The fossil remains of the first flying vertebrates, the pterosaurs, have intrigued paleontologists for more than two centuries. How such large creatures, which weighed in some cases as much as a piloted hang-glider and had wingspans from 8 to 12 meters, solved the problems of powered flight, and exactly what these creatures were—reptiles or birds—are among the questions scientists have puzzled over.
Perhaps the least controversial assertion about the pterosaurs is that they were reptiles. Their skulls, pelvises, and hind feet are reptilian. The anatomy of their wings suggests that they did not evolve into the class of birds. In pterosaurs a greatly elongated fourth finger of each forelimb supported a wing-like membrane. The other fingers were short and reptilian, with sharp claws. In birds the second finger is the principal strut of the wing, which consists primarily of feathers. If the pterosaurs walked on all fours, the three short fingers may have been employed for grasping. When a pterosaur walked or remained stationary, the fourth finger, and with it the wing, could only turn upward in an extended inverted V-shape along each side of the animal’s body.
The pterosaurs resembled both birds and bats in their overall structure and proportions. This is not surprising because the design of any flying vertebrate is subject to aerodynamic constraints. Both the pterosaurs and the birds have hollow bones, a feature that represents a savings in weight. In the birds, however, these bones are reinforced more massively by internal struts.
Although scales typically cover reptiles, the pterosaurs probably had hairy coats. T. H. Huxley reasoned that flying vertebrates must have been warm-blooded because flying implies a high rate of metabolism, which in turn implies a high internal temperature. Huxley speculated that a coat of hair would insulate against loss of body heat and might streamline the body to reduce drag in flight. The recent discovery of a pterosaur specimen covered in long, dense, and relatively thick hairlike fossil material was the first clear evidence that his reasoning was correct.
Efforts to explain how the pterosaurs became airborne have led to suggestions that they launched themselves by jumping from cliffs, by dropping from trees, or even by rising into light winds from the crests of waves. Each hypothesis has its difficulties. The first wrongly assumes that the pterosaurs’ hind feet resembled a bat’s and could serve as hooks by which the animal could hang in preparation for flight. The second hypothesis seems unlikely because large pterosaurs could not have landed in trees without damaging their wings. The third calls for high waves to channel updrafts. The wind that made such waves however, might have been too strong for the pterosaurs to control their flight once airborne.
It can be inferred from the passage that some scientists believe that pterosaurs
(A) lived near large bodies of water
(B) had sharp teeth for tearing food
(C) were attacked and eaten by larger reptiles
(D) had longer tails than many birds（A）
(E) consumed twice their weight daily to maintain their body temperature
I don't know where in the passage to find the answer. Could anybody help?
Thanks!
[此贴子已经被作者于2005-1-9 23:18:08编辑过]
作者: brace 时间: 2005-1-8 01:48
贴全题目吧。
作者: fdpy 时间: 2005-2-22 12:24
ti
我也不明白！NN救命
作者: wangyu73cn 时间: 2005-2-23 18:03
Efforts to explain how the pterosaurs became airborne have led to suggestions that they launched themselves by jumping from cliffs, by dropping from trees, or even by rising into light winds from the crests of waves.
The third calls for high waves to channel updrafts.
The wind that made such waves however, might have been too strong for the pterosaurs to control their flight once airborne.
one more point: the author has used "wrongly" and "unlikely" to negatize that the first and the second assumpation, while for teh third one, he used "might have been", which implies he was not quite sure this wouldn't happen.
as a result, although three explainations all have their difficulties, the author seems prefer to the 3rd explaination. So we can "conclude", he, at least, didn't negatize the 3rd one.
作者: EASYSUMMER 时间: 2005-3-5 00:13
wangyu73cn,的回答很全面，但是elvislg2003 的有些不能苟同。。
因为本文的 第一体实际上就是对 the 3rd one. 的判断。。。。及“unlikely”。
本题也不涉及到这些可科学家的观点是否正确的 问题。只是说有些科学家的 观点而已。。
作者: wangyu73cn 时间: 2005-3-5 00:42
我也基本同意easysummer的观点。另外，文章也提及Each hypothesis has its difficulties.然后下面的几点都是对此句的具体阐述了。由此可以看出，需要注意把握文章结构和内在联系。 作者: quiny 时间: 2005-7-26 15:47
up作者: 晶莹 时间: 2006-6-15 13:53
5.It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is characteristic of the pterosaurs?
(A) They were unable to fold their wings when not in use.
(B) They hung upside down from branches as bats do before flight.
(C) They flew in order to capture prey.
(D) They were an early stage in the evolution of the birds.
(E) They lived primarily in a forest-like habitat.
