Reading Comprehension

PT105 · S3 · P1 · Q7 Invertebrate Schooling

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Until recently, many biologists believed that invertebrate "schools" were actually transient assemblages, brought together by wind, currents, waves, or common food sources.

Topic

Schooling behavior in invertebrates and its advantages and drawbacks

Framework

Old / New

Main Point

Recent research has shown that many invertebrates, contrary to earlier belief, do form structured schools like fish do, and schooling brings a variety of benefits and some costs. (The Most Valuable Sentence appears at the end of the first paragraph: )

P1: Shifting Beliefs About Invertebrate Schooling

Until recently, scientists thought invertebrate groupings were just temporary and caused by environmental factors, but new research shows many actually form true schools, much like fish do.

P2: How Invertebrate Schools Work

Invertebrates that school do so in an organized way, maintaining consistent positioning; their grouping is pretty stable unless disturbed by predators.

P3: Passive Benefits of Schooling

Schooling, despite being risky and making the animals more visible, actually helps members avoid predators by making them harder to track individually, increasing group vigilance, and improving individual survival odds.

7.

Which one of the following, if true, would most clearly undermine the assumption about schooling mentioned in the first sentence of the third paragraph?

  1. Observation reveals that many groups

    Trap

    9% picked this

  2. Biologists find that some predators

    Trap

    6% picked this

  3. Correct

    Research demonstrates that the less

    Why this is right

    Passage Summary Topic Schooling behavior in invertebrates and its benefits and costs. Framework Old/New Main Point Contrary to earlier belief, many invertebrates form true schools, and schooling brings real benefits along with some costs. Most Valuable Sentence: "However, recent research has found numerous cases in which crustaceans and other invertebrates form schools as fish do." P1: Shifting Beliefs About Invertebrate Schooling Biologists used to think invertebrate groupings were accidental; new research shows many are true schools. P2: How Invertebrate Schools Work Members hold consistent positions, and the structure changes mainly when a predator appears. P3: Passive Benefits of Schooling Schooling makes a group more visible but leaves empty water, improves surveillance, and gives each member good odds of escape. P4: Active Defense Mechanisms Schools compact, freeze, split, flash-expand, or swim in synchrony to defeat predators. P5: Other Pros and Cons of Schooling Schooling helps find food and mates but breeds competition and can hurt reproduction, so circumstances set an optimal school size.

    Skill tested: Weaken · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.

    70% picked this

  4. Biologists confirm that predators are

    Trap

    14% picked this

  5. Researchers determine that the optimal

    Trap

    1% picked this

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