An Octopus Thinks With Its Arms

Nivel B2 · Intermedio altoCiencia2 minLectura en inglés

Lee el texto en inglés, parte por parte, y responde cada pregunta. Toca una palabra con línea punteada para ver su traducción. Abajo está el vocabulario completo en español.

An octopus has around five hundred million neurons, about as many as a dog. What makes it strange is where they are. Roughly two thirds of those neurons are not in its head at all, but spread through its eight arms.

1. Where are most of an octopus's neurons?

  1. AIn its head
  2. BIn its skin
  3. CIn its eight arms
Ver la respuesta

C. In its eight arms

About two thirds of them are spread through its eight arms.

La prueba en el texto: spread through its eight arms

This means an arm can do a great deal on its own. Researchers have watched an arm that has been cut off from the body still reach for food and try to pass it toward a mouth that is no longer there. The arm does not need the brain to know what to do.

2. What shows that an arm can act on its own?

  1. AA cut-off arm still reaches for food
  2. BThe arm waits for the brain's orders
  3. CThe arm has no neurons
Ver la respuesta

A. A cut-off arm still reaches for food

Even cut off, an arm still reaches for food and passes it toward a mouth.

La prueba en el texto: still reach for food and try to pass it toward a mouth that is no longer there

The brain in the head does not give each arm detailed orders. It is more like a manager who sets a goal, such as 'find a crab under that rock', and leaves the arms to work out how. Each arm tastes and feels as it searches, making hundreds of small decisions by itself.

3. True or false? The brain tells each arm exactly how to move.

  1. ATrue (Verdadero)
  2. BFalse (Falso)
Ver la respuesta

B. False (Falso)

The brain sets a goal and leaves the arms to work out how.

La prueba en el texto: and leaves the arms to work out how

Scientists find this hard to imagine because our own minds seem to live in one place. For an octopus, thinking may be shared across its whole body. Studying it could change what we mean by a mind, and show that there is more than one way to build one.

4. What does the writer suggest about how an octopus thinks?

  1. AIt thinks only with its head
  2. BIt does not really think
  3. CIts thinking may be spread across its body
Ver la respuesta

C. Its thinking may be spread across its body

For an octopus, thinking may be shared across its whole body.

La prueba en el texto: thinking may be shared across its whole body

Vocabulario en español

InglésEspañolSignificado en inglés
neuronsneuronascells that carry messages in the brain and the body
roughlyaproximadamenteabout; not exactly
goalmetasomething you want to do or reach
crabcangrejoa sea animal with a hard shell and two claws

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