Day 2

英文重现

The second explanation for the “confusion effect” has to do with the sensory confusion caused by a large number of prey moving around the predator. Even if the predator makes the decision to attack a particular fish, the movement of other prey in the school can be distracting.

——GMAT OG 2015, Reading Comprehension, Passage 1

解析

1.词组“have to do with”意为“与……有关联”，在写作中，我们在陈述理由时也可以使用这个表达，还可以对词组进行改造，比如改造成“have something/nothing to do with”（“与……有/无关联”）。

2.“caused by a large number of prey moving around the predator”是过去分词短语作后置定语，修饰前面的“sensory confusion”，其中的“moving around the predator”也是现在分词短语作定语，修饰前面的“a large number of prey”。分词作定语时，被修饰的词即为该分词的逻辑主语，分词与其逻辑主语之间是主动（现在分词）或者被动（过去分词）的关系。

3.“even if”可引导让步状语从句，意思是“即使，虽然”。“even though”也可以引导让步状语从句，二者的区别在于“even if”一般引出的是把握不大或假设的事情，而“even though”引出的则是事实。例如：

a. Even if we achieve great success in our work, we should not be proud.

即使我们在工作中取得了巨大成绩，我们也不应该自满。（还没有取得成绩）

b. Even though he was late, he was not criticized by the teacher.

虽然他迟到了，但他并没有受到老师的批评。（已经迟到了）

词义辨析

参考翻译

对“困惑效应”的第二种解释与感官上的困惑有关，感官上的困惑是由一大群被捕食者围绕着捕食者游动所造成的。即使捕食者决定攻击某一条鱼，鱼群中其他被捕食者的运动也会分散（捕食者的）注意力。

实战演练

Sometimes, proponents argue, predators simply cannot decide which fish to attack. This indecision supposedly results from a predator's preference for striking prey that is distinct from the rest of the school in appearance. In many schools the fish are almost identical in appearance, making it difficult for a predator to select one. The second explanation for the “confusion effect” has to do with the sensory confusion caused by a large number of prey moving around the predator. Even if the predator makes the decision to attack a particular fish, the movement of other prey in the school can be distracting. The predator's difficulty can be compared to that of a tennis player trying to hit a tennis ball when two are approaching simultaneously.

According to the passage, theory B states that which of the following is a factor that enables a schooling fish to escape predators?

(A) The tendency of fish to form compact groups.

(B) The movement of other fish within the school.

(C) The inability of predators to detect schools.

(D) The ability of fish to hide behind one another in a school.

(E) The great speed with which a school can disperse.

答案：B

答案解析

题目问的是B理论中的哪一点使得成群游动的鱼可以避开捕食者。解答本题的关键是要看懂文中对于B理论的介绍“The second explanation for the ‘confusion effect’ has to do with the sensory confusion caused by a large number of prey moving around the predator”，这句话的意思是一大群被掠食者围绕着捕食者游动，从而造成感官上的困惑，使得捕食者分心（the movement of other prey in the school can be distracting），进而保护聚群里的鱼。所以，根据“the movement of other prey”（其他猎物的运动，此处所说的猎物指的就是鱼），可以得出选项B“聚群中其他鱼的游动”是正确的。

其他选项的意思为：

A.鱼形成紧密的小组的倾向。

C.捕食者没有攻击聚群的能力。

D.聚群里的鱼躲藏在彼此背后的能力。

E.聚群分散的最快速度。