Adaptation of Living Things
Certain animals and plants develop characteristics that help them cope with their environment better than others of their kind. This natural biological process is called adaptation. Among the superior characteristics developed through adaptation are those that may help in getting food or shelter, in providing protection, and in producing and protecting the young. That results in the evolution of more and more organisms that are better fitted to their environments.
Each living thing is adapted to its way of life in a general way, but each is adapted especially to its own distinct class. A plant, for example, depends upon its roots to fix itself firmly and to absorb water and inorganic chemicals. It depends upon its green leaves for using the sun's energy to make food from inorganic chemicals. These are general adaptations, common to most plants. In addition, there are special adaptations that only certain kinds of plants have.
Many animals have adaptations that help them escape from their enemies. Some insects are hidden by their body color or shape, and many look like a leaf or a little branch. The coats of deer are colored to mix with the surroundings. Many animals have the ability to remain completely still when an enemy is near.
Organisms have a great variety of ways of adapting. They may adapt in their structure, function, and genetics; in their development and production of the young; and in other respects. An organism may create its own environment, as do warm-blooded mammals, which have the ability to adjust body heat exactly to maintain their ideal temperature despite changing weather. Usually adaptations are an advantage, but sometimes an organism is so well adapted to a particular environment that, if conditions change, it finds it difficult or impossible to readapt to the new conditions.
1. Some plants and animals develop superior characteristics so that they may
A. help others of their kind get food, shelter and other things needed.
B. survive even in extremely severe conditions.
C. become better adapted to the environments than others of their kind.
D. result in the evolution and production of more intelligent organisms.
2. In the first paragraph, the word “environments” could best be replaced by
A. contexts.
B. surroundings.
C. neighbors.
D. enemies.
3. It can be inferred from this passage that the feathers of a bird are colored
A. to frighten its enemies.
B. to attract its enemies.
C. to adjust is body heat.
D. to match its environment.
4. Which of the following is not directly mentioned in the passage?
A. A living thing may adapt in its structure.
B. An organism may adapt in its function.
C. A living creature may adapt in its genetic makeup.
D. A living organism may adapt in its sleeping habit.
5. The author cites the behavior of warm-blooded mammals in order to that a living thing may have the ability
A. to create an environment of its own.
B. to remain still when an enemy is near.
C. to make food from inorganic chemicals.
D. to change the color of its skin.
Early or Later Day Care
The British psychoanalyst John Bowl by maintains that separation from the parents during the sensitive “attachment” period from birth to three may scar a child's personality and predispose to emotional problems in later life. Some people have drawn the conclusion from Bowlby's work that children should not be subjected to day care before the age of three because of the parental separation it entails, and many people do believe this. But there are also arguments against such a strong conclusion.
Firstly, anthropologists point out that the insulated love affair between children and parents found in modern societies does not usually exist in traditional societies. For example, in some tribal societies, such as the Ngoni, the father and mother of a child did not rear their infant alone—far from it. Secondly, common sense tells us that day care would not be so widespread today if parents, care-takers found children had problems with it. Statistical studies of this kind have not yet been carried out, and even if they were, the results would be certain to be complicated and controversial. Thirdly, in the last decade there have been a number of careful American studies of children in day care, and they have uniformly reported that day care had a neutral or slightly positive effect on children's development. But tests that have had to be used to measure this development are not widely enough accepted to settle the issue.
But Bowlby's analysis raises the possibility that early day care has delayed effects. The possibility that such care might lead to, say, more mental illness or crime 15 or 20 years later can only be explored by the use of statistics. Whatever the long-term effects, parents sometimes find the immediate effects difficult to deal with. Children under three are likely to protest at leaving their parents and show unhappiness. At the age of three or three and a half almost all children find the transition to nursery easy, and this is undoubtedly why more and more parents make use of child care at this time. The matter, then, is far from clear-out, though experience and available evidence indicate that early care is reasonable for infants.
1. Which of the following statements would Bowlby support?
A. Statistical studies should be carried out to assess the positive effect of day care for children at the age of three or older.
B. Early day care can delay the occurrence of mental illness in children.
C. The first three years of one's life is extremely important to the later development of personality.
D. Children under three get used to the life at nursery schools more readily than children over three
2. Which of the following is derivable from Bowlby’s work?
A. Mothers should not send their children to day care centers until they are three years of older.
B. Day care nurseries have positive effects on a child's development.
C. A child sent to a day care center before the age of three may have emotional problems in late life.
D. Day care would not be so popular if it has noticeable negative effects on a child's personality.
3. It is suggested that modern societies differ from traditional societies in that
A. the parents-child relationship is more exclusive in modern societies.
B. a child more often grows up with his/her brothers or sisters in traditional societies.
C. mother brings up children with the help of her husband in traditional societies.
D. children in modern societies are more likely to develop mental illness in later years.
4. Which of the following statements is NOT an argument against Bowlby’s theory?
A. Many studies show that day care has a positive effect on children’s development
B. Day care is safe; otherwise there wouldn’t be so many nursery schools.
C. Separation from parents for very young children is common in some traditional societies.
D. Parents find the immediate effects of early day care difficult to deal with.
5. Which of the following best expresses the writer’s attitude towards early day care?
A. Children under three should stay with heir parents.
B. Early day care has positive effects on children's development.
C. The issue is controversial and its settlement calls for the use of statistics.
D. The effects of early day care on children are exaggerated and parents should ignore the issue.
Certain animals and plants develop characteristics that help them cope with their environment better than others of their kind. This natural biological process is called adaptation. Among the superior characteristics developed through adaptation are those that may help in getting food or shelter, in providing protection, and in producing and protecting the young. That results in the evolution of more and more organisms that are better fitted to their environments.
