Passage 36
A bird’s plumage, while contributing to structural integrity and participating in aerial locomotion, completely obscures a bird’s internal activity from human view, greatly impeding our attempts to understand birds as functioning animals. Plumage has even made it difficult to describe bird movement. When describing the movement of mammals, writers turn to well-worn clichés like “grace in motion.” A mammal’s rippling muscles slide smoothly over one another in eye-catching ways. With a mammal, whether a mouse or hippopotamus, we recognize that the underlying body parts are similar to our own and we know these parts will act predictably. Not so with a bird. For centuries, we knew little more about a bird’s movement than that it was a mystery that seemed to be based on the flapping of wings.
Consider each of the choices separately and select all that apply.
1. The passage mentions which of the following as an effect of bird plumage?
A. It contributes to a bird’s ability to fly.
B. It hides the inner workings of birds.
C. It contributes to the structural soundness of birds.
2. The author implies which of the following about the “underlying body parts” of nonhuman mammals?
A. They are more similar to humans’ underlying body parts than most people assume.
B. They are more predictable in their workings than are the underlying body parts of humans.
C. Their smooth and grateful actions belie how complicated they actually are.
D. They work in much different ways than do the underlying body parts of most birds.
E. They are easier to observe and understand than are underlying parts of birds.
答案：ABC E
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