天山-3-40 虽然选对了，但还是要讨论

JerryGuan

Q40:

Boreal owls range over a much larger area than do other owls of similar size.  The reason for this behavior is probably that the small mammals on which owls feed are especially scarce in the forests where boreal owls live, and the relative scarcity of prey requires the owls to range more extensively to find sufficient food.

Which of the following, if true, most helps to confirm the explanation above?

A.  Some boreal owls range over an area eight times larger than the area over which any other owl of similar size ranges.

B.   Boreal owls range over larger areas in regions where food of the sort eaten by small mammals is sparse than they do in regions where such food is abundant.

C.   After their young hatch, boreal owls must hunt more often than before in order to feed both themselves and their newly hatched young.

D.  Sometimes individual boreal owls hunt near a single location for many weeks at a time and do not range farther than a few hundred yards.

E.   The boreal owl requires less food, relative to its weight, than is required by members of other owl species.

第一步，CDE排除，第二步排除A；答案是B

我想问答案B是如何helps to confirm the explanation above

这里的confirm怎么讲？

蓝羽

Boreal owls 的活动范围大，因为它们的食物少。

B说同样的Boreal owls 在食物多的地方活动范围少，说明活动范围与食物多少有关。

confirm相当于support 吧。

joe11

Nod, nod.

( That's a cool cat. =^0^=)

蓝羽

以下是引用joe11在2004-12-11 2:23:00的发言：

Nod, nod.

( That's a cool cat. =^0^=)

刚换了图片

JerryGuan

猛然间，我发现我对support一直有错误的理解。

G-CRACKER

以下是引用蓝羽在2004-12-11 2:07:00的发言：

Boreal owls 的活动范围大，因为它们的食物少。

B说同样的Boreal owls 在食物多的地方活动范围少，说明活动范围与食物多少有关。

confirm相当于support 吧。

选B，但B里有一个潜在的小假设，假设B里提到的小动物是Boreal Owls的食物，否则B不成立。

tuzq

以下是引用G-CRACKER在2004-12-12 21:48:00的发言：

选B，但B里有一个潜在的小假设，假设B里提到的小动物是Boreal Owls的食物，否则B不成立。

是呀，而且这里需要把结论the relative scarcity of prey requires XXX range more extensively to find sufficient food作用在小动物上才行

toefl250

B 说food of the sort eaten by small mammals is sparse ，而原文说small mammals on which owls feed are especially scarce

答案假定 ：food of the sort eaten by small mammals很少 ＝ small mammals on which owls feed很少？？？？？

BiteGmat

B 说food of the sort eaten by small mammals is sparse ，而原文说small mammals on which owls feed are especially scarce

答案假定 ：food of the sort eaten by small mammals很少 ＝ small mammals on which owls feed很少？？？？？

同问!

shihho

"B.   Boreal owls range over larger areas in regions where food of the sort eaten by small mammals is sparse than they do in regions where such food is abundant."

What does " food of the sort eaten by small mammals is sparse" mean? Thanks!