Rats and other animals need to be highly attuned to social signals from others so they can identify friends to cooperate with and enemies to avoid. To find out if this extends to non-living beings, Laleh Quinn at the University of California, San Diego, and her colleagues tested whether rats can detect social signals from robotic rats.

    They housed eight adult rats with two types of robotic rat—one social and one asocial—for four days. The robot rats were quite minimalist, resembling a chunkier version of a computer mouse with wheels to move around and colorful markings.

    During the experiment, the social robot rat followed the living rats around, played with the same toys, and opened cage doors to let trapped rats escape. Meanwhile, the asocial robot simply moved forwards and backwards and side to side.

    Next, the researchers trapped the robots in cages and gave the rats the opportunity to release them by pressing a lever.

    Across 18 trials each, the living rats were 52 percent more likely on average to set the social robot free than the asocial one. This suggests that the rats perceived the social robot as a genuine social being. They may have bonded more with the social robot because it displayed behaviours like communal exploring and playing. This could lead to the rats better remembering having freed it earlier, and wanting the robot to return the favour when they get trapped, she says.

    The readiness of the rats to befriend the social robot was surprising given its minimal design. The robot was the same size as a regular rat but resembled a simple plastic box on wheels. “We’d assumed we’d have to give it a moving head and tail, facial features, and put a scent on it to make it smell like a real rat, but that wasn’t necessary,” says Janet Wiles at the University of Queensland in Australia, who helped with the research.

    The finding shows how sensitive rats are to social cues, even when they come from basic robots. Similarly, children tend to treat robots as if they are fellow beings, even when they display only simple social signals. “We humans seem to be fascinated by robots, and it turns out other animals are, too,” says Wiles.

答案精析：本题为细节题。题目问的是奎因及其同事做测试的目的。根据题干中的Quinn and her colleagues和test，可定位至原文第一段最后一句。该句提到，拉蕾·奎因和她的同事们测试了老鼠是否能察觉到机械鼠发出的社交信号。由此可见，该测试的目的在于研究老鼠能否察觉到没有生命的机械鼠发出的社交信号。A项中的pick up（接收；识别）对应原文中的detect（觉察），non-living rats（无生命的老鼠）对应原文中的robotic rats（机械鼠），故正确答案为A项。

错项排除：B项利用原文第一句中的identify friends…and enemies…（辨别朋友和敌人）进行干扰，但原文说的是老鼠和其他动物都需要非常熟悉其他动物发出的社交信号，这样才能识别出哪些是需要合作的朋友，哪些是需要躲避的敌人。这只是在陈述客观事实，并不是实验的目的所在，故B项错误。C项利用原文多次出现的social进行干扰，但原文中并没有提到special training（特殊训练）的相关内容，故C项错误。D项中的关键词warning messages（警告消息）也没有在原文中提及，故D项排除。

长难句分析：To find out if this extends to non-living beings, Laleh Quinn at the University of California, San Diego, and her colleagues tested whether rats can detect social signals from robotic rats.

本句句子主干为Laleh Quinn…and her colleagues tested whether…，是主谓宾结构。句首的不定式为目的状语，at the University of California, San Diego为后置定语，修饰Laleh Quinn。后面的whether引导宾语从句，作tested的宾语，从句最后的from robotic rats为后置定语，修饰signals。

句意为：为了确定这一特征是否适用于非生物体，加州大学圣地亚哥分校的拉蕾·奎因和她的同事们测试了老鼠是否能察觉到机械鼠发出的社交信号。