阅读理解:Biologists have long maintained that two grou
阅读理解:Biologists have long maintained that two groups of pinnipeds, sea lions and walruses, are descended from a terrestrial bearlike animal, whereas the remaining group, seals, shares an ancestor with weasels.
But the recent discovery of detailed similarities in the skeletal structure of the flippers in all three groups undermines the attempt to explain away superficial resemblance as due to convergent evolution—the independent development of similarities between unrelated groups in response to similar environmental pressures.
Flippers may indeed be a necessary response to aquatic life; turtles, whales, and dugongs also have them.
But the common detailed design found among the pinnipeds probably indicates a common ancestor.
Moreover, walruses and seals drive themselves through the water with thrusts of their hind flippers, but sea lions use their front flippers.
If anatomical similarity in the flippers resulted from similar environmental pressures, as posited by the convergent-evolution theory, one would expect walruses and seals, but not seals and sea lions, to have similar flippers. (162 words)
1. The author implies that which of the following was part of the long-standing view concerning pinnipeds?
A Pinnipeds are all descended from a terrestrial bearlike animal.
B Pinnipeds share a common ancestor with turtles, whales, and dugongs
C Similarities among pinnipeds are due to their all having had to adapt to aquatic life.
2. The author implies which of the following about the fact that turtles, whales, and dugongs all have flippers?
A It can be explained by the hypothesis that turtles, whales, and dugongs are very closely related.
B It can be explained by the idea of convergent evolution.
C It suggests that turtles, whales, and dugongs evolved in separate parts of the world
D It undermines the view that turtles, whales, and dugongs are all descended from terrestrial ancestors.
E It is the primary difference between turtles, whales, and dugongs, on the one hand, and pinnipeds, on the other.
3. Select the sentence in the passage in which the author shows that the implication of the common view is contradicted by a new finding.
参考解答
答案:
1.C
A 根据句 1 可判断在瞎聊。
B 句 3 告诉我们,这些不同种的动物进化出同一个特征是因为同样的环境压力,也就是汇聚理论,并非因为它们有着共同的祖先。
儒艮是这样的一种动物,有点像海牛
C 正确。
2.B
句2是个长句,其中详细解释了什么叫做convergent evolution
But the recent discovery of detailed similarities in the skeletal structure of the flippers in all three groups undermines the attempt to explain away superficial resemblance as due toconvergent evolution—the independent development of similarities between unrelated groups in response to similar environmental pressures.
可见不同种的动物因为类似的环境压力彼此独立地发展出一些共同点,就叫convergent evolution,也就是趋同理论,所以B的描述是对的。
3.第2句
But the recent discovery of detailed similarities in the skeletal structure of the flippers in all three groups undermines the attempt to explain away superficial resemblance as due to convergent evolution—the independent development of similarities between unrelated groups in response to similar environmental pressures.
以前生物学家认为海豹,海狮,海象都有鳍足,是一种趋同现象,他们的祖先不同,只是相似的环境压力使他们不约而同地进化出了相同的鳍状足。
句1告诉我们的,海象海狮是一种陆生熊祖先的后代,海豹则跟黄鼠狼有亲缘关系。
句2告诉我们,现在发现了新证据,它们的鳍足的骨骼结构的一些细节,证明他们可能有着共同的祖先,也就是说以前的那种common view被反驳了。
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