熱血背包客莊ㄟ

 During the Pleistocene epoch, several species of elephants isolated on islands underwent rapid dwarfing. This phenomenon was not necessarily confined to the Pleistocene, but may have occurred much earlier in the Southeastern Asian islands, although evidence is fragmentary. Several explanations are possible for this dwarfing. For example, islands often have not been colonized by large predators or are too small to hold viable predator populations. Once free from predation pressure, large body size is of little advantage to herbivores. Additionally, island habitats have limited food resources, a smaller body size and a need for fewer resources would thus be favored. Interestingly, the island rule is reversed for small mammals such as rodents, for which gigantism is favored under insular conditions.

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to

1. question the plausibility of one explanation sometimes offered for the dwarfing of certain species living on islands
2. argue that dwarfing of certain species living on islands occurred prior to the Pleistocene
3. cite evidence suggesting that dwarfing may have adverse consequences for some species living on islands
4. present some possible explanations for the dwarfing of certain species living on islands
5. contrast the effects of insular conditions on species with large body size and species with small body

2. According to the passage, which of the following statements about body size in mammals is true?

1. A large body is unfavorable to mammalian species’ survival under most conditions.
2. A large body tends to benefit small mammals living on islands.
3. For most herbivorous mammals, a large body size is easier to sustain in the absence of large predators.
4. Under most conditions, a small body is less beneficial to herbivorous mammals than to nonherbivorous mammals.
5. Among nonherbivorous mammals, a small body is more beneficial on an island than on a mainland.

文章結構：

第一句馬上抓主幹elephants isolated on islands underwent rapid dwarfing，所以是在討論島上大象『變小』的問題。再來就是找轉折了, but may have occurred這邊是在講兩個時間點都有發生，後面再補一句evidence is fragmentary，所以這整個第二句不用看了，就是在講廢話騙稿費。接著Several explanations這裡是一個並列法慣用的伎倆，explanations多種解釋，所以我們會期待接下來全都是用來解釋這個主題句（第一句島中大象變小）的理由。所以看到For example，Additionally，Interestingly,所以講了三個現象來解釋，但是最後一個Interestingly這是重點，這個『有趣』其實有種反諷的味道，尤其在英國的口語中，這是一個不認同一個人的婉轉語氣，就好像說：『台灣平均工資近期上漲到月薪四萬了』，您就可以接：『哈哈～Interesting』。因為它含有轉折含義，而且他在句尾，所以看一下他在反駁島中大象變小的哪個方面，the island rule is reversed，看到這裡即可，說明『島中大象變小』的論點是你眼睛業障重，馬上把考題蓋住～假的。

第一題：

第一題問文章主旨，那就簡單了，從島中大象變小和Several explanations直接選（Ｄ），別懷疑，確定，恭喜標準答案。像這類如果真的找不到目標句的話可以針對，轉折，強調的語氣去找。所以找到最後Interestingly, the island rule is reversed for small mammals such as rodents, for which gigantism is favored under insular conditions.大隻的在島上也是可以活的，馬上選到

第二題：

body size in mammals這題問對的是哪一個，趕快掃描帶到有出現關鍵字的句子，看到最後一句，然後在找文章的文意替換改寫即是答案。選（Ｂ）

ＰＳ：這個Interestingly，是轉折含義的，這代表他之前的句子跟他之後的句子兩邊立場是不同的，而我們的主角定位句出現在Interestingly後面，表示答案選項中如果出現Interestingly前面的內容的話必錯無疑，因為邏輯被分割了啊，因此舉凡（Ｃ）herbivorous，predators。（Ｄ）herbivorous。（Ｅ）nonherbivorous。就可以直接秒殺幹掉了。

以上個人筆記希望有幫助到大家，有誤再請指教!!