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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
在2014年4月19日的托福阅读考试中出现了关于鸟类的集群效应的文章,新东方富亦聪老师指出:动物行为主题是托福阅读常见考点,那么关于动物行为类题目都需要了解哪些背景知识?面对这样的托福考题该如何作答呢?
托福阅读真题再现:
鸟类的集群效应,他们怎么通过集群来保护自己的子嗣和其他的一些集体行为;鸟把巢建在一起
有很多好处,例如某种鸟这样做的很成功:
1. 巢群建在岛上乱石中,防止哺乳动物来吃
2. 天敌来袭时集体抗争
3. 废弃的巢和在用的巢建在一起,以假乱真。还有利于后代存活,后代们一起被孵化,超过了天敌的需求,因此得以保存,还可以互相照看孩子。例如有种美洲的燕子,頟自到不同地方找食物,找不到的回来跟着找到的去,实现了信息共享。也有弊端,巢群外沿易受攻击,所以大家都往里面建巢,所以中心很拥挤,食物消耗也大,容易滋生寄生虫和疾病。
新东方富亦聪老师解析:
动物行为主题是托福阅读常见考点,结构不难理解。需注意各例证和主题的支撑关系。由于条理清晰,最后一题尽量考虑从正面选出,排除为辅。
动物行为类题目相关背景:
Bird colony
A bird colony is a large congregation of individuals of one or more species of bird that nest or roost in proximity1 at a particular location. Many kinds of birds are known to congregate2 in groups of varying size; a congregation of nesting birds is called a breeding colony. Colonial nesting birds include seabirds such as auks and albatrosses; wetland species such as herons; and a few passerines such as weaverbirds, certain blackbirds, and some swallows. A group of birds congregating3 for rest is called a communal4 roost. Evidence of colonial nesting has been found in non-neornithine birds (Enantiornithes), in sediments5 from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Romania.
Ecological6 functions
The habit of nesting in groups is believed to provide better survival against predators8 in several ways. Many colonies are situated9 in locations that are naturally free of predators. In other cases, the presence of many birds means there are more individuals available for defense10. Also, synchronized11 breeding leads to such an abundance of offspring as to satiate predators.
For seabirds, colonies on islands have an obvious advantage over mainland colonies when it comes to protection from terrestrial predators. Other situations can also be found where bird colonies avoid predation. A study of Yellow-rumped Caciques in Peru found that the birds, which build enclosed, pouch-like nests in colonies of up to one hundred active nests, situate themselves near wasp12 nests, which provide some protection from tree-dwelling predators such as monkeys. When other birds came to rob the nests, the caciques would cooperatively defend the colony by mobbing the invader13. Mobbing, clearly a group effort, is well-known behavior, not limited to colonial species; the more birds participating in the mobbing, the more effective it is at driving off the predator7. Therefore, it has been theorized that the larger number of individuals available for vigilance and defense makes the colony a safer place for the individual birds nesting there. More pairs of eyes and ears are available to raise the alarm and rise to the occasion.
Another suggestion is that colonies act as information centers and birds that have not found good foraging14 sites are able to follow others, who have fared better, to find food. This makes sense for foragers because the food source is one that can be locally abundant. This hypothesis would explain why the Lesser15 Kestrel, which feeds on insects, breeds in colonies, while the related Common Kestrel, which feeds on larger prey16, is not.
Colonial behavior has its costs as well. It has been noted17 that parasitism18 by haematozoa is higher in colonial birds and it has been suggested that blood parasites19 might have shaped adaptations such as larger organs in the immune system and life-history traits. Other costs include brood parasitism and competition for food and territory. Colony size is a factor in the ecological function of colony nesting. In a larger colony, increased competition for food can make it harder for parents to feed their chicks.
The benefits and drawbacks for birds of nesting in groups seem to be highly situational. Although scientists have hypothesized about the advantages of group nesting in terms of enabling group defensive20 behavior, escape from predation by being surrounded by neighbors (called the selfish herd21 hypothesis), as well as escaping predators through sheer numbers, in reality, each of these functions evidently depends on a number of factors. Clearly, there can be safety in numbers, but there is some doubt about whether it balances out against the tendency for conspicuous22 breeding colonies to attract predators, and some suggest that colonial breeding can actually make birds more vulnerable. At a Common Tern colony in Minnesota, a study of Spotted23 Sandpipers observed to nest near the tern colony showed that the sandpipers that nested nearest the colony seemed to gain some protection from mammalian predators, but avian predators were apparently24 attracted to the colony and the sandpipers nesting there were actually more vulnerable. In a study of a Least Tern colony in Connecticut, nocturnal avian predators in the form of Black-crowned Night Herons and Great Horned Owls25 were observed to repeatedly invade a colony, flying into the middle of the colony and meeting no resistance.
For seabirds, the location of colonies on islands, which are inaccessible26 to terrestrial predators, is an obvious advantage. Islands where terrestrial predators have arrived in the form of rats, cats, foxes, etc., have devastated27 island seabird colonies. One well-studied case of this phenomenon has been the effect on Common Murre colonies on islands in Alaska, where foxes were introduced for fur farming
点击收听单词发音
1 proximity | |
n.接近,邻近 | |
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2 congregate | |
v.(使)集合,聚集 | |
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3 congregating | |
(使)集合,聚集( congregate的现在分词 ) | |
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4 communal | |
adj.公有的,公共的,公社的,公社制的 | |
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5 sediments | |
沉淀物( sediment的名词复数 ); 沉积物 | |
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6 ecological | |
adj.生态的,生态学的 | |
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7 predator | |
n.捕食其它动物的动物;捕食者 | |
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8 predators | |
n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 );奴役他人者(尤指在财务或性关系方面) | |
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9 situated | |
adj.坐落在...的,处于某种境地的 | |
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10 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
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11 synchronized | |
同步的 | |
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12 wasp | |
n.黄蜂,蚂蜂 | |
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13 invader | |
n.侵略者,侵犯者,入侵者 | |
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14 foraging | |
v.搜寻(食物),尤指动物觅(食)( forage的现在分词 );(尤指用手)搜寻(东西) | |
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15 lesser | |
adj.次要的,较小的;adv.较小地,较少地 | |
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16 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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17 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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18 parasitism | |
n.寄生状态,寄生病;寄生性 | |
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19 parasites | |
寄生物( parasite的名词复数 ); 靠他人为生的人; 诸虫 | |
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20 defensive | |
adj.防御的;防卫的;防守的 | |
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21 herd | |
n.兽群,牧群;vt.使集中,把…赶在一起 | |
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22 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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23 spotted | |
adj.有斑点的,斑纹的,弄污了的 | |
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24 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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25 owls | |
n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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26 inaccessible | |
adj.达不到的,难接近的 | |
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27 devastated | |
v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词);摧毁;毁灭;在感情上(精神上、财务上等)压垮adj.毁坏的;极为震惊的 | |
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