Biologists have advanced two theories to explain why schooling of fish occurs in so many fish species. Because schooling is particularly wide spread among species of small fish, both theories assume that schooling offers the advantage of some protection from predators.
Proponents of theory A dispute the assumption that a school of thousands of fish is highly visible. Experiments have shown that any fish can be seen, even in very clear water, only within a sphere of 200 meters in diameter. When fish are in a compact group, the sphere of visibility overlap. Thus, the chance of a predator finding the school is only slightly greater than the chance of the predator finding a single fish swimming alone. Schooling is advantageous to the individual fish because a predator’s chance of finding any particular fish swimming in the school is much smaller than its chance of finding at least one of the same group of fish if the fish were dispersed throughout an area.
However, critics of theory A point out that some fish form schools even in areas where predators are abundant and thus little possibility fo excaping detection exists. They argue that the school continues to be of value to its members even after detection. They advocate theory B, the “confusion effect,” which can be explained in two different ways.
Sometimes, proponents argue, predators simply cannot decide which fish to attack. This indecision supposedly results from a predator’s preference for striking prey that is distinct from the rest of the school in appearance. In many schools the fish are almost indentical in appearance, making it difficult for a predator to select one. The second explanation for the “confusion effect” has to do with the sensory confusion caused by a large number of prey moving around the predator. Even if the predator makes the decision to attack a particular fish, the movement of other prey in the school can be distracting. The predator’s difficulty can be compared to that of a tennis player trying to hit a tennis ball when two are approaching simultaneously.
1. According to the passage, theory B states that which of the following is a factor that enables a schooling fish to escape predators?
(A) The tendency of fish to form compact groups
(B) The movement of other fish within the school
(C) The inability of predators to detect schools
(D) The ability of fish to hide behind one another in a school
(E) The great speed with which a school can disperse
2. According to the passage, both theory A and theory B have been developed to explain how
(A) fish hide from predators by forming schools
(B) forming schools functions to protect fish from predators
(C) schooling among fish differs from other protective behaviors
(D) small fish are able to make rapid decisions
(E) small fish are able to survive in an environment densely populated by large predators
3. According to one explanation of the “confusion effect”, a fish that swims in a school will have greater advantages for survival if it
(A) A tends to be visible for no more than 200 meters
(B) B stays near either the front or the rear of a school
(C) C is part of a small school rather than a large school
(D) D is very similar in appearance to the other fish in the school
(E) E is medium-sized
4. The author is primarily concerned with
(A) discussing different theories
(B) analyzing different techniques
(C) defending two hypotheses
(D) defending two hypotheses
(E) revealing new evidence
这是一篇典型的GMAT阅读多重解释型的文章。
l 第一段清楚地告诉读者文章接下来会对一些鱼群居地现象给出两种解释。
l 第二段中，解释A的支持者表达了他们的观点，提出鱼群居是为了减少个体被捕食者发现的机会。
l 第三段开头转折(However)之后，解释A被反驳，进而提出解释B，说群居的鱼被捕食者发现之后依然能提高他们的存活率。
l 最后一段具体说了对解释B的两方面的具体解读。
从整体框架上看，新文章和之前的解释型文章相比变化不大，而在具体内容上观点与论证之间的结合更加紧密，文章的血肉更加充实，细节的出题点更多。
本文延续GMAT阅读文章的一贯特点，在逻辑严密性上也有所提高。
本文后面一共跟4道题，前3道均为直接细节题，最后1道为主旨题。
第一题，问解释B说哪个因素会帮助鱼群摆脱捕食者，定位点很明确，是“解释B”底下的细节，定位到最后一段。能回答问题的一共有两点，第一点在“Sometimes”到34行“to select one”之间，说鱼数量多导致捕食者难以决定究竟吃谁;第二点在“The second explanation”到文章结尾，说鱼群中大量鱼的运动会使捕食者分心而难以捕食成功。所以这两点因素(数量多和鱼群运动)都能够正确回答这个问题。
A选项鱼群形成牢固的整体，文章中从未提及，属于无中生有的内容;
B选项说鱼群中鱼的运动，与原文中第二点相符;
C选项说捕食者侦测不到鱼群，是文章中解释A里面的内容，张冠李戴;
D选项说鱼躲在其他鱼的身后，又是文中没有提到的内容;
E选项说鱼群能高速分散，既是解释A里的关键词，由于A中原文事实相反，因此也不是正确选项
因此，正确答案为B
第二题，问解释A和B的共同目的。第二段是解释A，第四段是解释B，第三段是两者的区别，都不是定位点。只有第一段里有相关信息。第一段最后一句话说两者都认为鱼群对鱼的个体提供保护，躲避捕食。5个选项中只有B选项符合要求。
A选项说藏起来不让捕食者看见，只有解释A有相关内容，解释B没有;
B选项与原文之间就是原意改写的关系;
C选项说鱼的群居与其他保护措施不一样，文中未提及;
D选项说小鱼做决定快，亦属于无中生有的内容;
E选项小鱼容易在捕食者密集的地方存活，文章依然没有提到
因此，正确答案为B
第三题，问”confusion effect“，即解释B，中所述，下列那种情况下一条鱼有较高的存活率。定位点和第一题一样，最后一段的两个分点(同样鱼类的数量多和鱼群剧烈运动)。五个选项中，A选项是解释A的内容，B、C、E都是文章里没有提到的东西，只有D选项符合定位信息的要求。
因此，正确答案为D
第四题，问作者的写作目的。
A选项说讨论两个理论，与原文事实相符;
B选项说分析两种技术，文中没有任何技术;
C选项说为两种假说辩护，解释B没有受到任何攻击，更不需要辩护;
D选项说*既成观念，核心态度为负，即否定了所有解释，与文章事实不符;
E选项说提出新证据，文中不存在
因此，正确答案为A
Proponents of theory A dispute the assumption that a school of thousands of fish is highly visible. Experiments have shown that any fish can be seen, even in very clear water, only within a sphere of 200 meters in diameter. When fish are in a compact group, the sphere of visibility overlap. Thus, the chance of a predator finding the school is only slightly greater than the chance of the predator finding a single fish swimming alone. Schooling is advantageous to the individual fish because a predator’s chance of finding any particular fish swimming in the school is much smaller than its chance of finding at least one of the same group of fish if the fish were dispersed throughout an area.
