Deer Antlers and Seasonal Mating
题目：
In temperate (moderate)climates and subpolar regions (those nearer to the poles), where winters are usually long and the vegetation is unproductive for many months, deer need to concentrate all their growth into the spring and summer so as to achieve sufficient size and energy reserves to survive the winter. Seasonal mating is vital to ensure that the young are born at precisely the correct time so as to draw maximum benefit from the rich spring vegetation. Antlers, which are normally found only on male deer, are used as weapons for competing with other males for access to females. This makes them part of a survival strategy that deer have adopted in the temperate and subpolar regions to bring about a process of carefully synchronized mating.
Temperate-climate plants are hugely productive in the long daylight hours of spring when frosts are less common. At this time, not only is growth rapid but levels of nutrients, especially protein, are dramatically higher than they are later in the summer. Of course, during the winter most plants do not grow at all. For mammals, nutritional stresses fall most heavily on milk-producing females: growth of the fetus (unborn offspring) is not nearly as demanding as the production of the milk needed to feed the young. Thus in all temperate-climate herbivores (plant eaters), success depends on birth dates being timed so that the mothers can best exploit spring grass. It would be dangerous for all births to take place at exactly the same time(in too short of a time interval) because of changes in weather patterns from year to year, but the aim must be for the median (middle) calving (birth) date to be consistent from year to year. If too early, there is inadequate vegetation to sustain the mother’s milk supply and the birth weight of the calf (young deer) may be too low. On the other hand, a late calving risks the mother being too fat and the fetus too large, possibly leading to a hazardous birth followed by a struggle to maintain good milk yield and quality as the nutritional value of the vegetation declines. With the onset of winter, such a calf may be too light to survive. Every cell in the body of temperate deer species is therefore perfectly attuned to ensure that the young are born when their mothers can draw the very best from the spring grass.
Given that the length of pregnancy is largely fixed, a synchronized calving-calving coordinated in timing- demands a strenuous mating season with keen competition between males over a quite short period of time known as the rut. During this frenzied period, male deer use every trick and strategy to attract females, bring them into heat, and deter competing males. Most people think antlers are headpieces, just like the horns of the cattle, sheep, antelope, and gazelles of the bovid family. But in reality, antlers are very different. The horned animals retain horns all through their lives. Horns may seem to be dead because of their hard outer layer of keratin, like human fingernails, but inside there is a bone core which is very much alive. Cutting off a horn is a significant, bloody, and painful act of surgery. If an animal breaks its horn it will usually leave open a passage into the head, exposing it to a serious risk of infection and leaving little chance of success in future mating. In contrast, it is common for deer to break their hard antlers during fights with other males in the rutting season and, although the animal may be temporarily disadvantaged for the duration of that season, the antler is dead so there is no pain. Unless the damage extends into the soft live tissue at the base of the antler, the new antler the next season is unaffected. This is possible because their antler headpieces are, despite being bone, deciduous: dropped each year and then regrown. The regrowing antler is the fastest-growing tissue in the mammal kingdom. A big North American bull wapiti may grow his antlers at well over 2.5 cm per day, while even the smaller British red deer will achieve a modest centimeter daily.
1
In temperate (moderate)climates and subpolar regions (those nearer to the poles), where winters are usually long and the vegetation is unproductive for many months, deer need to concentrate all their growth into the spring and summer so as to achieve sufficient size and energy reserves to survive the winter. Seasonal mating is vital to ensure that the young are born at precisely the correct time so as to draw maximum benefit from the rich spring vegetation. Antlers, which are normally found only on male deer, are used as weapons for competing with other males for access to females. This makes them part of a survival strategy that deer have adopted in the temperate and subpolar regions to bring about a process of carefully synchronized mating.
According to paragraph 1,which of the following enables deer to survive in subpolar regions?
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
ADeer are able to survive on vegetation that other animals will not eat during the long winter months.
BMale deer grow antlers to preserve their energy stores for the winter months.
CDeer take advantage of spring and summer vegetation to build strength.
DMating only occurs after a male has developed the ability to secure food sources for himself and the female.
