GMAT阅读精解文章!GMAT阅读考试也存在一定的难度,因此在复习中,我们也要通过一些文章的解析,辅助我们更好地来的掌握一些阅读的技巧。下面小编为大家整理了详细的内容,供大家参考!
A recent study has provided clues to predator-prey dynamics in the late Pleistocene era. Researchers compared the number of tooth fractures in present-day carnivores with tooth fractures in carnivores that lived 36,000 to 10,000 years ago and that were preserved in the Rancho La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles. The breakage frequencies in the extinct species were strikingly higher than those in the present-day species.
In considering possible explanations for this finding, the researchers dismissed demographic bias because older individuals were not overrepresented in the fossil samples. They rejected preservational bias because a total absence of breakage in two extinct species demonstrated that the fractures were not the result of abrasion within the pits. They ruled out local bias because breakage data obtained from other Pleistocene sites were similar to the La Brea data. The explanation they consider most plausible is behavioral differences between extinct and present-day carnivores-in particular, more contact between the teeth of predators and the bones of prey due to more thorough consumption of carcasses by the extinct species. Such thorough carcass consumption implies to the researchers either that prey availability was low, at least seasonally, or that there was intense competition over kills and a high rate of carcass theft due to relatively high predator densities.
1. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(A) present several explanations for a well-known fact
(B) suggest alternative methods for resolving a debate
(C) argue in favor of a controversial theory
(D) question the methodology used in a study
(E) discuss the implications of a research finding
2. According to the passage, compared with Pleistocene carnivores in other areas, Pleistocene carnivores in the La Brea area
(A) included the same species, in approximately the same proportions
(B) had a similar frequency of tooth fractures
(C) populated the La Brea area more densely
(D) consumed their prey more thoroughly
(E) found it harder to obtain sufficient prey
3. According to the passage, the researchers believe that the high frequency of tooth breakage in carnivores found at La Brea was caused primarily by
(A) the aging process in individual carnivores
(B) contact between the fossils in the pits
(C) poor preservation of the fossils after they were removed from the pits
(D) the impact of carnivores&apos teeth against the bones of their prey
(E) the impact of carnivores&apos teeth against the bones of other carnivores during fights over kills
4. The researchers&apos conclusion concerning the absence of demographic bias would be most seriously undermined if it were found that
(A) the older an individual carnivore is, the more likely it is to have a large number of tooth fractures
(B) the average age at death of a present-day carnivore is greater than was the average age at death of a Pleistocene carnivore
(C)in Pleistocene carnivore species, older individuals consumed carcasses as thoroughly as did younger individuals
(D) the methods used to determine animals&apos ages in fossil samples tend to misidentify many older individuals as younger individuals
(E) data concerning the ages of fossil samples cannot provide reliable information about behavioral differences between extinct carnivores and present-day carnivores
5. According to the passage, if the researchers had NOT found that two extinct carnivore species were free of tooth breakage, the researchers would have concluded that
(A) the difference in breakage frequencies could have been the result of damage to the fossil remains in the La Brea pits
(B) the fossils in other Pleistocene sites could have higher breakage frequencies than do the fossils in the La Brea pits
(C) Pleistocene carnivore species probably behaved very similarly to one another with respect to consumption of carcasses
(D) all Pleistocene carnivore species differed behaviorally from present-day carnivore species
(E) predator densities during the Pleistocene era were extremely high
1. 文章初读:(只读各段首句)
第一段首句:
A recent study has provided clues to predator-prey dynamics in the late Pleistocene era.
翻译:一项最近的研究为更新世晚期的捕食者-猎物动力学提供了线索。
评:给出了文章的大背景,研究提供了关于P时代晚期捕食者-猎物动力学的线索。所谓捕食者-猎物动力学,是研究捕食者数量和猎物数量的动态联系的,争取用数学模型来描述和解释两者之间的动态关系。
第二段首句:
In considering possible explanations for this finding, the researchers dismissed demographic bias because older individuals were not overrepresented in the fossil samples.
翻译:在考虑这个发现的可能解释时,研究者对人口统计学错误不予理会,因为在化石样本中,(使用的)更老的个体(样本)并未超过适当比例。
评:关键词possible explanations for this finding,点出了本段的的作用是探讨对上段提到的发现的各种可能的解释。基本可以判断为解释型文章。
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