首页
登录
职称英语
There is something intrinsically fascinating about the idea of evolution. Wha
There is something intrinsically fascinating about the idea of evolution. Wha
游客
2025-01-20
8
管理
问题
There is something intrinsically fascinating about the idea of evolution. What principles govern the evolution of a species? And what does evolution tell us about the place of Homosapiens in the grand order of things? The writer George Bernard Shaw held that a mystical guiding force impels life to evolve toward eventual perfection. Modern scientists may not believe in this guiding force or in the possibility of perfection, but many would agree that life has been improving itself through evolution for billions of years. (Note that this conveniently makes Homosapiens, a very recent product of evolution, one of the newest and most improved versions of life.) In the view of these scientists, constant competition among species is the engine that drives the process of evolution and people’s life upward.
To Darwin, nature was a surface covered with thousands of sharp
wedges
, all packed together and jostling for the same space. Those wedges that fared best moved toward the center of the surface, improving their position by knocking other wedges away with violent blows. The standard example that textbooks give of such competitive wedging is the interaction between the brachiopods and the clams.
Clams
were long held to be ancient undersea competitors of
brachiopods
due to the fact that the two species inhabited the same ecological niche. Clams are abundant today, whereas brachiopods (dominant in ancient times) are not. Modern clams are also physiologically more complex than brachiopods are. The standard interpretation of these facts is that the clams’ physiology was an evolutionary improvement that gave them the ability to "knock away" the brachiopods.
In recent years, however, the prominent naturalists Stephen Jay Gould and C. Brad Calloway have challenged the validity of this example as well as the model it was meant to support. Gould and Calloway found that over most geological time clams and brachiopods went their separate ways. Never did the population of brachiopods dip as that of the clams rose, or vice versa. In fact, the two populations often grew simultaneously, which belies the notion that they were fighting fiercely over the same narrow turf and resources. That there are so many more clams than brachiopods today seems rather to be a consequence of mass deaths that occurred in the Permian period. Whatever caused the mass deaths — some scientists theorize that either there were massive ecological or geological changes, or a
comet
crashed down from the heavens — clams were simply able to weather the storm much better than brachiopods.
Out of these observations, Gould and Calloway drew a number of far-reaching conclusions. For instance, they suggested that direct competition between species was far less frequent than Darwin thought. Perhaps nature was really a very large surface on which there were very few wedges, and the wedges consequently did not bang incessantly against each other. Perhaps the problem facing these wedges was rather that the surface continually altered its shape, and they had to struggle independently to stay in a good position on the surface as it changed.
So where does that leave Homosapiens if evolution is a response to sudden, unpredictable and sweeping changes in the environment rather than the result of a perpetual struggle? No longer are we the kings of the mountain who clawed our way to the top by advancing beyond other species. We are instead those who looked to the mountains when floods began to rage below and then discovered that living high up has its definite advantages, so long as our mountain doesn’t decide to turn into a volcano. [br] The word "wedges" underlined in Paragraph 2 refers to an______species.
选项
A、unknown
B、intelligent
C、entire
D、ancient
答案
C
解析
推断题。在第2段第1句…thousands of sharp wedges,all packed together and jostling for the same space中,作者借用达尔文的观点,将大自然比作一个表面,将成千上万的物种比作拥挤在这个表面上争夺空间的楔子。因此这些wedges是指所有物种,故选C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3920877.html
相关试题推荐
LikeDavidBrent,Bartnall’sbossonceharbored______tobesomethinginthemusi
WheneverIfeeldepressed,Iwouldliketodosomethinglikewashingclothes,or
Thereissomethingintrinsicallyfascinatingabouttheideaofevolution.Wha
Thereissomethingintrinsicallyfascinatingabouttheideaofevolution.Wha
Thereissomethingintrinsicallyfascinatingabouttheideaofevolution.Wha
Thereissomethingintrinsicallyfascinatingabouttheideaofevolution.Wha
Thereissomethingintrinsicallyfascinatingabouttheideaofevolution.Wha
Thereissomethingintrinsicallyfascinatingabouttheideaofevolution.Wha
Shesearchedthefacesfortwobelovedones,butsomethingtoldhersoftlythat
Amanwhopubliclysayssomethingdefamatoryaboutsomeoneisreferredtoasad
随机试题
卖出套期保值者在下列()情况下可以盈利。A、基差从—20元/吨变为—30元/吨B、基差从20元/吨变为30元/吨C、基差从—40元/吨变为—30元
[originaltext]M:Goodmorning,Dr.Smith.MynameisPeter.Iamafreshmanin
第四方物流的特点包括()。A.提供一整套完善的供应链解决方案 B.通过其对
在网络计划中,工作间的逻辑关系分为工艺关系和组织关系。下列关于工作间逻辑关系的说
A.0 B.-3 C.1 D.3
保护屏柜下部的铜排应用截面不小于50mm2的铜缆接至保护室内的等电位接地网。
下列关于评估的说法,正确的是()。A.评估是社会救助社会工作开展的目的 B.
下列关于贷款支付与发放的表述,正确的有()。A.贷款人应根据借款人的行业特征、
中国期货业协会负责期货投资咨询业务从业人员的资格考试、资格认定、日常管理等相关工
可用于中线放样的仪器有()。A.GPS测量仪 B.全站仪 C.水准仪 D
最新回复
(
0
)