请问这一题是因为文章里面说“The second hypothesis seems unlikely because large pterosaurs could not have landed in trees without damaging their wings”么，还是应该定位在别的地方？
it is in the second para. "When a pterosaur walked or remained stationary, the fourth finger, and with it the wing, could only turn upward in an extended inverted V-shape along each side of the animal’s body."
作者: hru 时间: 2007-2-15 15:19
up作者: Yangsuolibyu 时间: 2007-7-12 12:21
Yes, i agree with you on #5, that come from the second hypothesis作者: never3738 时间: 2007-7-15 05:59
AGREE.
[此贴子已经被作者于2007-7-15 6:00:24编辑过]
作者: raikey 时间: 2007-11-15 17:24
以下是引用晶莹在2006-6-15 13:53:00的发言：
5.It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is characteristic of the pterosaurs?
(A) They were unable to fold their wings when not in use.
(B) They hung upside down from branches as bats do before flight.
(C) They flew in order to capture prey.
(D) They were an early stage in the evolution of the birds.
(E) They lived primarily in a forest-like habitat.
请问这一题是因为文章里面说“The second hypothesis seems unlikely because large pterosaurs could not have landed in trees without damaging their wings”么，还是应该定位在别的地方？
我认为E错是因为没有足够证据能证明翼龙生活在类似森林的地方, 但是为什么A对呢?文章说了When a pterosaur walked or remained stationary, the fourth finger, and with it the wing, could only turn upward in an extended inverted V-shape along each side of the animal’s body, 即翼龙走路时每个翅膀成"倒V字形",这种形态,与翼龙飞翔时翅膀的形态相比,难道不算是"折起来了"吗?
另外,文章有提到"The anatomy of their wings suggests that they did not evolve into the class of birds", 这还不足以说明"翼龙是鸟类的初始形态"吗?------D貌似正确.
作者: lemony55 时间: 2007-11-15 23:03
我做时也选了D,不过看此句-"The anatomy of their wings suggests that they did not evolve into the class of birds".我的理解是以翼龙根本不算是鸟类一众,更不用说是处于早期.但A我也不知道为什么对,求有效解!
作者: nk_jade 时间: 2008-8-30 18:33
我觉得文章已经说了科学教比较接受翼龙是属于reptile，而非鸟类。
所以鸟类的进化跟翼龙就没有关系啊~~
[此贴子已经被作者于2008-8-30 18:33:53编辑过]
作者: ryanyong 时间: 2009-6-6 16:28
我觉得文章已经说了科学教比较接受翼龙是属于reptile，而非鸟类。
所以鸟类的进化跟翼龙就没有关系啊~~
同意，文章第二段开头就点明了
Perhaps the least controversial assertion about the pterosaurs is that they were reptiles.
"……最少争议……”
作者: michzhou 时间: 2009-6-10 07:51 标题: 回复：（wangyu73cn）Efforts to explain how the pte... i don't agree with wangyu73cn. the key for q7 is cliff in the last paragraph: cliff: A steep rock face, usually facing the sea.作者: gracezz 时间: 2010-4-19 17:14
贴个第四题问一下： 3. According to the passage, the skeleton of a pterosaur can be distinguished from that of a bird by the (A) size of its wingspan (B) presence of hollow spaces in its bones (C) anatomic origin of its wing strut (D) presence of hooklike projections on its hind feet (E) location of the shoulder joint joining the wing to its body
选C，但是我选的E， 因为原文里说：小龙是第四个finger支持翅膀，鸟是第二个，因为这个我就选了E，现在明白了原文的定位在第二段第三句。但是也没有说是 anatomic origin 啊？这个origin是怎么来的呢？ 请指教请指教~不胜感激！！作者: 苏晨 时间: 2010-6-12 12:56
1.It can be inferred from the passage that scientists now generally agree that the (A) enormous wingspan of the pterosaurs enabled them to fly great distances (B) structure of the skeleton of the pterosaurs suggests a close evolutionary relationship to bats (C) fossil remains of the pterosaurs reveal how they solved the problem of powered flight (D) pterosaurs were reptiles (E) pterosaurs walked on all fours 根据scientists now generally agree that应该在哪定位啊？？？？？？？作者: buffonjuventus 时间: 2010-9-28 18:37
贴个第四题问一下： 3. According to the passage, the skeleton of a pterosaur can be distinguished from that of a bird by the (A) size of its wingspan (B) presence of hollow spaces in its bones (C) anatomic origin of its wing strut (D) presence of hooklike projections on its hind feet (E) location of the shoulder joint joining the wing to its body
The anatomy of their wings suggests that they did not evolve into the class of birds. 这个是第二段的第二句话。他们的翅膀的解剖suggests。。。作者: buffonjuventus 时间: 2010-9-28 18:38
1.It can be inferred from the passage that scientists now generally agree that the (A) enormous wingspan of the pterosaurs enabled them to fly great distances (B) structure of the skeleton of the pterosaurs suggests a close evolutionary relationship to bats (C) fossil remains of the pterosaurs reveal how they solved the problem of powered flight (D) pterosaurs were reptiles (E) pterosaurs walked on all fours 根据scientists now generally agree that应该在哪定位啊？？？？？？？
-- by 会员 苏晨 (2010/6/12 12:56:31)
Perhaps the least controversial assertion about the pterosaurs is that they were reptiles. 这是第二段的第一句话，“最无争议的是。。。”跟generally agree一个意思……作者: buffonjuventus 时间: 2010-9-28 18:44
i don't agree with wangyu73cn. the key for q7 is cliff in the last paragraph: cliff: A steep rock face, usually facing the sea.
