33. Reading Skills Comprehension: Dolphins

Read the following passage carefully:                                                                                                                                    Dolphins

Nothing about dolphins has been more widely or passionately discussed over the centuries than their supposed intelligence and communicative abilities. In fact, persistent dogma holds that dolphins are amongst the most intelligent of animals and that they communicate with one another in complex ways. To support the claim of high intelligence amongst dolphins, experts note that they have large brains, live in societies marked as much by co-operative as by competitive interactions and rapidly learn the artificial tasks given to them in captivity. Indeed, dolphins are clearly capable of learning through observation and have a good memory. People who spend time with captive dolphins are invariably impressed with their sense of humour, playfulness, quick comprehension of body language, command of situations, mental agility, and emotional resilience.

One of the most surprising things about the dolphin is that its superior brain is unaccompanied by any type of manipulative organ. It has, however, a remarkable range — finding ability involving some sort of echo — sounding. Perhaps this acute sense — far more accurate than any human ingenuity has been able to devise artificially — brings in greater knowledge of its watery surroundings than might at first seem possible.

Human beings think of intelligence as geared to things. The hand and the tool are to us the unconscious symbols of our intellectual attainment. Yet at the same time, there are indications that the dolphin has a warm, friendly and eager intelligence quite capable of coming to the assistance of injured companions and striving to rescue them from drowning.   The extremely varied range of sounds made by dolphins is often invoked as prima facie evidence of advanced communication abilities. In addition, some ‘scientific, experiments done by John Lilly and his associates during the 1950s and 1960s claimed to show that dolphins communicate not only with one another but also with humans mimicking human speech and reaching out across the boundaries that divide us” While they have fuelled romantic speculation, their net impact has been to mislead’ Rather than allowing dolphins to be discovered and appreciated for what they are Lilly’s vision has forced us to measure these animals’ value according to how close they come to equaling our own intelligence, virtue, and spiritual development.

On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions briefly:

(1 x 8=8)

(a) A constant belief about dolphins is

(b) People who spend time with dolphins are struck by their   

(c) A truly extraordinary quality in dolphins is their 

(d) How do dolphins exhibit their intelligence in case of an emergency?

(e) What remarkable observations have been made by Lilly and his associates about dolphins?  

(f) Why does the author criticise Lilly’s experiments with dolphins?

(g) Find a word in Para 2 which means the same as ‘skill’.

(h) Find a word in Para 3 which is the antonym of ‘failure ‘.

Answers-

  1. (a) that dolphins are amongst the most intelligent of animals and that they communicate with one another in complex ways.

(b)the sense of humour, playfulness, quick comprehension of body language, command of situations, mental agility and emotional resilience.

 (c) remarkable range finding ability involving some sort of echo-sounding which brings on greater knowledge of their watery surrounding than might at first seem possible.

(d) In case of an emergency, dolphins come to the assistance of injured companions and strive to rescue them from drowning.

 (e) Lilly and his associates have made remarkable observations about dolphins that they not only communicate with one another but also with humans, mimicking human speech and reaching out across the boundaries that divide us.

(f) The author criticises Lilly’s experiment with dolphins because rather than dolphins to be discovered and appreciated for what they are, Lilly’s version has forced people to measure these animals’ value against according to how close they come to equalling human intelligence, virtue and spiritual development.

 (g) ingenuity

 (h) attainment

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