2. 外语
  3. Our study revealed that nest-guarding long-tailed skinks (a species of lizard) homed (returned to their nests) more successfully

Our study revealed that nest-guarding long-tailed skinks (a species of lizard) homed (returned to their nests) more successfully

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问题     Our study revealed that nest-guarding long-tailed skinks (a species of lizard) homed (returned to their nests) more successfully when displaced shorter distances. There are two reasons why homing success rates decreased with increasing displacement distance. One possibility is that females were simply displaced too far to find their way home. However, this is unlikely given that some individuals managed to find their way home from each distance we used. The second possibility deals with trade-offs between the risks associated with making a long return trip and the benefits of returning. Animals should expend energy only when the associated costs are low. As reptiles increase the time spent moving, their daily energy expenditure increases dramatically. The energetic costs of returning home and the chances that the eggs will have been preyed upon during the return trip both increase substantially as displacement distance increases. For example, the 130 hours (5.5 days) that female skinks spent returning from a distance of 300 meters is sufficient for an egg-eating snake to locate and prey upon the entire clutch. However, females with larger clutches were more likely to home at distances over 50 meters. For these females, the relative fitness benefits associated with having more eggs successfully hatch may outweigh the energetic costs of returning to a nest site, even if the nest may have already been preyed upon.
The primary purpose of the passage is to
选项 A、question the validity of research on nest-guarding behavior in long-tailed skinks
B、consider explanations for a finding regarding long-tailed skinks
C、discuss the importance of homing for long-tailed skinks
D、describe the relationship between clutch size and homing success in long-tailed skinks
E、identify the benefits of a behavior common among long-tailed skinks
答案B
解析 a finding对应文章第一句，而文章的主旨便是对这句话所描述的现象给出两种解释，对应该选项的explanations。A项没有质疑任何研究的有效性。C项文章讨论的是为什么有的蜥蜴不回家，没提回家的有效性问题。D项仅仅是原因二，属于细节。E项a behavior可以认为指的是蜥蜴回家，但是文章是为了解释这一行为，而非说它的好处。
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本试题收录于： GRE VERBAL题库GRE分类
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