Directions for questions (95 to 99): Read the following passage carefully, and answer the questions following it:
The history of mammals dates back at least to Triassic time. Development was retarded, however, until the sudden acceleration of evolutional change that occurred in the oldest Paleocene. This led in Eocene time to increase in average size, larger mental capacity, and special adaptations for different modes of life. In the Oligocene Epoch, there was further improvement, with some appearance of some new lines and extinction of others. Miocene and Pliocene time was marked by culmination of several groups and continued approach toward modern characters. The peak of the career of mammals in variety and average large size was attained in the Miocene.
The adaptation of mammals to almost all possible modes of life parallels that of the reptiles in Mesozoic time, and except for the greater intelligence, the mammals do not seem to have done much better than corresponding forms. The bat is doubtless a better flying animal than the pterosaur, but the dolphin and whale are hardly more fishlike than the ichthyosaur. Many swift-running mammals of the plains, like the horse and the antelope, must excel any of the dinosaurs. The tyrannosaur was more ponderous and powerful carnivore than any flesh-eating mammal, but the lion or tiger is probably a more efficient and dangerous beast of prey because of a superior brain. The significant point to observe is that different branches of the mammals gradually fitted themselves for all sorts of life, grazing on the plains and able to run swiftly (horse, deer, bison), living in rivers and swamps (hippopotamus, beaver), dwelling in the trees (sloth, monkey), digging underground (mole, rodent), feeding on flesh in the forest (tiger) and plain (wolf), swimming in the sea (dolphin, whale, seal) and flying in the air (bat). Man is able by mechanical means to conquer the physical world and adapt himself to almost any set of conditions.
This adaptation produces gradual changes of form and structure. It is biologically characteristic of the youthful, plastic stage of a group. Early in its career, an animal assemblage seems to possess capacity for change, which, as the unit becomes old and fixed, disappears. The generalized types of organisms retain longest the ability to make new adjustments when required, and it is from them that new, fecund stocks take origin — So, in the mammals, we witness the birth, plastic spread in many directions, increasing specialization, and in some branches, the extinction, which we have learned from observation of the geological record of life is a characteristic of the evolution of life.
95. The statements made by the writer are based on evidence
(1) developed by Charles Darwin
(2) found by comparing animals and present day reptiles
(3) found by going to different time periods
(4) that cannot be definitely established
(5) gained by studying fossil remains
96. From the passage, we may conclude that the pterosaur
(1) resembled the bat
(2) was a mammal that lived in the Miozoic
(3) was a flying reptile
(4) lived in the sea
(5) evolved during the Miocene period
97. According to the passage, the greatest number of forms of mammalian life is found in the
(1) Triassic period
(2) Eocene period
(3) Oligocene period
(4) Pliocene period
(5) Miocene period
98. That the mammals which succeeded the reptiles in the geologic time were superior is illustrated by the statement that
(1) the tiger has a brain that surpasses that of the tyrannosaur
(2) the deer runs more swiftly than the lion
(3) the whale is more fishlike than the ichthyosaur
(4) the tiger is more powerful than the carnivorous reptiles
(5) the dinosaurs were slow moving animals
99. Saur in such words as pterosaur, dinosaur, and tyrannosaur probably means
(1) large (2) reptilian
(3) living in Mesozoic time (4) inefficient
(5) flying
Answers:
|
95. |
(3) |
|
96. |
(3) |
|
97. |
(5) |
|
98. |
(1) |
|
99. |
(2) |
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