Each living thing is adapted to its way of life in a general way, but each is adapted especially to its own distinct class. A plant, for example, depends upon its roots to fix itself firmly and to absorb water and inorganic chemicals. It depends upon its green leaves for using the sun's energy to make food from inorganic chemicals. These are general adaptations, common to most plants. In addition, there are special adaptations that only certain kinds of plants have.
Many animals have adaptations that help them escape from their enemies. Some insects are hidden by their body color or shape, and many look like a leaf or a little branch. The coats of deer are colored to mix with the surroundings. Many animals have the ability to remain completely still when an enemy is near.
Organisms have a great variety of ways of adapting. They may adapt in their structure, function, and genetics; in their development and production of the young; and in other respects. An organism may create its own environment, as do warm-blooded mammals, which have the ability to adjust body heat exactly to maintain their ideal temperature despite changing weather. Usually adaptations are an advantage, but sometimes an organism is so well adapted to a particular environment that, if conditions change, it finds it difficult or impossible to readapt to the new conditions.
1. Some plants and animals develop superior characteristics so that they may
A. help others of their kind get food, shelter and other things needed.
B. survive even in extremely severe conditions.
C. become better adapted to the environments than others of their kind.
D. result in the evolution and production of more intelligent organisms.
2. In the first paragraph, the word “environments” could best be replaced by
A. contexts.
B. surroundings.
C. neighbors.
D. enemies.
3. It can be inferred from this passage that the feathers of a bird are colored
A. to frighten its enemies.
B. to attract its enemies.
C. to adjust is body heat.
D. to match its environment.
4. Which of the following is not directly mentioned in the passage?
A. A living thing may adapt in its structure.
B. An organism may adapt in its function.
C. A living creature may adapt in its genetic makeup.
D. A living organism may adapt in its sleeping habit.
5. The author cites the behavior of warm-blooded mammals in order to that a living thing may have the ability
A. to create an environment of its own.
B. to remain still when an enemy is near.
C. to make food from inorganic chemicals.
D. to change the color of its skin.
Early or Later Day Care
The British psychoanalyst John Bowl by maintains that separation from the parents during the sensitive “attachment” period from birth to three may scar a child's personality and predispose to emotional problems in later life. Some people have drawn the conclusion from Bowlby's work that children should not be subjected to day care before the age of three because of the parental separation it entails, and many people do believe this. But there are also arguments against such a strong conclusion.
Firstly, anthropologists point out that the insulated love affair between children and parents found in modern societies does not usually exist in traditional societies. For example, in some tribal societies, such as the Ngoni, the father and mother of a child did not rear their infant alone—far from it. Secondly, common sense tells us that day care would not be so widespread today if parents, care-takers found children had problems with it. Statistical studies of this kind have not yet been carried out, and even if they were, the results would be certain to be complicated and controversial. Thirdly, in the last decade there have been a number of careful American studies of children in day care, and they have uniformly reported that day care had a neutral or slightly positive effect on children's development. But tests that have had to be used to measure this development are not widely enough accepted to settle the issue.
But Bowlby's analysis raises the possibility that early day care has delayed effects. The possibility that such care might lead to, say, more mental illness or crime 15 or 20 years later can only be explored by the use of statistics. Whatever the long-term effects, parents sometimes find the immediate effects difficult to deal with. Children under three are likely to protest at leaving their parents and show unhappiness. At the age of three or three and a half almost all children find the transition to nursery easy, and this is undoubtedly why more and more parents make use of child care at this time. The matter, then, is far from clear-out, though experience and available evidence indicate that early care is reasonable for infants.
1. Which of the following statements would Bowlby support?
A. Statistical studies should be carried out to assess the positive effect of day care for children at the age of three or older.
B. Early day care can delay the occurrence of mental illness in children.
C. The first three years of one's life is extremely important to the later development of personality.
D. Children under three get used to the life at nursery schools more readily than children over three
2. Which of the following is derivable from Bowlby’s work?
A. Mothers should not send their children to day care centers until they are three years of older.
B. Day care nurseries have positive effects on a child's development.
C. A child sent to a day care center before the age of three may have emotional problems in late life.
D. Day care would not be so popular if it has noticeable negative effects on a child's personality.
3. It is suggested that modern societies differ from traditional societies in that
A. the parents-child relationship is more exclusive in modern societies.
B. a child more often grows up with his/her brothers or sisters in traditional societies.
C. mother brings up children with the help of her husband in traditional societies.
D. children in modern societies are more likely to develop mental illness in later years.
4. Which of the following statements is NOT an argument against Bowlby’s theory?
A. Many studies show that day care has a positive effect on children’s development
B. Day care is safe; otherwise there wouldn’t be so many nursery schools.
C. Separation from parents for very young children is common in some traditional societies.
D. Parents find the immediate effects of early day care difficult to deal with.
5. Which of the following best expresses the writer’s attitude towards early day care?
A. Children under three should stay with heir parents.
B. Early day care has positive effects on children's development.
C. The issue is controversial and its settlement calls for the use of statistics.
D. The effects of early day care on children are exaggerated and parents should ignore the issue.