Gorilla who mastered sign language dies 語言天才大猩猩離世

以出色的手語能力而聞名的大猩猩Koko在美國離世，享年46歲。據(jù)說Koko有著較高的智商，能夠用手語與人交流。她掌握了超過1000種手語手勢，能理解2000多個英語口語詞匯，她被人們當成猩猩和人類交流的大使。

Koko， the gorilla（大猩猩）， who is said to have been able to communicate by using more than 1，000 hand signs， has died in California at the age of 46. Instructors taught her a kind of American Sign Language and said she used it to express thoughts and feelings.

The abilities of the gorilla， who also obviously understood some spoken English， were documented by animal psychologist Francine Patterson. She adopted pets， including a cat she called All Ball.

“Koko—the gorilla was known for her ability to use sign language， and as the primary ambassador for her endangered species， she passed away in her sleep at the age of 46.” a Gorilla Foundation press release said.

“Koko touched the lives of millions as an ambassador for all gorillas and she was beloved and will be deeply missed.”

The gorilla， who was said to have an IQ of between 75 and 95， could understand 2，000 words of spoken English. The average IQ for humans on many tests is 100， and most people score somewhere between 85 and 115.

She was born at the San Francisco Zoo in 1971. Dr. Patterson began working with Koko the following year and taught her sign language， the Gorilla Foundation said.

Some scientists have doubt on the gorilla？蒺s communicative skills.

However， she was the subject of many documentaries and was the cover star for magazines including National Geographic. She also gained public attention for caring for cats. When her tailless cat All Ball escaped and was killed by a car in 1984， Dr. Patterson wrote that she was very sad.

Koko lived most of her life at the Gorilla Foundation in California. She was filmed meeting the late actor Robin Williams in 2001.

典語賞析

1.Koko， the gorilla， who is said to have been able to communicate by using more than 1，000 hand signs， has died in California at the age of 46. 46歲的大猩猩Koko在加利福尼亞州離世，據(jù)說她會使用1000多種手語進行交流。

該句是一個含有定語從句的復(fù)合句，who用作關(guān)系代詞，引導(dǎo)定語從句，修飾先行詞Koko， the gorilla。at the age of... 是固定搭配，意為“在……歲時”，有時可與when從句互換。

【即時嘗試】湯姆在十歲時，就喜歡演奏不同類型音樂的音樂家。

2.Koko—the gorilla was known for her ability to use sign language... 大猩猩Koko以出色的手語能力而聞名……

be known for是固定詞組搭配，意為“因……出名”；ability是名詞，意為“能力；才能”，其后接的動詞不定式短語to use sign language作名詞ability的后置定語。

【即時嘗試】在我們學(xué)校，他因能流利地說英語而出名。

3.She also gained public attention for caring for cats. 她也因為照顧小貓而受到公眾的關(guān)注。

care for是固定詞組，意為“關(guān)心；照顧”，此處是介詞for的賓語，因此用動名詞形式。

【即時嘗試】她日夜照顧她年邁的雙親。

（答案見第63頁）