Reading Comprehension

PT110 · S4 · P1 · Q6 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.

6.

Based on the passage, the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements?

  1. The number of okapis is

    Too Strong: many times larger

    Once they affixed collars to okapi and were able to get some reliable information about their numbers, "it turns out that while okapis are not as rare as some zoologists suspected, their population is concentrated in an extremely limited chain". So, yes, their population size is bigger than zoologists had previously believed it to be, but saying "while not as rare as we thought, their population is concentrated in an extremely limited area" is not saying "it's many times bigger than we believed it to be".

    20% picked this

  2. Radio-tracking collars have enabled scientists

    Too Strong: all

    Have you ever met a scientist who thought that all the questions had been answered, about anything? The last paragraph contradicts this answer, since it begins "other questions about okapi behavior arise".

    1% picked this

  3. Correct

    Okapis are captured infrequently because

    Why this is right

    This is gist-y synthesis that we can't locate to one specific supporting sentence, but it seems like a reasonable thing the author would believe. The 3rd paragraph begins, "One reason for their seeming scarcity is that their coloration allows them to camouflage themselves even at close range". And then it continues to tell us that okapis don't travel in groups (easier for a hunter to find groups), don't frequent open riverbanks (where they could be spotted), and instead keep to the forest interior. Hunters have a harder time accessing the forest interior, and within that environment, the okapis are super well camouflaged. This answer is still kind of frustrating because hunters may infrequently capture okapi by choice (perhaps there's no demand for okapi pelts or horns or wall trophies), but it's a very reasonable thought that "an incredibly camouflaged animal that sticks to the deep forest interior" would be infrequently captured for that reason.

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

    75% picked this

  4. Okapis are concentrated in a

    Contradicted

    We were told in the 3rd paragraph "Okapis never eat one plant to the exclusion of others".

    1% picked this

  5. The number of okapis would

    Unsupported Causal Relationship

    If the passage had told us that okapi numbers were reduced because they weren't taking advantage of foraging in this open border area, then this type of answer would be supportable. But the author, in the 4th paragraph, spitballs two good reasons why the okapi don't forage in that area: - they might get spotted and eaten by predators - they might get outcompeted by the bushbuck and bongo In other words, the author seems to think that there could be logical, ongoing habitat reasons why the okapi don't forage in the open border (whereas the author doesn't see any good reason why the okapi couldn't expand into nearby forest regions -- she thinks that is just a silly relic of evolutionary history).

    3% picked this

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