托福阅读常见考题：动物行为类题目如何作答?

　　托福阅读真题再现：

　　鸟类的集群效应，他们怎么通过集群来保护自己的子嗣和其他的一些集体行为;鸟把巢建在一起

　　有很多好处，例如某种鸟这样做的很成功：

　　1. 巢群建在岛上乱石中，防止哺乳动物来吃

　　2. 天敌来袭时集体抗争

　　3. 废弃的巢和在用的巢建在一起，以假乱真。还有利于后代存活，后代们一起被孵化，超过了天敌的需求，因此得以保存，还可以互相照看孩子。例如有种美洲的燕子，頟自到不同地方找食物，找不到的回来跟着找到的去，实现了信息共享。也有弊端，巢群外沿易受攻击，所以大家都往里面建巢，所以中心很拥挤，食物消耗也大，容易滋生寄生虫和疾病。

　　新东方富亦聪老师解析：

　　动物行为主题是托福阅读常见考点，结构不难理解。需注意各例证和主题的支撑关系。由于条理清晰，最后一题尽量考虑从正面选出，排除为辅。

　　动物行为类题目相关背景：

　　Bird colony

　　A bird colony is a large congregation of individuals of one or more species of bird that nest or roost in proximity¹ at a particular location. Many kinds of birds are known to congregate² in groups of varying size; a congregation of nesting birds is called a breeding colony. Colonial nesting birds include seabirds such as auks and albatrosses; wetland species such as herons; and a few passerines such as weaverbirds, certain blackbirds, and some swallows. A group of birds congregating³ for rest is called a communal⁴ roost. Evidence of colonial nesting has been found in non-neornithine birds (Enantiornithes), in sediments⁵ from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Romania.

　　Ecological⁶ functions

　　The habit of nesting in groups is believed to provide better survival against predators⁸ in several ways. Many colonies are situated⁹ in locations that are naturally free of predators. In other cases, the presence of many birds means there are more individuals available for defense¹⁰. Also, synchronized¹¹ breeding leads to such an abundance of offspring as to satiate predators.

　　For seabirds, colonies on islands have an obvious advantage over mainland colonies when it comes to protection from terrestrial predators. Other situations can also be found where bird colonies avoid predation. A study of Yellow-rumped Caciques in Peru found that the birds, which build enclosed, pouch-like nests in colonies of up to one hundred active nests, situate themselves near wasp¹² nests, which provide some protection from tree-dwelling predators such as monkeys. When other birds came to rob the nests, the caciques would cooperatively defend the colony by mobbing the invader¹³. Mobbing, clearly a group effort, is well-known behavior, not limited to colonial species; the more birds participating in the mobbing, the more effective it is at driving off the predator⁷. Therefore, it has been theorized that the larger number of individuals available for vigilance and defense makes the colony a safer place for the individual birds nesting there. More pairs of eyes and ears are available to raise the alarm and rise to the occasion.

　　Another suggestion is that colonies act as information centers and birds that have not found good foraging¹⁴ sites are able to follow others, who have fared better, to find food. This makes sense for foragers because the food source is one that can be locally abundant. This hypothesis would explain why the Lesser¹⁵ Kestrel, which feeds on insects, breeds in colonies, while the related Common Kestrel, which feeds on larger prey¹⁶, is not.

　　Colonial behavior has its costs as well. It has been noted¹⁷ that parasitism¹⁸ by haematozoa is higher in colonial birds and it has been suggested that blood parasites¹⁹ might have shaped adaptations such as larger organs in the immune system and life-history traits. Other costs include brood parasitism and competition for food and territory. Colony size is a factor in the ecological function of colony nesting. In a larger colony, increased competition for food can make it harder for parents to feed their chicks.

　　The benefits and drawbacks for birds of nesting in groups seem to be highly situational. Although scientists have hypothesized about the advantages of group nesting in terms of enabling group defensive²⁰ behavior, escape from predation by being surrounded by neighbors (called the selfish herd²¹ hypothesis), as well as escaping predators through sheer numbers, in reality, each of these functions evidently depends on a number of factors. Clearly, there can be safety in numbers, but there is some doubt about whether it balances out against the tendency for conspicuous²² breeding colonies to attract predators, and some suggest that colonial breeding can actually make birds more vulnerable. At a Common Tern colony in Minnesota, a study of Spotted²³ Sandpipers observed to nest near the tern colony showed that the sandpipers that nested nearest the colony seemed to gain some protection from mammalian predators, but avian predators were apparently²⁴ attracted to the colony and the sandpipers nesting there were actually more vulnerable. In a study of a Least Tern colony in Connecticut, nocturnal avian predators in the form of Black-crowned Night Herons and Great Horned Owls²⁵ were observed to repeatedly invade a colony, flying into the middle of the colony and meeting no resistance.

　　For seabirds, the location of colonies on islands, which are inaccessible²⁶ to terrestrial predators, is an obvious advantage. Islands where terrestrial predators have arrived in the form of rats, cats, foxes, etc., have devastated²⁷ island seabird colonies. One well-studied case of this phenomenon has been the effect on Common Murre colonies on islands in Alaska, where foxes were introduced for fur farming

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