Research on animal intelligence always makes us wonder just how smart humans are. (1) the fruit-fly experiments described by Carl Zimmer in the Science Times. Fruit flies who were taught to be smarter than the average fruit fly (2) to live shorter lives. This suggests that (3) bulbs burn longer, that there is a(n) (4) in not being too bright.
Intelligence, it (5) , is a high-priced option. It takes more upkeep, burns more fuel and is slow (6) the starting line because it depends on learning — a(n) (7) process — instead of instinct. Plenty of other species are able to learn, and one of the things they’ve apparently learned is when to (8) .
Is there an adaptive value to (9) intelligence That’s the question behind this new research. Instead of casting a wistful glance (10) at all the species we’ve left in the dust I.Q.-wise, it implicitly asks what the real (11) of our own intelligence might be. This is (12) the mind of every animal we’ve ever met.
Research on animal intelligence also makes us wonder what experiments animals would (13) on humans if they had the chance. Every cat with an owner, (14) , is running a small-scale study in operant conditioning. We believe that (15) animals ran the labs, they would test us to (16) the limits of our patience, our faithfulness, our memory for locations. They would try to decide what intelligence in humans is really (17) , not merely how much of it there is. (18) , they would hope to study a(n) (19) question: Are humans actually aware of the world they live in (20) the results are inconclusive.
18（）
A. Above all
B. After all
C. However
D. Otherwise
参考答案：A
解析：
本题考查逻辑关系。此句子位于段末，所以对该段起到总结性的作用。本段利用虚拟，从动物的角度来看待人类，认为如果动物也能进行试验的话，它们会测定我们人类的忍耐度，忠诚度，以及对地形的记忆力。它们会试图判定人类智力的实际用处，而不仅仅是判定人类智力的高低。空白后面作者归结到它们希望研究一个问题：人类是否真正意识到了自己所生存的世界显然．这个问题是动物们首先想研究的，对它们也是尤为重要的。四个选项中只有A．Above all(首先，尤其是)符合上下文逻辑关系。其他选项B．After all(毕竟)；C．However(然而)；D．otherwise(否则)不符合语境，答案A正确。