sarah B. Hardy. In 1997-98, he sponsored a trial run of "Edge University" in which the students in Science B29 received Edge mailing as part of required reading in the course.

Part 1:pra1-4

Part 2 :pra5-7

Part 3:pra8-10

Part 4:pra11-19

Part5:pra20

Part 1 （ pra1-4 ） :This part starts from a piece of news that Gorilla saves boy, then the public and scientists think that can other creatures share, cooperate, punish cheaters, show empathy, and act altruistically?

Part2 （ pra5-7):This part they test if the monkey know ownership and property rights and through the testing, they found it’s true.

Part3(pra8-10):Through experiment, they found that animals can suppress their impulse.

Part4(pra11-19):They test whether animals have empathy.

Part5(pra20):The narrator compared the animals and humans and made a conclusion that If all men were just, there would be no need of valor.

Language points

The event captured the nation's heart as newspaper headlines blared: "Gorilla Saves Boy."

blare: to proclaim flamboyantly.  e.g. Headlines blared his defeat.

这件事打动了全国人的心，各大报纸的标题都赫然标着“大猩猩救男孩”。

Most reports suggested that Binti rescued the boy because she felt empathy for him.

empathy: the ability to share another person's feelings as if they were one's own.

And to date, no study of ape intelligence comes close to showing that...

come close to: be very near or like (sth or doing sth).   e.g. He came close to being run over by a truck.

As a psychologist, I'm interested in the techniques we use to get at these questions:

get at: reach and discover (sth).    e.g. It's always difficult to get at the truth.

...to test their ability to rein in aggressive behavior and act cooperatively.

rein in/back: control, restrain (one's feelings).   e.g. The man who does not rein in his passions will always be weak.

They began to inhibit their aggression.

inhibit: to hold in check; restrain.

他们的霸道行为开始有所收敛。

But in any social situation with conventions, individuals often find that it pays to break the rules.

it pays to do sth means it results in some advantage or benefit for one to do sth, or it makes one suffer to do sth. Here it means it makes one suffer to break the rules.

但是在任何有规可依的社会环境中，个体常常发现违犯规则是要付出代价的

They beelined to the food and either consumed it on the spot or gobbled a few pieces and then moved to a new location with a stash.

beeline: move in a straight course.    e.g. Just before the storm broke we beelined for home.on the spot: at once.   e.g. The boss was so anger over Ned's mistake that he fired him on the spot.

它们直奔向食物，要么当场把它吞下，要么抓上几块然后带着它跑到一个新的地点。

If all men were just, there would be no need of valor.

如果每个人都是公正的，那么勇猛就没有必要了！

This experiment left many loose ends.

loose ends: things still to be dealt with or explained.  e.g. His composition had many loose ends.

Main ideaMain idea

Scientific experiments have tried to find out if animals can learn to share, cooperate, punish, and show empathy

Translation skill

Halliday 和 Hasan 在其著作《英语中的衔接》中将英语的衔接手段概括成 5 种：1 ）指代 (reference)

2) 替代 (substitution)

3) 省略 (ellipsis)

4) 连接词 (conjunction)

5) 词汇衔接 (lexical cohesion)

在英汉翻译过程中，译者要注意英汉两种语言在衔接手段方面的差异，总结经验。这有这样，才能更好地把握译文的逻辑脉络，使译文清晰、连贯，符合汉语表达习惯。

Assignments: think and discuss

What significance do you think the scientigic experiments on animals have?

Can you give more examples of animals behaving as members of some established community?

Discuss Agesilaus’s words, “If all men are just, there would be no need of valor.”