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Which animals are intelligent? You might be thinking of monkeys, or dolphins. But perhaps what you have failed to consider is that animals that appear to be stupid are in fact a lot smarter than they look.

In the book The Smartest Animals on the Planet, Sally Boysen, a professor from Ohio State University, US, lists a wide variety of intelligent animals, some of which are often overlooked by us.

1. Crow

With black feathers and a horrible voice, crows are considered to be unlucky in China. But in the eyes of scientists, they are the most intelligent birds. In fact, their puzzle-solving and tool-making skills are about the same as a 5-year-old child.

  In an experiment at the University of Oxford, UK, two crows were presented with two types of wire, one hooked (钩状的) and one straight. When one crow took the hooked wire and got food from a tube, the other crow bent the straight wire into a hook by itself, and got the food too. Not only can they use tools, crows are also able to create tools out of materials.

2. Monitor Lizard (巨型蜥蜴)

Many lizards are not particularly intelligent, but the scary dinosaur-like monitor lizard is an exception – studies have shown that it can “count”.

In an experiment, monitor lizards were given four snails to eat every time. They soon learned to expect that number. When given only three snails, the lizards continued to search for the remaining snail when they had finished the first three.

Monitor lizards are also known to be excellent “team workers” when hunting for food: one will lure a female crocodile away from her nest, while the other eats the unprotected eggs.

3. Squirrel 

Most animals that have managed to adapt to cities are curious and bright, and squirrels are no exception. These cunning (狡猾的) little creatures cleverly protect their winter food from potential thieves.

Squirrels tend to bury spare nuts and seeds in the soil for winter storage, but if they think they are being watched by any other squirrels, birds or humans, they make empty burials with no food in them. Professor Michael Steele of Wilkes University in the US has found that a fifth of all so-called food burials are faked and the number goes up if the squirrels think their food is under threat.

74. This article is mainly about ______.

A. why monkeys and dolphins are the cleverest animals

B. the amazing intelligence of some animals that people don’t think of as smart  

C. the creative ways that animals get food

D. how animals trick their enemies

75. According to the article, both monitor lizards and squirrels ______.

A. are good at counting numbers  B. prefer to work as a team

C. know how to trick potential enemies D. bury their food deep to prepare for winter

76. The underlined word “lure” in the article probably means ______.

A. attract  B. confuse  C. attack D. drive
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