有些動物可以用它們的知覺來識別人類的疾病，鴿子就是其中之一。《隨身英語》與大傢分享科學傢們對鴿子視覺記憶力研究的最新發現。
課文內容
詞匯: medicine 醫藥
Next time you see a pigeon flying around, look at it with some respect – it might be able to help with the diagnosis and treatment of human diseases.
A recent study has shown that these birds could be trained to detect breast cancer from images as accurately as humans.
It’s all about their visual memory – these birds have plenty of it even if their brains are very small. Professor Edward Wasserman from the University of Iowa, a co-author of the study, says: “Pigeons can distinguish identities and emotional expressions on human faces, letters of the alphabet, misshapen pharmaceutical capsules, and even paintings by Monet versus Picasso.” And Wasserman adds that the birds’ visual memory capacity is equally impressive, with a proven recall of more than 1,800 images.
So how did the scientists find out about the amazing ability of these birds? They taught different pigeons to distinguish microscope images of cancerous and non-cancerous tissue and rewarded them with food every time they got it right.
It didn’t take long to get good results. After two weeks of training in ‘pigeon medical school’, the ‘students’ recorded 85% accuracy as they managed to identify cancerous tissue from images they had not seen before.
But pigeons are not the only animals showing potential to help human diagnosis. A team at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has shown that a dog can be trained to smell urine samples of patients to identify thyroid cancer. It lay down where it could smell cancer and turned away if not. The animals got it right in 30 cases out of 34.
So don’t dismiss the abilities of these animals. They might be much more intelligent than you think.
詞匯表
diagnosis 診斷
treatment 治療
disease 疾病
to detect 檢測
breast cancer 乳腺癌
accurately 精確地
brain 大腦
to distinguish 區分，鑒別
misshapen 畸形的
pharmaceutical capsules 藥用膠囊
recall 記性
microscope images 顯微鏡圖像
cancerous 癌癥的
non-cancerous tissue 非癌癥的組織或細胞
accuracy 準確性
urine samples 尿液樣本
thyroid 甲狀腺
to dismiss 不予理會，不予考慮
測驗與練習
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. What makes pigeons good at identifying cancerous tissue?
2. What kind of medicine can pigeons spot?
3. What was the incentive for the birds to identify the correct image during the research?
4. True or false? Pigeons got the correct answer in 30 cases out of 34.
5.Which three verbs in the text mean ‘to indicate what something is’?
2. 請你在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。
1. I was relieved when the doctor told me the tests revealed that I had __________ tissue.
cancerous thyroid non-cancerous human disease
2. According to researchers, pigeons can distinguish human __________.
alphabet brains smell states of mind
3. My doctor asked me to produce __________ to test if I have a kidney infection.
a urine sample a pigeon microscope images a diagnosis
4. Ann had to take a pill a day for a whole week. It was a good __________ but she had to follow it properly or she would not be cured.
diagnosis treatment ability pharmaceutical capsule
5. With new computer models, we can predict the weather __________.
accurate accurately right rightly
答案
1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。
1. What makes pigeons good at identifying cancerous tissue?
According to the study, the birds’ visual memory.
2. What kind of medicine can pigeons spot?
Pigeons can distinguish misshapen pharmaceutical capsules from the normal ones, says Professor Edward Wasserman from the University of Iowa.
3. What was the incentive for the birds to identify the correct image during the research?
A reward in the form of food.
4. True or false? Pigeons got the correct answer in 30 cases out of 34.
False. A dog used for research by a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences team was trained to identify patients with thyroid cancer and got it right in 30 cases out of 34.
5. Which three verbs in the text mean ‘to indicate what something is’?
The verbs are: to detect, to distinguish and to identify.
2. 請你在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。
1. I was relieved when the doctor told me the tests revealed that I had non-cancerous tissue.
2. According to researchers, pigeons can distinguish human states of mind (as they can distinguish emotional expressions on human faces).
3. My doctor asked me to produce a urine sample to test if I have a kidney infection.
4. Ann had to take a pill a day for a whole week. It was a good treatment but she had to follow it properly or she would not be cured.
5. With new computer models, we can predict the weather accurately.
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