-- by 会员 michzhou (2009/6/10 7:51:00)
此篇第7题很难。乍一看每个选项都没有提到，能从cliff和waves想到large bodies of water，在考试的时候我一定做不到。多谢解释。作者: honeydd 时间: 2010-10-7 10:31
3. According to the passage, the skeleton of a pterosaur can be distinguished from that of a bird by the (A) size of its wingspan (B) presence of hollow spaces in its bones (C) anatomic origin of its wing strut (D) presence of hooklike projections on its hind feet (E) location of the shoulder joint joining the wing to its body 这题的B选项为什么不对？ 原文中第三段最后两句：Both the pterosaurs and the birds have hollow bones, a feature that represents a savings in weight. In the birds, however, these bones are reinforced more massively by internal struts. 不是正好与B选项对应？哪位能给解释一下作者: buffonjuventus 时间: 2010-10-11 23:41
3. According to the passage, the skeleton of a pterosaur can be distinguished from that of a bird by the (A) size of its wingspan (B) presence of hollow spaces in its bones (C) anatomic origin of its wing strut (D) presence of hooklike projections on its hind feet (E) location of the shoulder joint joining the wing to its body 这题的B选项为什么不对？ 原文中第三段最后两句：Both the pterosaurs and the birds have hollow bones, a feature that represents a savings in weight. In the birds, however, these bones are reinforced more massively by internal struts. 不是正好与B选项对应？哪位能给解释一下
-- by 会员 honeydd (2010/10/7 10:31:16)
楼上的mm，你自己不是都quote出来了么？就是根据你quote的这句话啊，说两个都有hollow spaces in its bones，那么既然两个都有，就不能根据这点来区分了呀。如果你考虑得是however后面的massive什么的strut，原文没有问题体现这个massive跟hollow space有关系啊，事实上很可能没关系。同一段的往下面看，就提到了grey‘s anatomy了。。。。 祝考试顺利作者: honeydd 时间: 2010-10-20 13:52
3. According to the passage, the skeleton of a pterosaur can be distinguished from that of a bird by the (A) size of its wingspan (B) presence of hollow spaces in its bones (C) anatomic origin of its wing strut (D) presence of hooklike projections on its hind feet (E) location of the shoulder joint joining the wing to its body 这题的B选项为什么不对？ 原文中第三段最后两句：Both the pterosaurs and the birds have hollow bones, a feature that represents a savings in weight. In the birds, however, these bones are reinforced more massively by internal struts. 不是正好与B选项对应？哪位能给解释一下
-- by 会员 honeydd (2010/10/7 10:31:16)
楼上的mm，你自己不是都quote出来了么？就是根据你quote的这句话啊，说两个都有hollow spaces in its bones，那么既然两个都有，就不能根据这点来区分了呀。如果你考虑得是however后面的massive什么的strut，原文没有问题体现这个massive跟hollow space有关系啊，事实上很可能没关系。同一段的往下面看，就提到了grey‘s anatomy了。。。。 祝考试顺利
-- by 会员 buffonjuventus (2010/10/11 23:41:57)
谢谢楼上GG的回复，竟然看到了grey's anatomy, 哈哈。也祝你考试顺利~~作者: lavinliu 时间: 2011-5-2 14:08
这篇文章很有代表性，结构很清晰，题目设计也难易兼顾，比较难的还是第5题和第7题。作者: likejiayuan 时间: 2019-12-25 19:10
定位段的说：the government too was constrained. Therefore, the Tokugawa shoguns began to look to other sources for revenue，之所以shoguns到处找钱，因为gov收入也被限制。shoguns找钱就是帮gov找钱。所以D正确
