vocabularyThe following reading passage contains vocabulary words from this lesson.
Carefully read the passage and then choose the best answers for each of the questions that fallow.
1 Scientists can tell us when, to the minute, comets will pass through our solar system, and physicists can describe the behavior of subatomic particles so tiny that they barely seem to exist, but no one can explain why a simple insect, the monarch butterfly, is able to navigate to a destination one thousand miles away when it has never before made the journey.
2 In late August, somewhere in the northern United States, a beautiful orange-and-black female lays a single egg upon a milkweed plant. She then flies to a new plant and does it again; she repeats the sequence more
than one hundred times. After two months elapse, the eggs hatch, the larvae grow into adult butterflies, and then, remarkably, they join millions of other monarchs in making a journey to Mexico-a haven during the
winter.
3 During the trip, the butterflies endure high winds, extreme heat and cold, hungry predators, and meager nourishment received through the nectar of flowers; however, their innate drive to find a suitable place to
wait out the winter forces them to continue. A slew of monarchs eventually arrives in Mexico, and the exhausted insects rest in trees, their number so great that branches sometimes snap under the burden.
4 How the butterflies make the arduous journey with neither compass nor map is still a mystery. The moon and stars cannot be factors because monarchs become listless in the dark and do not fly. Neither do butterflies have internal compasses like migratory birds; tests have proven that monarchs are not sensitive to the earth's magnetic field. The journey is not a learned behavior, because parent butterflies teach nothing to the offspring.The ability certainly has nothing to do with human influence because the butterflies have been soaring along the same routes for millions of years.
5 One possible explanation is that monarchs follow natural landmarks, such as mountains and rivers, but how the monarchs would understand the significance of the landmarks is anyone's guess. The many theories of monarch navigation kindle fierce debates within the scientific community, but even in the twenty-first century, no one can make a definite conclusion.
6 To people who love butterflies simply for their beauty, the secret of monarch navigation is immaterial. Few insects are as eye-catching as a black-and-orange monarch resting on a porch rail, dazzling watchers with
its delicacy and contrast. Knowing that the quiet creature is capable of international travel is hardly necessary for someone to appreciate it.
The passage offers which choice as a possible explanation of the butterfly's ability to navigate?
A. Butterflies teach their offspring how to make the journey.
B. Butterflies follow the natural geography of the earth.
C. Humanity forces the butterfly to use specific routes.
D. Butterflies seek sources of milkweed for reproduction.
E. Butterflies navigate by the moon and stars. 2nd Edition•ISBN: 9780312676506Lawrence Scanlon, Renee H. Shea, Robin Dissin Aufses661 solutions
3rd Edition•ISBN: 9781111445072Darlene Smith-Worthington, Sue Jefferson468 solutions
3rd Edition•ISBN: 9780538450485 (3 more)Darlene Smith-Worthington, Sue Jefferson468 solutions
ISBN: 9781285439594David W. Moore, Deborah Short, Michael W. Smith304 solutions
