A
Life is full of funny moments, and not just for humans. Over the years, studies by various groups have suggested that monkeys, dogs and even rats love a good laugh. People, meanwhile, have been laughing since they could talk.
Jaak Panksepp, a professor at Bowling Green State University, US, said he would not be surprised if positive feelings could be produced in some animals. Dolphins, for example, have long attracted animal researchers because of the complex(复杂的) ways in which they communicate: a rich variety of sounds of different rhythms. A decade ago, researchers studying dolphins at the Kolmarden Wildlife Park in Sweden noticed a set of sounds the dolphins made during play—fighting. They concluded that the purpose of the sound was to suggest that the situation was pleasant and to prevent it from a real fight.
Panksepp has even seen evidence of joy in crayfish (海水大龙虾). When given small amounts of drugs such as cocaine(可卡因) in a certain place, they appear to connect that location with pleasure. "Given the chance, they will always return to that place, perhaps in the hope of getting more," he says. Panksepp wasn't sure if it equals the same happiness that humans get from cocaine, but said it "could be in the same evolutionary category".
More studies are needed to really understand animals' laughter. Strangely enough, the answers may help with our own desires for cures for mental illnesses. Panksepp's experiments may soon lead to a new antidepressant(抗抑郁的) drug that works by using the pathways in the brain behind positive feelings and joy. Perhaps pleasure and laughter in the animal world will help solve the depression in our own species one day.
1.Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?
A.Animals Feel Joy B.Man and Nature
C.Sounds Made by Animals D.A Long Way to Go
2.What do the underlined words "our own species" in the last paragraph refer to?
A.Animals. B.Humans. C.Sounds. D.Pleasure.
3.From the passage we can learn that ________.
A.people learn to talk before they can laugh B.animals have a very good sense of location
C.humans have known the animals' happiness well D.there is still much left to learn about animals' laughter