2
Temperate-climate plants are hugely productive in the long daylight hours of spring when frosts are less common. At this time, not only is growth rapid but levels of nutrients, especially protein, are dramatically higher than they are later in the summer. Of course, during the winter most plants do not grow at all. For mammals, nutritional stresses fall most heavily on milk-producing females: growth of the fetus (unborn offspring) is not nearly as demanding as the production of the milk needed to feed the young. Thus in all temperate-climate herbivores (plant eaters), success depends on birth dates being timed so that the mothers can best exploit spring grass. It would be dangerous for all births to take place at exactly the same time(in too short of a time interval) because of changes in weather patterns from year to year, but the aim must be for the median (middle) calving (birth) date to be consistent from year to year. If too early, there is inadequate vegetation to sustain the mother’s milk supply and the birth weight of the calf (young deer) may be too low. On the other hand, a late calving risks the mother being too fat and the fetus too large, possibly leading to a hazardous birth followed by a struggle to maintain good milk yield and quality as the nutritional value of the vegetation declines. With the onset of winter, such a calf may be too light to survive. Every cell in the body of temperate deer species is therefore perfectly attuned to ensure that the young are born when their mothers can draw the very best from the spring grass.
According to paragraph 2,which of the following is true about spring grass that grows in temperate climates?
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
AIt contains more nutrients than summer grass does.
BIt is better able to withstand frosts than summer grass is.
CIt grows better than summer grass does due to the cool temperatures of spring.
DIt is more difficult for mothers to exploit than summer grass is.
3
Temperate-climate plants are hugely productive in the long daylight hours of spring when frosts are less common. At this time, not only is growth rapid but levels of nutrients, especially protein, are dramatically higher than they are later in the summer. Of course, during the winter most plants do not grow at all. For mammals, nutritional stresses fall most heavily on milk-producing females: growth of the fetus (unborn offspring) is not nearly as demanding as the production of the milk needed to feed the young. Thus in all temperate-climate herbivores (plant eaters), success depends on birth dates being timed so that the mothers can best exploit spring grass. It would be dangerous for all births to take place at exactly the same time(in too short of a time interval) because of changes in weather patterns from year to year, but the aim must be for the median (middle) calving (birth) date to be consistent from year to year. If too early, there is inadequate vegetation to sustain the mother’s milk supply and the birth weight of the calf (young deer) may be too low. On the other hand, a late calving risks the mother being too fat and the fetus too large, possibly leading to a hazardous birth followed by a struggle to maintain good milk yield and quality as the nutritional value of the vegetation declines. With the onset of winter, such a calf may be too light to survive. Every cell in the body of temperate deer species is therefore perfectly attuned to ensure that the young are born when their mothers can draw the very best from the spring grass.
According to paragraph 2,all of the following are advantages of giving birth to deer calves at roughly the same time each year EXCEPT:
Negative Factual Information Questions否定事实信息题
AIt enables mothers to produce enough milk to feed their calves.
BIt helps prevent dangerous births.
CIt ensures that calves can grow large enough to survive the winter.
DIt helps ensure that mothers have enough fat to survive the winter.
4
Given that the length of pregnancy is largely fixed, a synchronized calving-calving coordinated in timing- demands a strenuous mating season with keen competition between males over a quite short period of time known as the rut. During this frenzied period, male deer use every trick and strategy to attract females, bring them into heat, and deter competing males. Most people think antlers are headpieces, just like the horns of the cattle, sheep, antelope, and gazelles of the bovid family. But in reality, antlers are very different. The horned animals retain horns all through their lives. Horns may seem to be dead because of their hard outer layer of keratin, like human fingernails, but inside there is a bone core which is very much alive. Cutting off a horn is a significant, bloody, and painful act of surgery. If an animal breaks its horn it will usually leave open a passage into the head, exposing it to a serious risk of infection and leaving little chance of success in future mating. In contrast, it is common for deer to break their hard antlers during fights with other males in the rutting season and, although the animal may be temporarily disadvantaged for the duration of that season, the antler is dead so there is no pain. Unless the damage extends into the soft live tissue at the base of the antler, the new antler the next season is unaffected. This is possible because their antler headpieces are, despite being bone, deciduous: dropped each year and then regrown. The regrowing antler is the fastest-growing tissue in the mammal kingdom. A big North American bull wapiti may grow his antlers at well over 2.5 cm per day, while even the smaller British red deer will achieve a modest centimeter daily.
