托福閱讀真題Official 45 Passage 3（五）

托福閱讀真題Official 45 Passage 3（五）

Feeding Strategies in the Ocean

In the open sea,animals can often find food reliably available in particular regions or seasons(e.g.,in coastal areas in springtime).In these circumstances,animals are neither constrained to get the last calorie out of their diet nor is energy conservation a high priority.In contrast,the food levels in the deeper layers of the ocean are greatly reduced,and the energy constraints on the animals are much more severe.To survive at those levels,animals must maximize their energy input,finding and eating whatever potential food source may be present.

In the near-surface layers,there are many large,fast carnivores as well as an immense variety of planktonic animals,which feed on plankton(small,free-floating plants or animals)by filtering them from currents of water that pass through a specialized anatomical structure.These filter-feeders thrive in the well-illuminated surface waters because oceans have so many very small organisms,from bacteria to large algae to larval crustaceans.Even fishes can become successful filter-feeders in some circumstances.Although the vast majority of marine fishes are carnivores,in near-surface regions of high productivity the concentrations of larger phytoplankton(the plant component of plankton)are sufficient to support huge populations of filter-feeding sardines and anchovies.These small fishes use their gill filaments to strain out the algae that dominate such areas.Sardines and anchovies provide the basis for huge commercial fisheries as well as a food resource for large numbers of local carnivores,particularly seabirds.At a much larger scale,baleen whales and whale sharks are also efficient filter-feeders in productive coastal or polar waters,although their filtered particles comprise small animals such as copepods and krill rather than phytoplankton.

Filtering seawater for its particulate nutritional content can be an energetically demanding method of feeding,particularly when the current of water to be filtered has to be generated by the organism itself,as is the case for all planktonic animals.Particulate organic matter of at least 2.5 micrograms per cubic liter is required to provide a filter-feeding planktonic organism with a net energy gain.This value is easily exceeded in most coastal waters,but in the deep sea,the levels of organic matter range from next to nothing to around 7 micrograms per cubic liter.Even though mean levels may mask much higher local concentrations,it is still the case that many deep-sea animals are exposed to conditions in which a normal filter-feeder would starve.

There are,therefore,fewer successful filter-feeders in deep water,and some of those that are there have larger filtering systems to cope with the scarcity of particles.Another solution for such animals is to forage in particular layers of water where the particles may be more concentrated.Many of the groups of animals that typify the filter-feeding lifestyle in shallow water have deep-sea representatives that have become predatory.Their filtering systems,which reach such a high degree of development in shallow-water species,are greatly reduced.Alternative methods of active or passive prey capture have been evolved,including trapping and seizing prey,entangling prey,and sticky tentacles.

In the deeper waters of the oceans,there is a much greater tendency for animals to await the arrival of food particles or prey rather than to search them out actively(thus minimizing energy expenditure).This has resulted in a more stealthy style of feeding,with the consequent emphasis on lures and/or the evolution of elongated appendages that increase the active volume of water controlled or monitored by the animal.Another consequence of the limited availability of prey is that many animals have developed ways of coping with much larger food particles,relative to their own body size,than the equivalent shallower species can process.Among the fishes there is a tendency for the teeth and jaws to become appreciably enlarged.In such creatures,not only are the teeth hugely enlarged and/or the jaws elongated but the size of the mouth opening may be greatly increased by making the jaw articulations so flexible that they can be effectively dislocated.Very large or long teeth provide almost no room for cutting the prey into a convenient size for swallowing;the fish must gulp the prey down whole.

Question 9 of 14

Why does the author include the information that animals in the deep ocean place an“emphasis on lures”and have evolved“elongated appendages”?

A.To argue against the view that animals in the deep ocean use more energy to find food than do animals in shallow waters

B.To emphasize the importance of an animal’s ability to control a large volume of water

C.To identify some feeding strategies that animals have developed to minimize their energy expenditure

D.To give examples of body structures that help those animals move quickly in deep ocean waters

正確答案：C

題目詳解

題型分類：修辭目的題

題干分析：考察句子之間的關(guān)系，原句開頭this指代前文，result in意思為“導(dǎo)致，結(jié)果是”，因此需要往前一句看，前面的內(nèi)容是原因：更深的海域，動物更傾向于被動等待食物顆粒或者獵物的來臨，而不是主動去尋找它們。

選項分析：

C選項，minimize their energy expenditure對應(yīng)定語句前一句thus minimizing energy expenditure。總結(jié)了作者提出題干信息的原因，因此選擇C選項。

A選項，use more energy沒有在前文提到，所以作者不能argue against。

B選項，to control a large volume of water只出現(xiàn)在定位句，是定位句的內(nèi)容，不是定位句的原因。

D選項，move quickly無中生有。

Question 10 of 14

The phrase“coping with”in the passage is closest in meaning to

A.absorbing

B.finding

C.approaching

D.managing

正確答案：D

題目詳解

題型分類：詞匯題

選項分析：

詞匯所在句“獵物數(shù)量有限的另外一個后果是，很多動物經(jīng)過進(jìn)化都可以處理相對于自身體積來講更大的食物，比相應(yīng)的淺海區(qū)動物能處理的食物要大得多”，coping with與后面的process位置一致，意思相近。帶入D選項managing意思為“處理”，符合語境。coping with原意為“處理”。

A選項absorbing吸收。

B選項finding找到。

C選項approaching靠近。

因此，選項D符合題干詞意。

>> 雅思 托福 免費測試、量身規(guī)劃、讓英語學(xué)習(xí)不再困難<<