Howcanwemeasureanimals’emotions?Anewstudyofanimal’semotionssuggeststhatasinhumansemotionscantellanimalsabouthowdangeroustheirworldisandguidethechoicesthattheymake.ThearticleofthestudybyBristolU

　　Howcanwemeasureanimals’emotions?Anewstudyofanimal’semotionssuggeststhatasinhumansemotionscantellanimalsabouthowdangeroustheirworldisandguidethechoicesthattheymake.ThearticleofthestudybyBristolUniversity’sprofessorMikeMendlwaspublishedonline.

　　Ananimallivinginanenvironmentwhereitisoftenthreatenedbypredators(捕食者）willdevelopanegativeemotionor“mood”suchasanxiety.Howeveroneinanenvironmentwithplentyofopportunitiestogetresourcesforsurvivalwillbeinamorepositivemoodstate.

　　Theresearcherssaythattheseemotionalstatesnotonlyshowtheanimal’sexperiencesbutalsohelpitdecidehowtomakechoicesespeciallyinunclearsituations.Thiscouldhavegoodorbadresults.Ananimalinanegativemoodstatewillmakeasafety-firstwitha“pessimistic”responsetoanunclearevent.Forexampleitconsidersanoiseinthegrassasasignalofthepredator.Atthesametimeananimalinapositivemoodstatewillbenefitfromamore“optimistic”response.Itconsidersthenoiseasasignalofprey(猎物）.

　　ProfessorMikeMendlheadoftheAnimalWelfareandBehaviorResearchGroupatBristolUniversity’sSchoolofClinicalVeterinarySciencesaid“Wecanuse“optimistic”or“pessimistic”decision-makingasasymbolofananimal’semotionalstate.Recentstudiesbyourgroupandotherssuggestthatthisisameritoriousnewapproachtostudyingavarietyofanimalspecies.”

　　“Publicinterestinanimalwelfareremainshighwithwidespreadconcernaboutthewayinwhichanimalsaretreatedusedandincludedinsociety.Tounderstandhowanimalsshouldbetreatedweneedtobetterunderstandtheiremotionallives”MikeMendlsaid.TheresearchersbelieveMikeMendl’sstudycanhelpthemtobetterunderstandandassessananimal’semotions.

　　小题1:Whenananimalisinanegativemoodstate_______.A．itsresponsetoanuncleareventispessimisticB．itwillpaylittleattentiontoanuncleareventC．itiseasyforittomakerightdecisionsD．ithasmoreopportunitiestogetfood小题2:Theunderlinedword“meritorious”inParagraph4canbereplacedby“_______”.A．valuableB．useless