Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.
Key words in questions: The reason why had big size mammals become extinct 11,000 years ago is under hot debate. First explanation is that 1________ of human made it happen. | Similar words in passage: Some 11,000 years ago, however, these large-bodied mammals and others – about 70 species in all – disappeared…. Now new findings offer support to one of these controversial hypotheses: that human hunting drove this megafaunal menagerie to extinction. |
From the question, we can assume that the answer may be a Noun + Just take a look at the sentence: “Some 11,000 years ago, however, these large-bodied mammals and others – about 70 species in all – disappeared.”, this sentence contains the keywords relating to the question => The answer must be somewhere near this sentence. + Understanding the idea in the question, the answer is placed in “support to one of these controversial hypotheses: that human hunting drove this megafaunal menagerie to extinction”. We choose “hunting” as the correct answer for this question. |
Key words in questions: This so called 2.___________ began from 1960s suggested by an expert, who however received criticism of lack of further information. | Similar words in passage: The overkill model emerged in the 1960s, when it was put forth by Paul S. Martin of the University of Arizona. |
From the question, we can assume that the answer may be a Noun + Just take a look at the sentence: “The overkill model emerged in the 1960s”, this sentence contains all two key words in the question => the answer must be somewhere in this sentence We choose “overkill model” as the correct answer for this question. |
Key words in questions: Another assumption promoted by MacPhee is that deadly 3.__________ from human causes their demises. | Similar words in passage: MacPhee agrees that humans most likely brought about these extinctions (as well as others around the world that coincided with human arrival), but not directly. Rather he suggests that people may have introduced hyperlethal disease , perhaps through their dogs or hitchhiking vermin, which then spread wildly among the immunologically naive species of the New World |
From the question, we can assume that the answer may be a Noun + Just take a look at the sentence: “Rather he suggests that people may have introduced hyperlethal disease , perhaps through their dogs or hitchhiking vermin, which then spread wildly among the immunologically naive species of the New World”, this sentence confirms that “people introduced hyperlethal disease… and then spreadly wildly among species” We choose “hyperlethal disease” as the correct answer for this question. |
Key words in questions: However his hypothesis required more 4________ to testify its validity. | Similar words in passage: So far MacPhee does not have empirical evidence for the hyperdisease hypothesis, and it won’t be easy to come by: hyperlethal disease would kill far too quickly to leave its signature on the bones themselves. |
+ Just take a look at the sentence: “So far MacPhee does not have empirical evidence for the hyperdisease hypothesis”, this sentence has same meaning with the question. We choose “empirical evidence” as the correct answer for this question. |
Key words in questions: Graham proposed a third hypothesis that 5______ in Pleistocene epoch…. | Similar words in passage: The third explanation for what brought on this North American extinction does not involvehuman beings. Instead its proponents blame the loss on the weather. The Pleistocene epoch witnessed considerable climatic instability , explains paleontologist Russell W. Graham of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. |
+ Just take a look at the sentence: “The Pleistocene epoch witnessed considerable climatic instability , explains paleontologist Russell W. Graham of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.”, this sentence has same meaning with the question. We choose “considerable climatic instability” as the correct answer for this question. |
Key words in questions: ….. reduced 6_______ posed a dangerous signal to these giants | Similar words in passage: The Pleistocene epoch witnessed considerable climatic instability, explains paleontologist Russell W. Graham of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. As a result, certain habitats disappeared, and species that had once formed communities split apart. For some animals, this change brought opportunity. For much of the megafauna, however, the increasingly homogeneous environment left them with shrinking geographical ranges – a death sentence for large animals, which need large ranges. |
+ Just take a look at the sentence: “For much of the megafauna, however, the increasingly homogeneous environment left them with shrinking geographical ranges – a death sentence for large animals, which need large ranges”, this sentence contains key words in the question => the answer must be somewhere in this sentence. We choose “geographical ranges” as the correct answer for this question. |
Key words in questions: and 7_______ finally wiped them out. | Similar words in passage: Although these creatures managed to maintain viable populations through most of the Pleistocene, the final major fluctuation – the so-called Younger Dryas event – pushed them over the edge, Graham says. |
+ Just take a look at the sentence: “the final major fluctuation – the so-called Younger Dryas event – pushed them over the edge, Graham says.”, this sentence contains key words in the question => the answer must be somewhere in this sentence. We choose “Younger Dryas event” as the correct answer for this question. |
Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-C) with opinions or deeds below.
