Baby giraffes inherit(经遗传获得) aspects of their mothers’ patterning—which could give them a survival a
英语试题 02-19
Baby giraffes inherit(经遗传获得) aspects of their mothers’ patterning—which could give them a survival advantage if good camouflage(保护色) runs in the family. Just like humans have unique sets of fingerprints, every giraffe has a unique set of spots.
Derek Lee is a wildlife biologist and population ecologist at Penn State, and with the Wild Nature Institute, a research consulting group.He and his colleagues have been tracking giraffes for seven years, throughout 1,500 square miles in Tanzania.
Now, they’ve used image analysis software to study the spots of mothers and their babies.And they found that baby giraffes inherit at least some particular elements of their patterning from their mothers, like how circular the spots are. They also found that baby giraffes with larger spots have better chance to survive their first months, because the spots are more like the dappled(斑驳的) sunlight in the bushes where baby giraffes like to hide from hungry lions and hyenas (wild animals like dogs).
The results—and a lot of giraffe patterns—are recorded and explained in the journal PeerJ.[Lee et al., Seeing spots：quantifying motheroffspring similarity and assessing fitness consequences of coat pattern traits in a wild population of giraffes(Giraffa camelopardalis)]
It’s perhaps not surprising that a physical characteristic that protects an individual from being eaten passes the test of Darwinian natural selection—and get passed along to later generations.“The fact that these things are inheritable and they do affect survival of baby animals makes us feel like evolution is embodied exactly by these spot features.” So if a mom’s camouflage is good, her babies, too, might have the spots that keep them safer.
24. Why are baby giraffes with larger spots more likely to survive?
A. Because their spots match surroundings better.
B. Because they keep away from lions and hyenas.
C. Because their mothers tend to protect them more.
D. Because they barely move around in the bushes.
25. What does “embodied” underlined in the last paragraph mean?
A. Promoted. B. Represented. C. Questioned. D. Prevented.
26. What is the best title for the text?
A. Animals Have Their Unique Sets of Patterning
B. Mom’s Genes Make Some Giraffes Hard to Spot
C. Derek Lee Has Been Studying Animal Patterning
D. Animal Physical Characteristics Are Similar to Family’s
【答案】
Derek Lee is a wildlife biologist and population ecologist at Penn State, and with the Wild Nature Institute, a research consulting group.He and his colleagues have been tracking giraffes for seven years, throughout 1,500 square miles in Tanzania.
Now, they’ve used image analysis software to study the spots of mothers and their babies.And they found that baby giraffes inherit at least some particular elements of their patterning from their mothers, like how circular the spots are. They also found that baby giraffes with larger spots have better chance to survive their first months, because the spots are more like the dappled(斑驳的) sunlight in the bushes where baby giraffes like to hide from hungry lions and hyenas (wild animals like dogs).
The results—and a lot of giraffe patterns—are recorded and explained in the journal PeerJ.[Lee et al., Seeing spots：quantifying motheroffspring similarity and assessing fitness consequences of coat pattern traits in a wild population of giraffes(Giraffa camelopardalis)]
It’s perhaps not surprising that a physical characteristic that protects an individual from being eaten passes the test of Darwinian natural selection—and get passed along to later generations.“The fact that these things are inheritable and they do affect survival of baby animals makes us feel like evolution is embodied exactly by these spot features.” So if a mom’s camouflage is good, her babies, too, might have the spots that keep them safer.
24. Why are baby giraffes with larger spots more likely to survive?
A. Because their spots match surroundings better.
B. Because they keep away from lions and hyenas.
C. Because their mothers tend to protect them more.
D. Because they barely move around in the bushes.
25. What does “embodied” underlined in the last paragraph mean?
A. Promoted. B. Represented. C. Questioned. D. Prevented.
26. What is the best title for the text?
A. Animals Have Their Unique Sets of Patterning
B. Mom’s Genes Make Some Giraffes Hard to Spot
C. Derek Lee Has Been Studying Animal Patterning
D. Animal Physical Characteristics Are Similar to Family’s
【答案】
苏19057182-3号