SAT阅读必备OG之动物玩耍的新进展

>>SAT阅读：SAT阅读必备OG之动物玩耍的新进展

P766——Section 2

动物玩耍的新进展

1. ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS

Explanation for Incorrect Answer A :

Choice (A) is incorrect. In the third paragraph there is mention of an assumption held by biologists that play among animals "was too nebulous a concept either to define or to study" . But the kinds of play included in the second paragraph do not support this assumption, nor are they offered in its support.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer B :

Choice (B) is incorrect. The point that the second paragraph primarily addresses—that there are many animals that play when young and that they play in a variety of ways—is not presented in the passage as a controversial point that needs to be proven. It is presented as a point that had long been ignored but which has, in the last two decades, attracted some of the attention that, according to the passage, it deserves.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer D :

Choice (D) is incorrect. The second paragraph does include the sentence, "From human children to whales to sewer rats, many groups of mammals and even some birds play for a significant fraction of their youth" . What this emphasizes, however, is behavioral and developmental similarities between animals and humans, not physical similarities.

2. ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS

Explanation for Correct Answer E :

Choice (E) is correct. Largely on the basis of the study first mentioned, the passage says that "research on play has given biologists an important tool with which to probe the development of the brain and motor systems of animals" . It is thus reasonable to suppose that this research may help lead us to an understanding of animals' physiological development.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer B :

Choice (B) is incorrect. The summary of "one study" does not say anything about when animals begin to play. It talks about when various animals play the most (for kittens, between 4 and 20 weeks of age). This implies that kittens begin playing before they are 4 weeks old, that is, long before they approach adulthood.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer C :

Choice (C) is incorrect. Play may be a key factor in the social organization of some animal groups, but the study referred to did not investigate that possibility. The study appears to have been strictly focused on certain permanent physiological and neural changes that take place in young animals just when play is at its peak. There is no indication that the results had any bearing on any questions concerning the social organization of the animals studied.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer D :

Choice (D) is incorrect. The researchers involved in the study referred to would not have been particularly concerned to recognize behavioral similarities across species. They simply needed clear definitions of what to count as play behavior among kittens, among rats, and among mice, because for each species, they related the frequency of play to the occurrence of certain changes in the brain and motor systems. But what the passage says about the study does not suggest in any way that there were behavioral similarities across species that those researchers failed to recognize. Hence, the findings of that study do not support the more general claim that researchers do not always recognize behavioral similarities among diverse species.

3. ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS

Explanation for Correct Answer D :

Choice (D) is correct. The principle illustrated is that play in an infant animal serves to build muscle and brain connections that will help the adult animal survive. In view of the fact that monkeys spend their entire lives in trees, the ability to expertly navigate this kind of environment is crucial to them. One of the obvious uses of this ability is to escape predators. Chasing one another up and down trees when young is clearly a good way to build the necessary muscle and brain connections.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer A :

Choice (A) is incorrect. The restriction of play behavior to playing with siblings seems to offer no advantages in building muscle and brain connections that will be useful later in life. So this restriction is not a good additional example of the principle that, in an infant animal, play serves to build muscle and brain connections that will help the adult animal survive.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer C :

Choice (C) is incorrect. Firstly, it is not about an animal at play. Secondly, the animal being trained is probably an adult, not a baby animal. Finally, jumping through a hoop is probably not the kind of behavior that the passage means when it talks about adult animal behavior. Most probably, the passage does not refer to behavior that is the result of specific training by humans.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer E :

Choice (E) is incorrect. The migration of birds is not play behavior among young birds, so it is not an example of exploring in play the same kinds of behavior that adults use.

4. ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS

Explanation for Incorrect Answer A :

Choice (A) is incorrect. A class setting out on a field trip is typically closely supervised. There is practically no opportunity for participants to play. The kind of spontaneous behavior that could result in vigorous physical interaction, or in conflict and subsequent accommodation with others, is unlikely to arise.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer C :

Choice (C) is incorrect. The essential lessons to be learned include "how to control themselves among others" . For a child, the first attempts to roller-skate are essentially an individual endeavor. The focus is on the learner's own body becoming comfortable with a new way of moving, but not on how to interact with others.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer D :

Choice (D) is incorrect. The essential lessons mentioned are lessons that young animals learn while playing. A bear defending its young will be an adult bear that is not playing. So this adult bear will not be learning the essential lessons that young animals learn while playing.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer E :

Choice (E) is incorrect. The essential lessons mentioned relate to how an animal learns to fit into "a close-knit group" . A kitten playing with a ball of string is playing a solitary game, so it is unlikely to learn from this game how to get along with others of its kind.

5. ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS

Explanation for Correct Answer D :

Choice (D) is correct. According to the "theory", play—at least among social mammals—has a useful function, the function of socializing members of the group. The "opinion" is that of Robert Fagen who, as the passage puts it, believes that "animals play simply for the fun of it" . So he does not think that play has a useful purpose.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer A :

Choice (A) is incorrect. Even though the "theory" attributes a socializing function to play, there is no reason to think that those who hold that theory would deny that animals enjoy playing. So there is no reason to think that on this point they would disagree with Robert Fagen, whose opinion is referred to and who clearly thinks that animals do enjoy playing.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer C :

Choice (C) is incorrect. As they are described in the passage, neither the "theory" nor the "opinion" takes any position on how it is that animals learn to play.

Explanation for Incorrect Answer E :

Choice (E) is incorrect. There are references earlier in the passage that suggest that play is, in fact, pleasurable to watch. There is talk about the "antics" of a puppy, and about "youthful displays of exuberance". There is no indication that either those holding the "theory" or those holding the "opinion" do not take pleasure in watching the play of the animals that they study.

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