Level 1 · Reading series
Lesson 12 · The Crow at the Crossing
Audio track 12
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Listen once before opening the English passage.
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A crow stands near a crossing with a walnut. It drops the nut on the road and waits. A car goes over it and breaks the hard shell.
When the traffic light changes, the crow returns and takes the food. It observes the cars and people carefully.
Crows can recognize some human faces. They can also learn about danger from other crows. Their behavior is more complex than it may look.
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
一只乌鸦叼着核桃，站在人行横道附近。它把核桃扔到路上，然后等待。一辆汽车碾过核桃，压破了坚硬的外壳。
交通灯变换后，乌鸦回来取走核桃仁。它仔细观察着汽车和行人。
乌鸦能辨认某些人的面孔，也能从其他乌鸦那里学到哪些情况有危险。它们的行为比看起来复杂得多。
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- crow
- 乌鸦。
- crossing
- 交叉处；本文指人行横道。pedestrian crossing 也表示‘人行横道’。
- drop
- 使……落下；掉落。本文指乌鸦主动扔下核桃。
- traffic light
- 交通信号灯。
- return
- 返回；归还。本文指‘返回’。
- observe
- 仔细观察。
- recognize
- 认出；辨认。
- human
- 人；人类的。
- danger
- 危险；形容词是 dangerous。
- behavior
- 行为；举止。
Background notes (Chinese)
对美洲乌鸦的研究发现，它们能长时间记住捕捉它们的人的面孔，并把那人视为危险对象。相关信息还可能在乌鸦之间传播。乌鸦会结合自身经验和同伴的信息改变行为。
资料来源：Marzluff 等，PNAS（2012）；Cornell 等，Proceedings of the Royal Society B（2012）。