Reading Comprehension

PT110 · S4 · P1 · Q4 Okapis

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The okapi, a forest mammal of central Africa, has presented zoologists with a number of difficult questions since they first learned of its existence in 1900.

Topic

Okapis—mysterious forest mammals of central Africa: their classification, habits, and lingering questions about their behavior and distribution.

Framework

Answer / Explain

Main Point

The okapi has puzzled zoologists with questions about its classification, population, and behavior, but research has clarified some mysteries (such as its place in the giraffe family and its elusive habits), while other questions—like its preference for forest interiors and limited regional distribution—remain partially unanswered. The Most Valuable Sentence: The first sentence introduces the theme of zoologists being puzzled by the okapi, and the final sentences of paragraphs 3 and 4 pinpoint ongoing questions and current theories.

P1: Classification Mystery

Zoologists were initially confused about whether the okapi was related to horses or giraffes because it shares features with both. After further study, they placed it with the giraffe family based on unique traits like skin-covered horns and a long, flexible tongue.

P2: Estimating Population

People thought okapis were rare because they were seldom seen, but radio-collar tracking proved they're not super rare—just highly concentrated in a small forested area surrounded by savanna.

P3: Why Okapis Are Hard to Find

Okapis camouflage well and are loners (not group animals), staying deep in forests and away from clearings. Their diet includes a variety of leaves from many plants, and they don't overgraze any one type, so they spread out individually rather than gather.

4.

Suppose that numerous okapis are discovered living in a remote forest region in northeastern central Africa that zoologists had not previously explored. Based on their current views, which one of the following would the zoologists be most likely to conclude about this discovery?

  1. Okapis were pushed into this

    Too Speculative

    We never heard about okapi competing with other mammals in a forest and being displaced into another forest, so we should keep looking for an answer that sounds more like something we can point to in the passage for support. We only heard that okapi might be discouraged from eating on the forest border because of competition with the bushbuck and bongo.

    28% picked this

  2. Okapis in this forest region

    Contradicted

    From all we've heard thus far, okapi stick to the interior of the forest and do not graze on the border (zoologists think that competition with the bushbuck and bongo outcompete the okapi on that territory).

    3% picked this

  3. Okapis in this forest region

    Too Speculative

    We have no reason to invent a totally different reality for these northern okapi. Why should we jump to the idea that the okapi's usual predators don't live nearby? Further, since zoologists think that hiding from predators is one of the reasons that okapi stay within the forest interior, we would probably think that in an area where their usual predators are absent, the okapi would venture out of the forest more.

    5% picked this

  4. Okapis moved into this forest

    Too Speculative

    We never heard about okapi moving into a forest region because their preferred foliage is more abundant. That makes some common sense (go where there's more of your preferred food). But, 1. we're given the impression that okapi just stick to the forest they're in, so they wouldn't ever be checking out other forests and doing "comparison shopping" 2. okapi can eat more than 100 species of plants, and even where their preferred foliage is abundant, they leave much of it uneaten. So it doesn't sound like a compelling reason for them to move forests.

    3% picked this

  5. Correct

    Okapis lived in this forest

    Why this is right

    This reinforces the final sentence of the passage. Zoologists' explanation for why the okapi can be found clinging to the inside of one specific forest (rather than spreading out through nearby forests) is that the okapi evolved during a time when there really weren't other forest options, so they learned to stay within their forest. Thus, if we find a population of okapi in northern Africa that is also staying very tightly wound around one forest, then zoologists would presumably explain it the same way: those okapi inhabited that forest back when it was the only local option for them, so they don't realize that nowadays there are other hospitable habitats.

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

    61% picked this

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