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
Vibrations in the ground are a poorly understood but probably widespread means of communication between animals. It seems un
Vibrations in the ground are a poorly understood but probably widespread means of communication between animals. It seems un
admin
2011-04-11
39
问题
Vibrations in the ground are a poorly understood but probably widespread means of communication between animals.
It seems unlikely that these animals could have detected seismic "pre-shocks" that were missed by the sensitive vibration-detecting equipment that clutters the world’s earthquake laboratories. But it is possible. And the fact that many animal species behave strangely before other natural events such as storms, and that they have the ability to detect others of their species at distances which the familiar human senses could not manage,is well established. Such observations have led some to suggest that these animals have a kind of extra-sensory perception. What is more likely, though, is that they have an extra sense—a form of perception that people lack. The best guess is that they can feel and understand vibrations that are transmitted through the ground. Almost all the research done into animal signalling has been on sight, hearing and smell, because these are senses that people possess. Humans have no sense organs designed specifically to detect terrestrial vibrations. But, according to researchers who have been meeting in Chicago at a symposium of the society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, this anthropocentric approach has meant that interactions via vibrations of the ground (a means of communication known as seismic signalling) have been almost entirely over-looked. These researchers believe that such signals are far more common than biologists had realized—and that they could explain a lot of otherwise inexplicable features of animal behaviour.
Until recently, the only large mammal known to produce seismic signals was the elephant seal, a species whose notoriously aggressive bulls slug it out on beaches around the world for possession of harems of females. But Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell of Stanford University, who is one of the speakers at the symposium, suspects that a number of large terrestrial mammals, including rhinos, lions and elephants also use vibration as a means of communication. At any rate they produce loucf noises that are transmitted through both the ground and the air—and that can travel farther in the first than in the second. Elephants, according to Dr. O’Connell-Rodwell, can transmit signals through the ground this way for distances of as much as 50km when they trumpet, make mock charges or stomp their feet.
A seismic sense could help to explain certain types of elephant behaviour. One is an apparent ability to detect thunderstorms well beyond the range that the sound of a storm can carry. Another is the foot-lifting that many elephants display prior to the arrival of another herd. Rather than scanning the horizon with their ears, elephants tend to freeze their posture and raise and lower a single foot. This probably helps them to work out from which direction the vibrations are traveling—rather as a person might stick a finger first in one ear and then in the other to work out the direction that a sound is coming from.
In the past decade, many insects, spiders, scorpions, amphibians, reptiles and rodents, as well as large mammals, have been shown to use vibrations for purposes as diverse as territorial defense, mate location and prey detection. Lions, for example, have vibration detectors in their paws and probably use them in the same way as scorpions use their vibration detectors—to locate meals.
Dr. Hill herself spent years trying to work out how prairie mole crickets, a highly territorial species of burrowing insect, manage to space themselves out underground. After many failed attempts to provoke a reaction by playing recordings of cricket song to them, she realized that they were actually more interested in her own footfalls than in the airborne music of their fellow crickets. This suggests that it is the seismic component of the song that the insects are picking up and using to distribute themselves.
Whether any of this really has implications for such things as earthquake prediction is, of course, highly speculative. But it is a salutary reminder that the limitations of human senses can cause even competent scientists to overlook obvious lines of enquiry. Absence of evidence, it should always be remembered, is not evidence of absence.
What conclusion can be drawn from the passage?
选项
A、Earthquake prediction is highly possible.
B、The limitations of human sense will lead to the limitations of human’s ability.
C、Some scientists have overlooked some hidden abilities in human.
D、Being lacking in evidence doesn’t mean its absence. TEXT C
答案
D
解析
可以从文中推得以下哪个结论?本题信息主要在文章最后一段,地震是预报这一说法仅是推测,未得到证实,这里speculative表示“揣摩的;忖度的”,A选项不确切,选项B、C是对文章句子的歪曲理解。选项D恰恰是文章最后一句话的诠释,故答案为D。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/kVYO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Beforeconsideringthisquestionitisinterestingtoreviewbrieflytheevolutionofthe【M1】______
敦煌坐落在甘肃省西北的沙漠走廊地带,其西靠近新疆,其东是祁连山脉。这座有两千年历史的古城,曾经是联结中国和中亚的丝绸之路上一个重要的商队驻足地。如今,其吸引来客的主要原因在于敦煌是世界上已知的佛教艺术的一个最珍贵的宝藏的所在地——莫高窟。据一幅唐石刻所载,
Thetraditionalimageofcavedwellersisprobablyape-likecreaturescladinskimpyanimalskins,completewithclubsandmatte
DreiserisgenerallyregardedasthemostsignificantAmericanwriteroftheschoolknownas______.
Thestudyofhowsoundsareputtogetherandusedtoconveymeaningincommunicationis______.
LeacockwasprobablythefirstCanadiantoqualifyasa"pro-AmericanBritishimperialist."Acolleague,Prof.JohnCulliton,sa
TheAmericanTaxSystemGovernmentsraiserevenuesthroughtaxation.Ataxisa【1】______paymenttogovernment.IntheUnit
Sociologistsfinditusefultodistinguishbetweentypesofcrimeonasomewhatdifferentbasis.Ratherthanrelyingsolelyonl
Beautyhasalwaysbeenregardedassomethingpraiseworthy.Almosteveryonethinksattractivepeoplearehappierandhealthier,h
A、Astandsforactions.B、Tstandsfortitles.C、Sstandsforsituations.D、Rstandsforresults.B
随机试题
如何做到辩证用膳?
对缓冲溶液的定义理解错误的是
3~66kV不接地及消弧线圈接地系统,应采用性能良好的设备并提高运行维护水平,以避免在下述条件中的()产生铁磁谐振过电压。
委托代理的终止原因包括()。
()是通过建立一定指标(简称效标)来检查岗位测评结果的效度。
さとうさんはテニスより水泳のほうが得意です。水泳
Mandy’sfavoritepastimes(消遣)suggestthat________.Mandy’scharactersisshownby________.
ships16世纪时第一个码头被建成,并在这里制造船只,使得伦敦东区(EastEnd)成了大的国际贸易中心(thefocusofmassiveinternationaltrade)。录音中的thedockWasdug对应题目中的const
OxfordUniversityscientistswillexperimentonhundredsofpeopleinahidtounderstandhowthebrainworksduringstatesofc
ScientistshadthoughtpeoplebeganmanipulatingfiretocreatetoolsinEuropeabout25,000yearsago.Butthenewfindssugge
最新回复
(
0
)