The reading passage on the left has eight paragraphs A-H.

Which paragraphs
contain the information in the sentences on the right? Write the appropriate
letter (A-H) in gaps 1-6. You need only write ONE letter for each answer.
Do animals talk?
A. Do any animals naturally have a true language? In order to answer this
question, we must compare human language with animal
communication. But such a comparison presents a number of perhaps
unsolvable problems. Two in particular need to be discussed before we
can give a coherent reply to the query/question of whether animals talk
naturally.

B. The first problem is this: are we comparing systems which differ

quantitatively or qualitatively? On the one hand, human language may
have gradually evolved from a more animalistic means of
communication in a continuous line of growth – a viewpoint sometimes
known as a continuity theory. On the other hand, human language may
be something quite different from our basic animal heritage, and
superimposed upon it. This is a discontinuity theory.

C. Supporters of continuity theories suggest that language grew out of a

primate call system, like the ones used by apes today. They assume that
humans started out with a simple set of cries in which each one meant
something different, such as, Danger! or Follow me! or Don’t touch that
female, she’s mine! These cries gradually became more elaborate, and
eventually evolved into language.
D. A possible intermediate stage is seen in the cries of the vervet monkey. This
monkey has several alarm calls which distinguish between different types of
danger (Struhsaker, 1967). The chutter announces that a puff adder or cobra is
around. The rruap gives warning of an eagle. A chirp is used for lions and
leopards. A less panic-stricken utterance, the uh!, signals the presence of a
spotted hyena or Maasai tribesman. According to some, it is a very short step
from an alarm call warning of a poisonous snake to using the chutter as a word
symbolizing a poisonous snake.
E. Another interpretation of these signals is possible. The monkeys could
merely be distinguishing between the intensity of different types of danger.
They may be more frightened or puff adders than eagles – or vice versa. This
plausible explanation has been ruled out by an experiment in which a
concealed loudspeaker played recordings of the various alarm calls. When they
heart a chutter, the vervets stood on their hind legs and looked around for a
snake. At th sound of a rraup they dived into the vegetation as if hiding from
an eagle. And at the lion-leopard chirp, they hastily climbed up a tree. So the
monkeys clearly have a special signal for each type of enemy.
F. Yet the danger cries of monkeys are still far from human language. They are
a mix of a shriek of fear and a warning to others, and are only partly a symbol.
The huge gulf between these calls and real speech has led many people to
argue for a discontinuity theory. Proponents of discontinuity theories claim
that humans still retain their basic set of animal cries, which exist alongside
language. Yelps of pain, shrieks of fear, and the different types of crying
observed in babies may be closely related to the call systems of monkeys. If
this view is correct then it is fairly difficult to compare human and animal
means of communication. It may be like comparing two things as different as
the Chinese language and a set of traffic lights.
G. But a continuity versus discontinuity divide may be oversimple. Language is
a complex mosaic in which some features are continuous, and some
discontinuous with ape communication. Exactly which is which is still under
discussion.
H. The second major problem we face is that it is not always easy to decide
what counts as communication in animals. So that, at the very least, cats
spitting and rabbits thumping their back legs must be taken into consideration
– and it isn’t at all clear where to stop. It is sometimes suggested that this
problem could be solved by concentrating on examples where the animal is
intentionally trying to convey information. But such distinctions are difficult to
draw, both in humans and animals. If a man smooths down his hair when an
attractive woman walks into the room, is this an unconscious response? Or is
he doing it intentionally in the hope of catching her attention? In the sea, so-
called snapping shrimps can produce loud cracks by closing their claws sharply.
Since the cracks can upset naval sonar devices, marine biologists have
attempted to discover the circumstances which lead the shrimps to produce
them. But no one has yet discovered the significance of the snaps. They may
be informative – but they may not. There is no way in which we can be sure
about making the right decision when it comes to interpreting such a
phenomenon.
Glossary 
1. Puff adder: a large poisonous African snake.
2. Hyena: a wild dog-like animal native to Africa and Asia.
 3. Maasai tribesman: a member of an African tribe of cattle herders.
1. The truth probably lies between two extremes
           _______
2. How a theory was disproved?
_______
3. The problem of defining communication
______
4. Two theories on the origin of language
______
5. The difference between animal noises and language
______
6. Examples of how a particular species communicates
______