However, critics of theory A point out that some fish form schools even in areas where predators are abundant and thus little possibility fo excaping detection exists. They argue that the school continues to be of value to its members even after detection. They advocate theory B, the “confusion effect,” which can be explained in two different ways.
Sometimes, proponents argue, predators simply cannot decide which fish to attack. This indecision supposedly results from a predator’s preference for striking prey that is distinct from the rest of the school in appearance. In many schools the fish are almost indentical in appearance, making it difficult for a predator to select one. The second explanation for the “confusion effect” has to do with the sensory confusion caused by a large number of prey moving around the predator. Even if the predator makes the decision to attack a particular fish, the movement of other prey in the school can be distracting. The predator’s difficulty can be compared to that of a tennis player trying to hit a tennis ball when two are approaching simultaneously.
1. According to the passage, theory B states that which of the following is a factor that enables a schooling fish to escape predators?
(A) The tendency of fish to form compact groups
(B) The movement of other fish within the school
(C) The inability of predators to detect schools
(D) The ability of fish to hide behind one another in a school
(E) The great speed with which a school can disperse
2. According to the passage, both theory A and theory B have been developed to explain how
(A) fish hide from predators by forming schools
(B) forming schools functions to protect fish from predators
(C) schooling among fish differs from other protective behaviors
(D) small fish are able to make rapid decisions
(E) small fish are able to survive in an environment densely populated by large predators
3. According to one explanation of the “confusion effect”, a fish that swims in a school will have greater advantages for survival if it
(A) A tends to be visible for no more than 200 meters
(B) B stays near either the front or the rear of a school
(C) C is part of a small school rather than a large school
(D) D is very similar in appearance to the other fish in the school
(E) E is medium-sized
4. The author is primarily concerned with
(A) discussing different theories
(B) analyzing different techniques
(C) defending two hypotheses
(D) defending two hypotheses
(E) revealing new evidence
这是一篇典型的GMAT阅读多重解释型的文章。
l 第一段清楚地告诉读者文章接下来会对一些鱼群居地现象给出两种解释。
l 第二段中，解释A的支持者表达了他们的观点，提出鱼群居是为了减少个体被捕食者发现的机会。
l 第三段开头转折(However)之后，解释A被反驳，进而提出解释B，说群居的鱼被捕食者发现之后依然能提高他们的存活率。
l 最后一段具体说了对解释B的两方面的具体解读。
从整体框架上看，新文章和之前的解释型文章相比变化不大，而在具体内容上观点与论证之间的结合更加紧密，文章的血肉更加充实，细节的出题点更多。
本文延续GMAT阅读文章的一贯特点，在逻辑严密性上也有所提高。
本文后面一共跟4道题，前3道均为直接细节题，最后1道为主旨题。
第一题，问解释B说哪个因素会帮助鱼群摆脱捕食者，定位点很明确，是“解释B”底下的细节，定位到最后一段。能回答问题的一共有两点，第一点在“Sometimes”到34行“to select one”之间，说鱼数量多导致捕食者难以决定究竟吃谁;第二点在“The second explanation”到文章结尾，说鱼群中大量鱼的运动会使捕食者分心而难以捕食成功。所以这两点因素(数量多和鱼群运动)都能够正确回答这个问题。
A选项鱼群形成牢固的整体，文章中从未提及，属于无中生有的内容;
B选项说鱼群中鱼的运动，与原文中第二点相符;
C选项说捕食者侦测不到鱼群，是文章中解释A里面的内容，张冠李戴;
D选项说鱼躲在其他鱼的身后，又是文中没有提到的内容;
E选项说鱼群能高速分散，既是解释A里的关键词，由于A中原文事实相反，因此也不是正确选项
因此，正确答案为B
第二题，问解释A和B的共同目的。第二段是解释A，第四段是解释B，第三段是两者的区别，都不是定位点。只有第一段里有相关信息。第一段最后一句话说两者都认为鱼群对鱼的个体提供保护，躲避捕食。5个选项中只有B选项符合要求。
A选项说藏起来不让捕食者看见，只有解释A有相关内容，解释B没有;
B选项与原文之间就是原意改写的关系;
C选项说鱼的群居与其他保护措施不一样，文中未提及;
D选项说小鱼做决定快，亦属于无中生有的内容;
E选项小鱼容易在捕食者密集的地方存活，文章依然没有提到
因此，正确答案为B
第三题，问”confusion effect“，即解释B，中所述，下列那种情况下一条鱼有较高的存活率。定位点和第一题一样，最后一段的两个分点(同样鱼类的数量多和鱼群剧烈运动)。五个选项中，A选项是解释A的内容，B、C、E都是文章里没有提到的东西，只有D选项符合定位信息的要求。
因此，正确答案为D
第四题，问作者的写作目的。
A选项说讨论两个理论，与原文事实相符;
B选项说分析两种技术，文中没有任何技术;
C选项说为两种假说辩护，解释B没有受到任何攻击，更不需要辩护;
D选项说*既成观念，核心态度为负，即否定了所有解释，与文章事实不符;
E选项说提出新证据，文中不存在
因此，正确答案为A
