Many years ago in a zoo,I was shocked by finding that chimpanzees could behave in a more civil manner than youths. Great apes(类人猿)are always one of the favourite attractions in any zoo. The main reason for this is that they are so similar to us.
This similarity has persuaded a group called the Great Ape Project(GAP)to campaign for these animals to be afforded“human rights”.
This has resulted in laws in New Zealand,which could mean that great apes would become the first animals in the world with basic rights protected by the law.
Not everybody is happy with this idea,however. Scientists using animals for scientific research fear that this is just the first stage in a process that will lead to a ban on using all animals for research.
The GAP declaration claims great apes should have“human rights”due to scientific evidence about their abilities. But if we compare the abilities of humans and great apes,then why not the abilities of great apes and monkeys,monkeys and lemurs,and so on until insects are granted“human rights”?This is not foolish. There are people without basic human rights. How long ago,for example,did women not have the right to vote?
Yet another argument by those who don't support GAP is that the human-like qualities of great apes have been exaggerated(夸大)for certain reasons,and that this has led people to exaggerate the similarities but ignore the differences between humans and great apes.
In a fascinating book entitled What It Means to be 98% Chimpanzee,Jonathan M. Marks points out that,although a human and a daffodil(水仙花)share the common ancestry and their DNA matches more than 25% of the time,it is plainly ridiculous to claim that we are one-quarter daffodils.
He goes on to demonstrate that,if looked at from one angle,it is true that we are apes phylogenetically. But also fish from another angle!“It doesn't sound quite so profound now,does it?”
【小题1】What does Paragraph 1 mainly talk about?A.The experience was unforgettable. |
B.Chimpanzees are similar to humans. |
C.Chimpanzees are very popular in the zoo. |
D.Animals could behave better than humans. |
A.Animals should be free from any scientific research. |
B.New Zealand should do more to protect the rights of great apes. |
C.The differences between humans and great apes have been ignored. |
D.Great apes have adequate characteristics to be included as our equals. |
A.By reasoning. |
B.By giving examples. |
C.By making comparisons. |
D.By providing scientific evidence. |
A.Humans are more than one-quarter daffodils. |
B.Great apes and fish are phylogenetically similar from another angle. |
C.Humans are as similar to fish as they are to great apes. |
D.Being 98% genetically identical matters less than thought. |