GRE閱讀考試該如何做題手記
Over the years， biologists have suggested two main pathways by which sexual selection may have shaped the evolution of male birdsong。
這是本文的主題句，告訴我們一下的信息：
1、本文探討的是一個現象，是關于鳥的歌曲的性選擇問題。
2、本文是一個新老觀點對比型的文章，關鍵詞在第一段中間或者第二段開頭
3、本文談到了進化論，那么在文章后面很可能會否定這個說法，并且可能會進行批駁。
4、下文會以性內和性間選擇分別展開進行論述。
In the first， male competition （這個就是講性內選擇了）and intrasexual selection produce relatively short， simple songs used mainly in territorial behavior。 In the second， （不看也知道，這是講性間選擇）female choice and intersexual selection produce longer， more complicated songs used mainly in mate attraction; like such visual ornamentation as the peacock‘s tail， elaborate vocal characteristics increase the male‘s chances of being chosen as a mate， and he thus enjoys more reproductive success than his less ostentatious rivals。 （以上到這里結束，做題時需要重點看的就是黑體字標示的字，通常來說，文章里面的極端語言需要記住它們的位置，比如最高級，比較級，表示唯一，單獨的意思的詞，可能出直接事實題）
The two pathways are not mutually exclusive， and we can expect to find examples that reflect their interaction。 （否定詞也要記住位置，可能出改善題）Teasing them apart has been an important challenge to evolutionary biologists。（開始要調戲進化論生物學家）
Early research confirmed the role of intrasexual selection。 In a variety of experiments in the field， males responded aggressively to recorded songs by exhibiting territorial behavior near the speakers。 （以上是性內選擇 ）The breakthrough for research into intersexual selection came in the development of a new technique for investigating female response in the laboratory。 （這里告訴我們出現了新的突破，這是GRE所特別喜歡的東西，很可能就是本文的重點下面就是要進行說明和舉例）
When female cowbirds raised in isolation in sound－proof chambers were exposed to recordings of male song， they responded by exhibiting mating behavior。 （對于跟在論點之后的論述或者例子，我們沒有必要去記住太多內容，你只要記住這是什么觀點的例子，以及這個例子的關鍵詞）
By quantifying the responses， researchers were able to determine what particular features of the song were most important。 In further experiments on song sparrows， researchers found that when exposed to a single song type repeated several times or to a repertoire of different song types， females responded more to the latter。（遞進關系，處理同上） The beauty of the experimental design is that it effectively rules out confounding variables; acoustic isolation assures that the female can respond only to the song structure itself。（ONLY就是唯一的意思，那么這個地方記住的就是這種方法可以去掉所有可能混淆的因素）
If intersexual selection operates as theorized， males with more complicated songs should not only attract females more readily but should also enjoy greater reproductive success。 At first， however， researchers doing fieldwork with song sparrows found no correlation between larger repertoires and early mating， which has been shown to be one indicator of reproductive success; further， common measures of male quality used to predict reproductive success， such as weight， size， age， and territory， also failed to correlate with song complexity。 （看到這里，本段開頭的觀點似乎是被否定了，黑體標示的詞都是非常明顯的否定和轉折 ，那么我們所可以做的就是繼續往下看，各位記住，這個地方沒有必要看太細，就是因為這段雖有轉折，可是依然處于文章的中間，后面還有很多可能。）
The confirmation researchers had been seeking was finally achieved in studies involving two varieties of warblers。 （看到這里，上一段的觀點就被明顯的證實了，所以一定要記住，文章還沒有結束，出現的轉折部分不用細看，因為經常會出現更多的轉折，而不管怎么轉，最后一次才算數。）
Unlike （千萬記住，這個詞出現肯定會考��！通常考反面）the song sparrow， which repeats one of its several song types in bouts before switching to another， the warbler（下面出題會問它） continuously composes much longer and more variable songs without repetition。 For the first time， researchers found a significant correlation between repertoire size and early mating， and they discovered further that repertoire size had a more significant effect than any other measure of male quality on the number of young produced。 The evidence suggests that warblers use their extremely elaborate songs primarily to attract females， clearly confirming the effect of intersexual selection on the evolution of birdsong。 （都是重復本段的？章不在于讀懂全文，你根本沒有時間讀懂。你只是 “處理 ”文章，主要線索就是論點和 論據，論據大部分不用記住，只要知道在那里就是，要做快，還需要非常清楚地對于某些理論的態度，這樣才可以不至于恐慌。下面我們看題目
21。 The passage is primarily concerned with
這種題目叫做主題題，一般做法是 “三出現 ” ，主題詞必須出現，細節，新內容不能出現。細節，指的就是把這個詞從文章拿走，文章不會受影響，依然可以存在的東西。新內容，指的是文章完全沒有談到的東西。
