Questions:
- Have you ever wondered what animals think and feel? What conclusions have you arrived at?
- What examples of animals’ intelligence does the presenter share with us? What other examples can you think of?
- Why does the presenter say that “They (elephants) know us better than we know them”.
- What does the presenter say about the idea that must never attribute human thoughts and emotions to other species? Why does he think so?
- What examples of people’s cruelty towards animals does the presenter talk about?
- What, according to the presenter, makes us human? Do you agree?
- What is the main idea of the talk?
Vocabulary:
capacity = the ability to understand or to do something
There are capacities of the human mind that we tend to think are capacities only of the human mind.
to give rise = to cause something to exist
Jellyfish gave rise to the first chordates.
burrow = a hole or tunnel in the ground made by animals such as rabbits for them to live in
It turns out that if you give a crayfish a lot of little tiny electric shocks every time it tries to come out of its burrow, it will develop anxiety.
invertebrate /ɪnˈvərt̮əbrət/ = any animal with no backbone, for example a worm
moray eel
sea otter
off the shelf = in a form that is ready to be used
When evolution makes something new, it uses the parts it has in stock, off the shelf, before it fabricates a new twist.
vigilant = very careful to notice any signs of danger or trouble
They have found a patch of shade under the palm trees under which to let their babies sleep, while they doze but remain vigilant.
empathy =
Empathy is the mind’s ability to match moods with your companions.
be far/further/furthest removed from something = to be very different from something
Then there’s something that I call sympathy, a little more removed.
to attribute = to say or believe that something is the result of a particular thing
People who seem to know only one thing about animal behavior know that you must never attribute human thoughts and emotions to other species.
stronghold = an area where there are a large number of a particular type of animal
In 1980, there were vast strongholds of elephant range in Central and Eastern Africa.
precocious = having developed particular abilities and ways of behaving at a much younger age than usual
She was getting too much attention from two new males, and she was the precocious one.