The word“strenuous”in the passage is closest in meaning to
Vocabulary Questions词汇题
Aearlier
Bquick
Cintense
Dsingle
5
Given that the length of pregnancy is largely fixed, a synchronized calving-calving coordinated in timing- demands a strenuous mating season with keen competition between males over a quite short period of time known as the rut. During this frenzied period, male deer use every trick and strategy to attract females, bring them into heat, and deter competing males. Most people think antlers are headpieces, just like the horns of the cattle, sheep, antelope, and gazelles of the bovid family. But in reality, antlers are very different. The horned animals retain horns all through their lives. Horns may seem to be dead because of their hard outer layer of keratin, like human fingernails, but inside there is a bone core which is very much alive. Cutting off a horn is a significant, bloody, and painful act of surgery. If an animal breaks its horn it will usually leave open a passage into the head, exposing it to a serious risk of infection and leaving little chance of success in future mating. In contrast, it is common for deer to break their hard antlers during fights with other males in the rutting season and, although the animal may be temporarily disadvantaged for the duration of that season, the antler is dead so there is no pain. Unless the damage extends into the soft live tissue at the base of the antler, the new antler the next season is unaffected. This is possible because their antler headpieces are, despite being bone, deciduous: dropped each year and then regrown. The regrowing antler is the fastest-growing tissue in the mammal kingdom. A big North American bull wapiti may grow his antlers at well over 2.5 cm per day, while even the smaller British red deer will achieve a modest centimeter daily.
What is the author’s purpose in stating that”Most people think antlers are headpieces, just like the horns”of animals of the bovid family?
Rhetorical Purpose Questions修辞目的题
ATo illustrate the importance of antlers during mating season
BTo suggest that antlers are widely thought to be an effective weapon during fights
CTo explain how antlers and horns are similar
DTo introduce a discussion about the characteristics of horns and antlers
6
Given that the length of pregnancy is largely fixed, a synchronized calving-calving coordinated in timing- demands a strenuous mating season with keen competition between males over a quite short period of time known as the rut. During this frenzied period, male deer use every trick and strategy to attract females, bring them into heat, and deter competing males. Most people think antlers are headpieces, just like the horns of the cattle, sheep, antelope, and gazelles of the bovid family. But in reality, antlers are very different. The horned animals retain horns all through their lives. Horns may seem to be dead because of their hard outer layer of keratin, like human fingernails, but inside there is a bone core which is very much alive. Cutting off a horn is a significant, bloody, and painful act of surgery. If an animal breaks its horn it will usually leave open a passage into the head, exposing it to a serious risk of infection and leaving little chance of success in future mating. In contrast, it is common for deer to break their hard antlers during fights with other males in the rutting season and, although the animal may be temporarily disadvantaged for the duration of that season, the antler is dead so there is no pain. Unless the damage extends into the soft live tissue at the base of the antler, the new antler the next season is unaffected. This is possible because their antler headpieces are, despite being bone, deciduous: dropped each year and then regrown. The regrowing antler is the fastest-growing tissue in the mammal kingdom. A big North American bull wapiti may grow his antlers at well over 2.5 cm per day, while even the smaller British red deer will achieve a modest centimeter daily.
The word”This”in the passage refers to replacing a damaged antler with a healthy new one
Reference Questions指代题
Areplacing a damaged antler with a healthy new one
Bhaving live tissue at the base of the dead antler
Cpreventing damage to the soft live tissue at the base of the antler
Dproducing healthy new antler tissue despite damage to the base of the antler
7
Given that the length of pregnancy is largely fixed, a synchronized calving-calving coordinated in timing- demands a strenuous mating season with keen competition between males over a quite short period of time known as the rut. During this frenzied period, male deer use every trick and strategy to attract females, bring them into heat, and deter competing males. Most people think antlers are headpieces, just like the horns of the cattle, sheep, antelope, and gazelles of the bovid family. But in reality, antlers are very different. The horned animals retain horns all through their lives. Horns may seem to be dead because of their hard outer layer of keratin, like human fingernails, but inside there is a bone core which is very much alive. Cutting off a horn is a significant, bloody, and painful act of surgery. If an animal breaks its horn it will usually leave open a passage into the head, exposing it to a serious risk of infection and leaving little chance of success in future mating. In contrast, it is common for deer to break their hard antlers during fights with other males in the rutting season and, although the animal may be temporarily disadvantaged for the duration of that season, the antler is dead so there is no pain. Unless the damage extends into the soft live tissue at the base of the antler, the new antler the next season is unaffected. This is possible because their antler headpieces are, despite being bone, deciduous: dropped each year and then regrown. The regrowing antler is the fastest-growing tissue in the mammal kingdom. A big North American bull wapiti may grow his antlers at well over 2.5 cm per day, while even the smaller British red deer will achieve a modest centimeter daily.