�。ˋ） showing that intrasexual selection has a greater effect on birdsong than does intersexual selection
顯然性間選擇比性內選擇重要，此選項錯。
�。˙） contrasting the role of song complexity in several species of birds（無主題詞，錯）
�。–） describing research confirming the suspected relationship between intersexual selection and the complexity of birdsong （就是它啦）
�。―） demonstrating the superiority of laboratory work over field studies in evolutionary biology（同B）
�。‥） illustrating the effectiveness of a particular approach to experimental design in evolutionary biology（ 同B）
記住，要快！
22。The author mentions the peacock‘s tail in line 8 most
probably in order to （ 這種題叫舉例作用題，正確答案標志有兩個詞：illustrate 和 give an example of 所以別的選項就可以不看）
�。ˋ） cite an exception to the theory of the relationship between intrasexual selection and male competition
（B） illustrate the importance of both of the pathways
that shaped the evolution of birdsong （沒有談性間選擇問題，馬上選D，選項業不用看，因為之可能是它）
�。–） draw a distinction between competing theories of intersexual selection
�。―） give an example of a feature that may have evolved through intersexual selection by female choice
（E） refute a commonly held assumption about the role of song in mate attraction
23。According to the passage， which of the following is
specifically related to intrasexual selection？ （問的是性內選擇，還記得那個段落談這個主題多寫么，就是第一二段，）
�。ˋ） Female choice （這個就是性間選擇）
�。˙） Territorial behavior （純粹的性內選擇，就是它）
�。–） Complex song types
（D） Large song repertoires
�。‥） Visual ornamentation
24。Which of the following， if true， would most clearly
demonstrate the interaction mentioned in lines 11－13？
（這是最難的'題目之一，叫邏輯題，也是07年10月之后的閱讀重點，這種題目不用找內容對應，因為它的重點是假設某一觀點成立，那一個能夠最大支持 或反對這個觀點，這些事實不是來自于文章，所以必須先看清楚11－13說了什么。現在做到題目看完全不遲，因為你即使剛才看了，做到這里也可能混淆，現在考了才回去看，非常直接，清晰。11－13行其實就是第二段的開頭，不過請記住，GRE為了增加難度，真正的結論通常在上面一句或者下面一句，這種題目的難度就非常大了，因此，真正的要說明的觀點是：The two pathways are not mutually exclusive， and we can expect to find examples that reflect their interaction。）
�。ˋ） Female larks respond similarly both to short， simple songs and to longer， more complicated songs。 （沒有性的吸引）
�。˙） Male canaries use visual ornamentation as well as elaborate song repertoires for mate attraction。 （同上）
�。–） Both male and female blackbirds develop elaborate visual and vocal characteristics。 （同上）
�。―） Male jays use songs to compete among themselves and to attract females。 （性內性間都有，就是它）
�。‥） Male robins with elaborate visual ornamentation have as much reproductive success as rivals with elaborate vocal characteristics。 （只有性間）
25。 The passage indicates that researchers raised female
cowbirds in acoustic isolation in order to （這次我們運氣不那么好了，不過還是可以做，in order to前面的內容是例子，觀點一般在例子的前面，把鳥兒關在隔音室里是為什么呢，當然就是為了隔開別的因素。選Ａ）
�。ˋ） eliminate confounding variables
（B） approximate field conditions
�。–） measure reproductive success
�。―） quantify repertoire complexity
（E） prevent early mating
26。 According to the passage， the song sparrow is unlike （這就是ＵＮＬＩＫＥ 出的題目，這叫做強對比，其實只要強對比出現，肯定都會出題。類似的語言標志還有：ｐｒｅｖｉｏｕｓｌｙ，ｂｙ ｃｏｎｔｒａｓｔ等）
the warbler in that the song sparrow （主語是the song sparrow，肯定選表示簡單的選項）。
�。ˋ） uses songs mainly in territorial behavior （沒關系）
（B） continuously composes long and complex songs （復雜）
�。–） has a much larger song repertoire （復雜）
�。―） repeats one song type before switching to another （重復，簡單）
�。‥） responds aggressively to recorded songs（沒關系）
27。The passage suggests that the song sparrow experiments mentioned in lines 37－43 failed to confirm the role of intersexnal selection because （失敗的原因就在否定詞）At first， however， researchers doing fieldwork with song sparrows found no correlation between larger repertoires and early mating， which has been shown to be one indicator of reproductive success 原因就是沒有關系，答案肯定有否定詞。
（A） females were allowed to respond only to the song structure （沒有）
�。˙） song sparrows are unlike other species of birds （ｕｎｌｉｋｅ 不是否定）
�。–） the experiments provided no evidence that elaborate songs increased male reproductive success （就是它）
（D） the experiments included the songs of only a small number of different song sparrows （沒有）
�。‥） the experiments duplicated some of the limitations of previous field studies （沒有）
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