高中三年级英语(人教版)全一册 Unit 14 Integrating Skills

　　There are several important differences between apes and monkeys: apes have no tail, nearly all monkeys do; apes tend to be larger and walk more upright; apes use sight more than smell. Apes also have more developed brains and give birth to fewer young, which need a long time to grow up. Zoologists also make a distinction between great apes (including gorillas and chimpanzees) and lesser apes.

　　Most primates are social animals that live in groups and communicate with each other. A few live alone. Gorillas live in groups of one male and several females, and chimpanzees live in groups of many males and many females. While their societies are different, they all communicate and behave in advanced ways. Primates use facial expressions, body language and sounds to express themselves and they can even use colour and smell to communicate. Sometimes they warn each other of danger, and they also communicate simply to keep in touch.

　　Our closest relative among the primates is the chimpanzee, an intelligent great ape that lives in western and central Africa. Chimpanzees are about 50 centimetres to a metre tall and weigh around 25 to 50 kilogrammes. Males are larger than females and can be up to 1.2 metres tall and weigh 70 kilogrammes. Chimpanzees have very long arms and are covered with black hair. They use the same senses as we do and their feet and hands are similar to ours, except that chimpanzees still have opposable toes and can grasp things with their feet. Their diet is also similar to ours -- they eat meat and plants -- even if they sometimes feast on things we may find disgusting, such as insects and ants. Modern science has allowed us to discover that human beings and chimpanzees are closer than we thought -- our genes are more than 95% similar!

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