New evidence supporting conclusion ·Neurophysiological studies
Studies reveal two sensory receptors in pores on platypus bills: mechanoreceptors (respond to physical pressure), and electroreceptors (respond to electrical fields).
Puzzle ·How does platypus locate prey at a distance?
If a platypus isn't touching its prey with its bill, how can it find the prey? (Probably has to do with the electroreceptos, since we discussed the mechanoreceptors earlier.)
Scheich's speculation ·All invertebrates that platypus eats produce electric fields
We already know that shrimp prey of platypus produces an electric field.
Passage Style
Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)
Single position
21.
Which one of the following ████ █████████ ███ ████████████ ██ ███ ████████
Question Type
Describe organization
Structure
Rely on your low-res summary to help answer this question. The passage starts with the biologists’ conclusion that the platypus uses its bill to locate prey underwater. We get a description of results that support this view (Bohringer’s results). Then there’s a question raised based on Bohringer’s results (how does the platypus find prey at a distance?). The final paragraph presents additional experimental results that help answer the question.
a
A hypothesis is █████████ ███ ████████ ████ ██████████ █████████
The passage doesn’t present examples of the claim that the platypus uses its bill to locate prey underwater. Rather, we have studies that provide supporting evidence for this view. But none of the studies involve specific instances of playpuses using their bills to find prey underwater.
13%
b
A conclusion is █████████ ███ ███ ███████████ ██████████ ██ ██ █████████
This best captures the organization as explained above.
75%
c
A thesis is █████████ ███ ████████ ████ ██ █████████
The author doesn’t defend a thesis with an argument. She simply describes research that lends support to the conclusion presented at the beginning. A description of research is not the same thing as an argument.
3%
d
Opposing views are ██████████ ██████████ ███ ████ ███████████
The author never presents views that oppose each other.
1%
e
A theory is █████████ ███████████ ███ ████ ████████
The author doesn’t amend any theory proposed at the beginning. Scheich’s results don’t lead to some modification of the biologists’ view; it’s supporting evidence for that view.
8%
Answer five questions and we'll estimate your score.
This is a difficult question.
It is slightly harder than the average question in this passage.
Score of students with a 50% chance of getting this right
152
Analysis
Describe organization
Describe organization
Stems that ask us to describe the organization of a passage or paragraph in abstract terms (e.g. "a proposition is stated and then arguments for and against it are summarized").
An umbrella tag marking questions that test our understanding of the passage's overall structure (e.g. Main point, Purpose of paragraph, Meaning in context, Describe organization).
Passages that focus on describing or evaluating potential explanations for a given phenomenon. Causal reasoning features prominently in these passages.
