那些共存于托福听力与阅读中的“萌物”

　　你造吗? 托福阅读和听力都以生命科学、自然科学、社会科学和艺术四大学科为考察背景，其中有好多文章的背景知识都几乎重叠呢，不信咱们一起来看几个~

　　1. 听力TPO10-L1=阅读TPO2-2

　　这两篇文章都讨论了鲸鱼的进化，其中两只鲸鱼进化过程当中的“萌物”都有现身。

　　Ambulocetus

　　那些共存于托福听力与阅读中的“萌物”

　　Ambulocetus是一种古老的鲸鱼，它既能在陆地行走也能在海洋里游泳，因此又名“游走鲸”。它的化石发现证明了鲸鱼是从陆生哺乳动物进化而来的。

　　Well, then also in Pakistan they found a fossil of another creature, which we call Ambulocetus. The name Ambulocetus comes from Latin of course, and means “walking whale that swims”. It clearly had four limbs that could have been used for walking. It also had a long thin tail, typical of mammals, something we don’t see in today’s whales. But, it also had a long skeletal structure. And that long skeletal structure suggests that it was aquatic.(源自TPO)

　　Basilosaurus

　　那些共存于托福听力与阅读中的“萌物”

　　Basilosaurus 背脊鲸，最初被认为是爬行动物，后来研究表明它是从陆生动物进化而来的海洋哺乳动物，是鲸鱼的前身。

　　Basilosaurus was a creature that we’ve already known about for over a hundred years. And it has been linked to modern whales because of its long whale-like body. But this new fossil find showed a full set of leg bones, something we didn’t have before. The legs were too small to be useful. But it clearly shows Basilosaurus’s evolution from land creatures. (源自TPO)

　　2. 听力TPO10-L4=阅读TPO21-3

　　这两篇文章都分析了“childhood amnesia”(儿童健忘症，小孩子记不得三岁之前发生的事情)产生的原因，其中一位叫Jean Piaget的心理学大神(貌似长相也很萌呢，所以也可以称为“萌物”奥~)多次登场，童鞋们一定要膜拜一下。

　　Jean Piaget

　　那些共存于托福听力与阅读中的“萌物”

　　Jean Piaget(让·皮亚杰)，瑞士儿童心理学家，他的认知发展理论(cognitive development)是任何一个研究儿童认知心理学者不可不知的学科典范。

　　他将儿童认识分为四个发展阶段：

　　1) Sensor motor Stage(感知运算阶段，0-2岁)靠感觉获取经验，在1岁左右，发展出物体恒存(object permanence)的概念，以感觉动作发挥图式的功能。

　　2) Preoperational Stage(前运算阶段，2-7岁)已经能使用语言及符号等表征外在事物，会使用不具保留概念，不具可逆性，以自我(egocentrism)为中心。

　　3) Concrete Operations Stage(具体运算阶段，7-11岁)了解水平线概念，能使用具体物质操作来协助思考。

　　4) Formal Operational Stage(形式运算阶段，从11岁开始)开始会类推，逻辑思维达到较高水平，开始具有抽象思维。

　　Piaget suggested that because they don’t have language, children younger than 18 to 24 months live in the here and now, that is they lack the mean to symbolically represent objects and events that are not physically present. Once language starts to develop from about age 2, they do have a system for symbolic representation and can talk about things which aren’t in their immediate environment including the past. Of course he didn’t claim that infants don’t have any sort of memory, it’s acknowledged that they can recognize some stimuli, like faces. (源自TPO)

　　3. 听力TPO19-L3=阅读TPO22-1

　　这两篇文章都讨论了Spartina这种奇葩植物的特性，以及特性产生的原因和用途。

　　Spartina

　　那些共存于托福听力与阅读中的“萌物”

　　Spartina，米草属，生长在沿海的盐碱地，生命力极强，当然是由于它本身奇葩的特性，来看来自TPO的一段简介：

　　In fact, the Spartina genus is the dominant plant found in salt marshes. You can find one type of the Spartina, Saltmarsh Cordgrass, growing in low marsh areas. In higher marsh areas, you are likely to find a Spartina commonly called Salt-meadow Hay. So how is the Spartina able to survive in an environment that would kill most plants? well, it is because salt marsh grasses have found ways to adapt to the conditions there.