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  3. Cuckolds are men whose wives gave birth to infants that were blatantly not their own. The well known trickery of the cuckoo, the

Cuckolds are men whose wives gave birth to infants that were blatantly not their own. The well known trickery of the cuckoo, the

admin2016-10-21  25
问题     Cuckolds are men whose wives gave birth to infants that were blatantly not their own. The well known trickery of the cuckoo, the bird from which "cuckold" is derived, is as a nest parasite — laying eggs for other birds to hatch and raise. New research suggests the cuckoo has another trick it uses to ruffle its victims’ feathers.
    Common cuckoos usually lay a single egg in the nest of a host bird. The eggs often look remarkably similar to the host’s. Upon hatching, the cuckoo chick eliminates any of its potential rival chicks by pushing them or their eggs out of the nest. However, there is more to this elaborate deceit than is generally realized.
    As far back as ancient times a similarity has been noted between many cuckoo species and hawks, in size, shape and plumage. More recently researchers have discovered that hawk-like markings are more prevalent in cuckoo species that engage in nest parasitism than in cuckoo species that do not. Researchers wondered whether this similarity was noticed by birds too.
    They set up peanut feeding stations and over two years found that great and blue tits, both of which are not parasitised by cuckoos, were the main visitors. They then experimented by placing a mounted specimen of a sparrowhawk, cuckoo, dove, or duck, at the feeders for five minutes. The team reported that the tits were as scared of cuckoos as they were of sparrowhawks, raising alarm calls and staying away from feeders at all costs. With the duck and dove they detected no such behavior.
    When researchers covered the hawk-like markings on the cuckoo the tits treated it as if it were a duck or dove. Covering the same markings on the sparrowhawk had no such effect, but adding them to the dove caused the tits to treat the dove as they would a sparrowhawk or a cuckoo.
    The authors argue that actual cuckoo hosts, such as meadow pipits, dunnocks and reed warblers, may have directed the evolution of the cuckoo’s resemblance to hawks by attacking cuckoos that approached their nests. If a cuckoo with slightly hawk-like plumage caused hosts to delay or avoid an attack in the past, this would have favored the evolution,of hawk mimicry.
    It is an arms race —-and a matter of adapting and counter-adapting. The better the cuckoo disguises its eggs and itself, the more host birds improve their ability to spot the impostor. Although such an evolutionary dynamic may seem like something that exists only in the wild, it is possible for it to happen in human society as well — between cuckolds and their cheating partners, constantly driving men to be better at detecting adultery and women to be better at getting away with it.
According to the passage, why is "cuckold" derived from "cuckoo"?
选项 A、Because they both mimic the distinctive appearance of others.
B、Because the cuckoo’s stealth is as analogous to a cuckold’s deceit.
C、Because both cuckolds and cuckoos have others raise their descendants.
D、Because the cuckoo’s invasion of other birds’ nests is analogous to the stealing of a wife’s affections by another man.
答案D
解析 词义题。cuckold为“被戴绿帽者”，cuckoo是“布谷鸟”，经常偷偷将子嗣寄生于其他鸟巢。A错，因为cuckold不模仿其他鸟类的外表特征。B错，只有cuckoo进行欺骗活动，cuckold为“被戴绿帽者”，两者没什么关联。C错，cuckold并不让别人养自己的后代，而很有可能是自己养别人的后代。因此D对。
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