首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Fighting in Nature In nature, fighting is such an ever-present process that its behavior mechanisms and weapons are highly d
Fighting in Nature In nature, fighting is such an ever-present process that its behavior mechanisms and weapons are highly d
admin
2012-01-14
81
问题
Fighting in Nature
In nature, fighting is such an ever-present process that its behavior mechanisms and weapons are highly developed. Almost every animal capable of self-defense from the smallest upwards fights furiously when it is cornered and has no means of escape. However, in another respect the fight between hunter and hunted is not a fight in the real sense of the word: the stroke of the paw with which a lion kills his prey may resemble the movements that he makes when he strikes his rival, but the inner motives of the hunter are basically different from those of the fighter.
The buffalo which the lion fells provokes his aggression as little as the appetizing turkey which I have just seen hanging in the larder provokes mine.
The difference in these inner drives can clearly be seen in the expression movements of the animal: a dog about to catch a hunted rabbit has the same kind of excited happy expression as he has when he greets his master or awaits some longed-for treat. Growling, laying the ears back, and other well-known expression movements of fighting behavior occur when predatory animals are afraid of a wildly resisting prey, and even then the expressions are only suggested. The opposite process, the counter-offensive, of the prey against the predator, is more nearly related to
genuine
aggression. Social animals in particular take every possible chance to attack the eating enemy that threatens their safety. This process is called "mobbing". The survival value of this attack on the hunter is self-evident. Even if the attacker is small and defenseless, he may do his enemy considerable harm. For example, if a sparrow hawk is pursued by a flock of warning wagtails, his hunting is spoiled for the time being. And many birds will mob an owl if they find one in the day-time, and drive it so far away that it will hunt somewhere else the next night.
In some social animals such as jackdaws and many kinds of geese, the function of mobbing is particularly interesting. In jackdaws, its most important survival value is to teach the young inexperienced birds what a dangerous eating-enemy looks like, which they do not know
instinctively
. For just such educational reasons, geese and ducks may gather together in intense excitement to learn that a fox—anything furry, red-brown, long-shaped and slinking—is extremely dangerous. Besides this didactic function, mobbing of predators by jackdaws and geese still has the basic, original one of making the enemy’s life a burden. Jackdaws actively attack their enemy, and geese apparently intimidate it with their cries, their thronging and their fearless advance. The great Canada Geese will even follow a fox overland in a close phalanx, and I have never known a fox in this situation try to catch one of his tormentors. With ears laid back and a disgusted expression on his face, he glances back over his shoulder at the trumpeting flock and trots slowly—so as not to lose face—away from them. Among the larger, more defense-minded grazing animals which en masse are a match for even the biggest predators, mobbing is particularly effective;
(A) [■] According to reliable reports, zebras will molest even a leopard if they catch him on plain where cover is sparse.
(B) [■] Once, when I was out with my dog, I was obliged to jump into a lake and swim for safety when a herd of young cattle half encircled us and advanced threateningly;
(C) [■] And when he was in Southern Hungary during the First World War, my brother spent a pleasant afternoon up a tree with his Scotch terrier under his arm, because a herd of half-wild Hungarian swine, disturbed while grazing in the wood, encircled him.
(D) [■] Fortunately, the swine dispersed after they confirmed that my brother and his dog were not offensive.
For some social animals like jackdaws, mobbing is important because______.
选项
A、the young birds can learn about the enemy’s appearance
B、these kinds of birds are born to know their enemy
C、the young birds can escape to safe places by mobbing
D、the young birds can learn to fight with their enemy
答案
A
解析
本题是推论题,考查考生是否能够对文章中没有明确阐述但暗示了的信息作出推论。题目问:对于寒鸦等群居性动物,mobbing(成群暴动)为什么具有重要的意义?原文提到“the function of mobbing is particularly interesting.In jackdaws,its most important survival value is to teach the young inexperienced birds what a dangerous eating-enemy looks like,which they do not know instinctively(寒鸦等鸟类是通过mobbing的过程来教会幼鸟识别天敌的长相)”。因此A项的意思最贴切。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/8LyO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
AnswerthequestionsbelowusingNOMORETHANTWOWORDSfromthepassageforeachanswer.Writeyouranswersinboxes12-13ony
Completetheflowchartbelow.ChooseNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSfromthepassageforeachanswer.Writeyouranswersinboxes23-
DothefollowingstatementsagreewiththeinformationgiveninReadingPassage1?Inboxes10-13onyouranswersheet,writeTR
Timekeeper:InventionofMarineChronometerA.Uptothemiddleofthe18thcentury,thenavigatorswerestillunabletoexa
Gestures—especially______ones.Students______outwordsandothersguessthem.
Theprofessorsaysthatsuperhighways______.【26】
Studentsoncourseslastingoverayearareusuallygivenuntil______toleavethecountry.
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswerENVIRONMENTALCHANGEDISCUSSIONInSouthe
Labelthemapbelow.WritethecorrectletterA-I,nexttoQuestions11-15.HarbourViewBookstore
StudentUnion从人口开始,看到的第一栋楼是教学楼(TeachingBuilding),它的左边是书店(bookstore);往北走,书店对面是一个小的体育馆(gym);另一侧是学生会(StudentUnion)在它的东边则是实验室(Lab)
随机试题
骈赋的表现形式是【】
①对于同一刑法条文中的同一概念,既可以进行文理解释也可以进行论理解释:②一个解释者对于同一刑法条文的同一概念,不可能同时既作扩大解释又作缩小解释:③刑法中类推解释被禁止,扩大解释被允许,但扩大解释的结论也可能是错误的;④当然解释追求结论的合理性,但并
为加速液体蒸发所采取的措施,下列哪项错误
A.对流免疫电泳B.火箭电泳C.免疫电泳D.免疫固定电泳E.区带电泳在电场作用下的加速度的单向扩散试验是
甲以20万元从乙公司购得某小区地下停车位。乙公司经规划部门批准在该小区以200万元建设观光电梯。该梯入梯口占用了甲的停车位,乙公司同意为甲置换更好的车位。甲则要求拆除电梯,并赔偿损失。下列哪些表述是错误的?(2013年卷三第51题)
根据法律规定,下列各项个人所得,不在免纳个人所得税范畴的是?
下列理财业务从业人员的行为中,符合从业人员限制性条款的是()。
甲公司为乙上市公司实际控制人,拟通过收购丙上市公司(以下简称丙公司)的股份,达到控制丙公司的目的。在董事会讨论收购方案时,一些董事分别提出以下观点:(1)以下属的两个子公司作为收购人,通过证券交易所的证券交易收购丙公司的股份。两个子公司持有丙公司的股份合
如何利用迁移促进学生的学习?
绝缘配合的统计法只能用于自恢复绝缘,主要是输变电的外绝缘。()
最新回复
(
0
)