Write the appropriate letters A-C in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.
NB you may use any letter more than once.
A | John Alroy |
B | Ross D.E. MacPhee |
C | Russell W. Graham |
8 Human hunting well explained which species would finally disappear.
9 Further grounded proof needed to explain human’s indirect impact on mammals
10 Over hunting situation has caused die-out of large mammals.
11 Illness rather than hunting caused extensive extinction.
12 Doubt raised through the study of several fossil records.
13 Climate shift is the main reason of extinction.
Human hunting well explained which species would finally disappear.
Reading sentences in the end of paragraph F,
“For his part, Alroy is convinced that human hunters demolished the titans of the Ice Age. The overkill model explains everything the disease and climate scenarios explain, he asserts, and makes accurate predictions about which species would eventually go extinct.”
Further grounded proof needed to explain human’s indirect impact on mammals
In the beginning of paragraph E, you could see that:
“MacPhee agrees that humans most likely brought about these extinctions (as well as others around the world that coincided with human arrival), but not directly…. So far MacPhee does not have empirical evidence for the hyperdisease hypothesis”
Indirect = not directly
Further grounded proof needed = does not have empirical evidence.
It refers to Ross D. E. MacPhee – B is the correct answer
Answer: B
Over hunting situation has caused die-out of large mammals.
After reading paragraph C,
“Alroy determined that if each band of, say, 50 people killed 15 to 20 large mammals a year, humans could have eliminated the animal populations within 1,000 years”
“50 people killed 15 to 20 large mammals a year” refers to meaning “over hunting”
Could have eliminated animal within 1000 years ( loại bỏ dần trong 1000 nam) = has caused die- out ( dẫn đến chết dần)
It is John Alroy’s opinion – A is the correct answer
Answer: A
Illness rather than hunting caused extensive extinction.
“Rather he suggests that people may have introduced hyperlethal disease , perhaps through their dogs or hitchhiking vermin, which then spread wildly among the immunologically naive species of the New World.
“He” refers to Ross D.E. MacPhee
Illness = disease
Extensive extinction = spread wildly
It is Ross D. E. MacPhee’s opinion – B is the correct answer
Doubt raised through the study of several fossil records.
“But a more specificcriticism comes from mammalogist Ross D. E. MacPhee of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, who points out that the relevant archaeological record contains barely a dozen examples of stone points embedded in mammoth bones”
Doubt raised = specific criticism
Fossil = stone embedded in mammoth bones.
It is Ross D. E. MacPhee’s opinion – B is the correct answer
Climate shift is the main reason of extinction.
In the beginning of paragraph F,
This sentence “The third explanation for what brought on this North American extinction does not involve human beings. Instead its proponents blame the loss on the weather. The Pleistocene epoch witnessed considerable climatic instability , explains paleontologist Russell W. Graham of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science” shows that “climatic instability” is the reason of extinction.
Note:
Only Graham mentioned “climate” for the explanation of extinction
It is Russell W. Graham’s opinion – C is the correct answer.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus, proboscideans commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair. They lived from the Pliocene epoch (from around 5 million years ago) into the Holocene at about 4,500 years ago, and were members of the family Elephantidae, which contains, along with mammoths, the two genera of modern elephants and their ancestors.
A Like their modern relatives, mammoths were quite large. The largest known species reached heights in the region of 4 m at the shoulder and weights of up to 8 tonnes, while exceptionally large males may have exceeded 12 tonnes. However, most species of mammoth were only about as large as a modern Asian elephant. Both sexes bore tusks. A first, small set appeared at about the age of six months, and these were replaced at about 18 months by the permanent set. Growth of the permanent set was at a rate of about 2.5 to 15.2 cm per year. Based on studies of their close relatives, the modern elephants, mammoths probably had a gestation period of 22 months, resulting in a single calf being born. Their social structure was probably the same as that of African and Asian elephants, with females living in herds headed by a matriarch, whilst bulls lived solitary lives or formed loose groups after sexual maturity.
