مکالمه ی فعالانه قسمت د

ACTIVE SPEAKING / PART D

CAN HUMANS CHANGE?

In the 1980s, Kenyan tourism was booming.

What was booming? Kenyan tourism was booming. When was Kenyan tourism booming? Kenyan tourism was booming in the 1980s.

Hotels were built, and tourists flocked into the country to enjoy the wildlife.

What was built? Hotels were built. Were the hotels built for tourists? Yes, the hotels were built for tourists. Were the tourists flocking to the country to enjoy the food? No, the tourists weren’t flocking to the country to enjoy the food. They were flocking to the country to enjoy the wildlife.

These tourists created lots of waste. One hotel dug a hole and started dumping their garbage into it daily.

What did these tourists create? These tourists created a lot of waste. Where did one hotel dump this waste? They dumped this waste in a hole.

This garbage was a treasure trove to the baboons.

Were the baboons unhappy about the garbage? No, the baboons weren’t unhappy about the garbage. They saw the garbage as a treasure trove.

Soon a baboon troop started living in the trees above the garbage.

Who started living in the trees above the garbage? A baboon troop started living in the trees above the garbage.

This wasn’t Robert’s favorite troop. It was a different troop.

Was this Robert’s favorite troop or was it a different troop? This was a different troop.

Before long their whole lives changed.

What happened before long? Before long their whole lives changed.

Instead of waking up at 6 am to begin looking for food, they woke at 9 am right before the hotel’s tractor would arrive to dump its leftover food.

When did they use to wake up before they found the garbage? Before they found the garbage, they used to wake up at 6 am. When did they wake up after they found the garbage? After they found the garbage, they woke up at 9 am.

The baboons were in baboon heaven, eating leftover cakes, hamburgers, and chicken drumsticks.

Why did the baboons feel like they were in heaven? They felt like they were in heaven because they were eating leftover cakes, hamburgers, and chicken drumsticks.

It didn’t take long for Robert’s favorite troop of baboons to find out about the dump, and they wanted a piece of the pie.

Who also found out about the dump? Roberts favorite troop of baboons also found out about the dump. Did they want a piece of the pie? Yes, they wanted a piece of the pie.

Every morning, the toughest males from Robert’s troop would run to the dump and fight for a piece of the garbage.

Which baboons would fight for a piece of the garbage? The toughest males from Robert’s troop would fight for a piece of the garbage.

During these bloody daily battles, Robert’s alpha male baboons would grab as many drumsticks as they could and run back to their troop.

Were the battles daily? Yes, the battles were daily. What would they grab before running back to the troop? They would grab as many drumsticks as they could before running back to their troop.

Then something horrific happened.

Did something amazing happen? No, something amazing didn’t happen. Something

horrific happened.

The baboons who lived at the dump started getting sick.

What happened to the baboons who lived at the dump? The baboons who lived at the dump started getting sick.

Some of them had rotting hands and were walking on their elbows.

What was rotting? Their hands were rotting. How were they walking? They were walking on their elbows.

Soon the sickness spread to Robert’s troop of baboons as well.

Where did the sickness spread? The sickness spread to Robert’s troop of baboons.

It turned out that the baboons had gotten sick from infected meat.

What caused the baboons to get sick? The baboons got sick from infected meat.

They had tuberculosis, which is a slow moving disease in humans, but can kill a baboon in weeks.

What disease did they have? They had tuberculosis. Is this a slow moving disease or a fast moving disease? It’s a slow moving disease in humans, but a fast moving disease in baboons.

The garbage dump baboons were devastated.

Which troop of baboons was devastated? The garbage dump baboons were devastated.

In Robert’s favorite baboon troop only the most violent baboons who were aggressive enough to fight their way into the enemy dump died.

Did the most peaceful baboons die? No, the most peaceful baboons didn’t die. The most aggressive baboons died.

With the violent alpha males out of the picture, suddenly the culture of Robert’s troop changed.

Who was out of the picture? The violent alpha males were out of the picture. What

suddenly changed? The culture of Robert’s troop changed.

Fighting decreased and grooming dramatically increased.

What decreased? Fighting decreased. What dramatically increased? Grooming dramatically increased.

One baboon picking fleas out of the fur of another was traditionally a type of affectionate grooming that females did for males.

What kind of grooming would the baboons do? The baboons would pick fleas out of the fur of other baboons.

The males never did it to the females, but now they were.

Would males groom females? No, males would never groom females.

Even males were regularly grooming other males, which is unheard of.

Would males normally groom other males? No, males wouldn’t normally groom other

males. This was unheard of.

Robert said it was as unlikely as baboons growing wings.

What did Robert say was as unlikely as baboons growing wings? Robert said males grooming other males was as unlikely as baboons growing wings.

In 15 years of studying these animals, he had previously seen no more than 30 seconds of male-on-male grooming. Now it had become normal.

How much male-on-male grooming had Robert seen in 15 years of studying these animals? In 15 years of studying these animals, he had previously seen no more than 30 seconds of male-on-male grooming.

Robert decided that the troop had changed so much that he could no longer use them for his research.

Why did Robert decide he could no longer use the troop for his research? Robert decided that the troop had changed so much that he could no longer use them for his research.

Six years later he returned to his favorite troop, and they were unchanged.

When did Robert return to his favorite troop? Robert returned to his favorite troop six years later. Had they changed? No, they were unchanged.

He saw their new grooming customs and the decrease in violence and aggressiveness had continued.

Had their new grooming customs continued? Yes, their new grooming customs had continued. What else had continued? The decrease in violence and aggressiveness had continued.

Then he noticed something that shocked him.

Did the baboons notice something shocking? No, the baboons didn’t notice something shocking. Robert noticed something shocking.

There was only one old male left from 6 years ago.

How many males were left from 6 years ago? There was only one male left from 6 years ago.

All the other males were new arrivals from other baboon troops, and these new arrivals had learned from Robert’s baboons how to live this new more peaceful life.

Were there new arrivals? Yes, there were new arrivals. Where were the new arrivals from? The new arrivals were from other troops.

Some people say that humans are hard-wired to be violent.

Do you think humans are hard-wired to be violent?

It’s in our genes, and it’s inevitable that we will fight and go to war.

Do you think it’s inevitable that we will fight and go to war?

Robert says that in one generation these baboons have completely transformed their culture, so we humans have no excuse. It can happen to us, too.

How long did it take these baboons to change their culture? Robert says that in one generation these baboons have changed their culture.