Paragraph 3 suggests which of the following about the consequences of breaking a horn?
Inference Questions推理题
AIt causes little pain as horns are mostly dead tissue.
BIt seriously affects the animal for the rest of the animal’s life.
CIt is more common than breaking an antler.
DIt does not affect future mating as much as breaking an antler does.
8
Given that the length of pregnancy is largely fixed, a synchronized calving-calving coordinated in timing- demands a strenuous mating season with keen competition between males over a quite short period of time known as the rut. During this frenzied period, male deer use every trick and strategy to attract females, bring them into heat, and deter competing males. Most people think antlers are headpieces, just like the horns of the cattle, sheep, antelope, and gazelles of the bovid family. But in reality, antlers are very different. The horned animals retain horns all through their lives. Horns may seem to be dead because of their hard outer layer of keratin, like human fingernails, but inside there is a bone core which is very much alive. Cutting off a horn is a significant, bloody, and painful act of surgery. If an animal breaks its horn it will usually leave open a passage into the head, exposing it to a serious risk of infection and leaving little chance of success in future mating. In contrast, it is common for deer to break their hard antlers during fights with other males in the rutting season and, although the animal may be temporarily disadvantaged for the duration of that season, the antler is dead so there is no pain. Unless the damage extends into the soft live tissue at the base of the antler, the new antler the next season is unaffected. This is possible because their antler headpieces are, despite being bone, deciduous: dropped each year and then regrown. The regrowing antler is the fastest-growing tissue in the mammal kingdom. A big North American bull wapiti may grow his antlers at well over 2.5 cm per day, while even the smaller British red deer will achieve a modest centimeter daily.
According to paragraph 3,which of the following is true about antlers?
Factual Information Questions事实信息题
ATheir cores are made of live tissue.
BIf damaged, they quickly repair themselves during the mating season.
CThey fall off naturally each year and then grow back.
DThey grow faster in deer that are smaller in body size.
9
Temperate-climate plants are hugely productive in the long daylight hours of spring when frosts are less common. At this time, not only is growth rapid but levels of nutrients, especially protein, are dramatically higher than they are later in the summer.[■] Of course, during the winter most plants do not grow at all. [■] For mammals, nutritional stresses fall most heavily on milk-producing females: growth of the fetus (unborn offspring) is not nearly as demanding as the production of the milk needed to feed the young. [■] Thus in all temperate-climate herbivores (plant eaters), success depends on birth dates being timed so that the mothers can best exploit spring grass.[■] It would be dangerous for all births to take place at exactly the same time(in too short of a time interval) because of changes in weather patterns from year to year, but the aim must be for the median (middle) calving (birth) date to be consistent from year to year. If too early, there is inadequate vegetation to sustain the mother’s milk supply and the birth weight of the calf (young deer) may be too low. On the other hand, a late calving risks the mother being too fat and the fetus too large, possibly leading to a hazardous birth followed by a struggle to maintain good milk yield and quality as the nutritional value of the vegetation declines. With the onset of winter, such a calf may be too light to survive. Every cell in the body of temperate deer species is therefore perfectly attuned to ensure that the young are born when their mothers can draw the very best from the spring grass.
Look at the four squares[■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage
This seasonal variation affects the reproduction cycles of animals.Insert Text Questions句子插入题
Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.
10
Deer in temperate and subpolar regions synchronize their mating.
Prose Summary Questions概要小结题
Select 3 answers
ADeer cannot obtain much energy during winter, when most plants do not grow at all, so it is important for them to increase their size and energy reserves before winter comes.
BFemales sometimes delay mating depending on the weather patterns and the quality and quantity of grass in their region.
CSynchronized mating means that the mating season occurs within a short period of time, which leads to intense competition among male deer for mating partners.
DThe median time of giving birth occurs around the same time every year so that young deer have the best chance of surviving the harsh conditions of winter.
EOne disadvantage of synchronizing the birth of deer calves is that calves then have to compete for available vegetation.
FIt is common for antlers to break during most of the year, but during the rut they develop a hard outer layer of keratin and may be used as weapons for competing for access to females.