B MEXICO CITY – Although it’s hard to imagine in this age of urban sprawl and automobiles, North America once belonged to mammoths, camels, ground sloths as large as cows, bear-size beavers and other formidable beasts. Some 11,000 years ago, however, these large-bodied mammals and others – about 70 species in all – disappeared. Their demise coincided roughly with the arrival of humans in the New World and dramatic climatic change – factors that have inspired several theories about the die-off. Yet despite decades of scientific investigation, the exact cause remains a mystery. Now new findings offer support to one of these controversial hypotheses: that human hunting drove this megafaunal menagerie to extinction. The overkill model emerged in the 1960s, when it was put forth by Paul S. Martin of the University of Arizona. Since then, critics have charged that no evidence exists to support the idea that the first Americans hunted to the extent necessary to cause these extinctions. But at the annual meeting of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology in Mexico City last October, paleoecologist John Alroy of the University of California at Santa Barbara argued that, in fact, hunting-driven extinction is not only plausible, it was unavoidable. He has determined, using a computer simulation, that even a very modest amount of hunting would have wiped these animals out.
C Assuming an initial human population of 100 people that grew no more than 2 percent annually, Alroy determined that if each band of, say, 50 people killed 15 to 20 large mammals a year, humans could have eliminated the animal populations within 1,000 years. Large mammals in particular would have been vulnerable to the pressure because they have longer gestation periods than smaller mammals and their young require extended care.
D Not everyone agrees with Alroy’s assessment. For one, the results depend in part on population-size estimates for the extinct animals – figures that are not necessarily reliable. But a more specific criticism comes from mammalogist Ross D. E. MacPhee of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, who points out that the relevant archaeological record contains barely a dozen examples of stone points embedded in mammoth bones (and none, it should be noted, are known from other megafaunal remains) – hardly what one might expect if hunting drove these animals to extinction. Furthermore, some of these species had huge ranges – the giant Jefferson’s ground sloth, for example, lived as far north as the Yukon and as far south as Mexico – which would have made slaughtering them in numbers sufficient to cause their extinction rather implausible, he says.
E MacPhee agrees that humans most likely brought about these extinctions (as well as others around the world that coincided with human arrival), but not directly. Rather he suggests that people may have introduced hyperlethal disease, perhaps through their dogs or hitchhiking vermin, which then spread wildly among the immunologically naive species of the New World. As in the overkill model, populations of large mammals would have a harder time recovering. Repeated outbreaks of a hyperdisease could thus quickly drive them to the point of no return. So far MacPhee does not have empirical evidence for the hyperdisease hypothesis, and it won’t be easy to come by: hyperlethal disease would kill far too quickly to leave its signature on the bones themselves. But he hopes that analyses of tissue and DNA from the last mammoths to perish will eventually reveal murderous microbes.
F The third explanation for what brought on this North American extinction does not involve human beings. Instead its proponents blame the loss on the weather. The Pleistocene epoch witnessed considerable climatic instability, explains paleontologist Russell W. Graham of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. As a result, certain habitats disappeared, and species that had once formed communities split apart. For some animals, this change brought opportunity. For much of the megafauna, however, the increasingly homogeneous environment left them with shrinking geographical ranges – a death sentence for large animals, which need large ranges. Although these creatures managed to maintain viable populations through most of the Pleistocene, the final major fluctuation – the so-called Younger Dryas event – pushed them over the edge, Graham says. For his part, Alroy is convinced that human hunters demolished the titans of the Ice Age. The overkill model explains everything the disease and climate scenarios explain, he asserts, and makes accurate predictions about which species would eventually go extinct. “Personally, I’m a vegetarian,” he remarks, “and I find all of this kind of gross – but believable.”
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