Itiseasyforustotellourfriendsfromourenemies.Butcanotheranimalsdothesame?Elephantscan!Theycanusetheirsenseofvisionandsmelltotellthedifferencebetweenpeoplewhoposeathreatandthosewhodonot.

InKenyaresearchershavefoundthatelephantsreactdifferentlytoclothingwornbymenoftheMaasaiandKambaethnicgroups.YoungMaasaimenspearanimalsandthusposeathreattoelephants;Kambamenaremainlyfarmersandarenotadangertoelephants.

InanexperimentconductedbyanimalscientistselephantswerefirstpresentedwithcleanclothingorclothingthathadbeenwornforfivedaysbyeitheraMaasaioraKambaman.WhentheelephantsdetectedthesmellofclothingwornbyaMaasaimantheymovedawayfromthesmellfasterandtooklongertorelaxthanwhentheydetectedthesmellsofeitherclothingwornbyKambamenorclothingthathadnotbeenwornatall.

Garmentcoloralsoplaysarolethoughinadifferentway.InthesamestudywhentheelephantssawredclothingnotwornbeforetheyreactedangrilyasredistypicallywornbyMaasaimen.Ratherthanrunningawayastheydidwiththesmelltheelephantsactedaggressivelytowardtheredclothing.

Theresearchersbelievethattheelephants’emotionalreactionsareduetotheirdifferentinterpretationsofthesmellsandthesights.Smellingapotentialdangermeansthatathreatisnearbyandthebestthingtodoisrunawayandhide.Seeingapotentialthreatwithoutitssmellmeansthatriskislow.Thereforeinsteadofshowingfearandrunningawaytheelephantsexpresstheirangerandbecomeaggressive.

【小题1】Accordingtothepassagewhichofthefollowingstatementsistrue?

A．Maasaipeopleareathreattoelephants.B．Kambapeopleraiseelephantsforfarming.C．BothKambaandMaasaipeopleareelephanthunters.D．BothKambaandMaasaipeopletraditionallywearredclothing.【小题2】Howdidtheelephantsreacttosmellinthestudy?A．Theyattackedamanwiththesmellofnewclothing.B．Theyneededtimetorelaxwhensmellingsomethingunfamiliar.C．TheybecameanxiouswhentheysmelledKamba-scentedclothing.