2015年5月24日托福阅读真题+题目+答案：The Geographical Distribution of Gliding Animals

2015年5月24日托福阅读真题+题目+答案：The Geographical Distribution of Gliding Animals

1. Southeast Asia has a unique abundance and diversity of gliding animalsflying squirrels, flying frogs, and flying lizards with wings of skin that enable them to glide through the tropical forest. What could be the explanation for the great diversity in this region and the scarcity of such animals in other tropical forests Gliding has generally been viewed as either a means of escaping predators, by allowing animals to move between trees without descending to the ground, or as an energetically efficient way of traveling long distances between scattered resources. But what is special about Southeast Asian rain forests

2. Scientists have proposed various theories to explain the diversity of gliding animals in Southeast Asia. The first theory might be called the tall-trees hypothesis. The forests of Southeast Asia are taller than forests elsewhere due to the domination of the dipterocarp family: a family of tall, tropical hardwood trees. Taller trees could allow for longer glides and the opportunity to build up speed in a dive before gliding. The lower wind speeds in tall-tree forests might also contribute by providing a more advantageous situation for gliding between trees. This argument has several flaws, however. First, gliding animals are found throughout the Southeast Asian region, even in relatively short-stature forests found in the northern range of the rain forest in China, Vietnam, and Thailand. Some gliders also thrive in low secondary forests, plantations, and even city parks. Clearly, gliding animals do not require tall trees for their activities. In addition, many gliding animals begin their glides from the middle of tree trunks, not even ascending to the tops of trees to take off.

。。。。。此处省略余下原文！

托福阅读真题题目：

1..According to paragraph 1, what question about gliding species are researchers trying to answer

A. Why it took millions of years for gliding animals to evolve in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia

B. Why gliding animals, though rare in most tropical forests, have evolved in so many different families in Southeast Asia

C. Why gliding animals evolved in many tropical forests in Southeast Asia before they evolved in any of the tropical forests elsewhere in the world

D. Why gliding animals evolved only in tropical rain forests

2..According to paragraph 1, it is generally thought that the ability to glide is useful to forest-dwelling species because gliding

A. allows them to adapt to a wide variety of forest conditions

B. eliminates the need to travel long distances in search of food

C. provides a rapid, energy-efficient way of descending from the top of a tree to the ground

D. enables them to move through the forest without being exposed to predators on the ground

3..The word scattered in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. hard to find

B. seasonally available

C. widely separated

D. highly varied

4..All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 2 in support of the tall-trees hypothesis EXCEPT:

A. Tall trees make longer glides possible.

B. Tall trees make building up speed in a dive possible.

C. Tall trees make gliding from the middle of tree trunks possible.

D. Tall-tree forests have lower wind speeds.

。。。。。此处省略余下题目和答案！

2015年5月24日托福阅读真题+题目+答案：The Geographical Distribution of Gliding Animals，完整版下载，10元有偿！