托福口语 Task 4

Today we're going to talk about a fascinating behavior in the animal kingdom called 'tool use' – the ability of animals to use objects from their environment to achieve a goal. While we often think of tool use as a uniquely human trait, many animals demonstrate it in clever ways. The key point is that tool use is not just a random act; it's a learned, purposeful behavior that solves a specific problem. Let me give you two examples. First, consider the sea otter. Sea otters love to eat clams, but the shells are very hard to crack. So, a sea otter will float on its back, place a rock on its chest, and then smash the clam against the rock until it opens. This isn't instinctive – young otters watch their mothers do this and practice until they master it. Second, think of the New Caledonian crow. These crows need to extract insects from deep inside tree holes. They can't reach them with their beaks, so they will find a twig, strip off the leaves, and then use the twig to poke and prod the insects out. Even more impressive, they sometimes bend the twig into a hook to pull out prey that is farther in. Both examples show that animals can use tools in a flexible, intelligent way to meet their needs.