Question: Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they oppose the specific points made in the reading passage.
Pterosaurs were an ancient group of winged reptiles that lived alongside the dinosaurs. Many pterosaurs were very large, some as large as a giraffe and with a wingspan of over 12 meters. Paleontologists have long wondered whether large pterosaurs were capable of powered flight (flying by flapping their wings) or whether they were able only to glide. Several arguments have been made against powered flight. Doubters point out that since modern reptiles are cold-blooded, ancient reptiles such as pterosaurs were probably cold-blooded as well. Cold-blooded animals typically have a slow metabolism and are unable to produce a lot of energy. Powered flight is an activity requiring a lot of energy, which is why all modern vertebrates that fly are warm-blooded, not cold-blooded. It seems unlikely that pterosaurs would have been able to generate the energy needed to fly.Second, there is a limit to the weight of animals that can be kept airborne by powered flight. Pterosaurs that were as large as a giraffe were probably so heavy that they would not have been able to flap their wings fast enough to stay aloft for any length of time.Third, all animals with powered flight are able to take off from the ground. For example, birds take off by jumping from their legs or running to gain speed and then jumping. But these methods would not have worked for large pterosaurs. Large pterosaurs would have needed big, powerful muscles in their back legs to launch themselves into the air, and we know from fossilized bones that their back leg muscles were too small and weak to allow the pterosaurs to run fast enough or jump high enough to launch themselves into the air..
The speaker and the author hold divergent attitude towards whether pterosaurs are able to fly. The writer puts forward that pterosaurs have a slow metobolism and thus can not produce a lot of energy to fly. Also, pterosaurs may be too heavy to flap their wings fast enough to stay aloft, and their back leg muscles may be too small to help pterosaurs to launch themselves into the air. However, the professor presents her refutation in the lecture.
First, it is said in the reading passage that pterosaurs, a kind of reptile, are probably cold-blooded, and most cold-blooded animals have a slow metabolism and cannot provide sufficient energy to fly. To rebut the idea, the lecture suggests that a recent fossil of pterosaurs have been found. Scientists found hair and fur covering in that fossil, which is typical for warm-blooded animals because they have to maintain temperature of their bodies by the fur covering when outside condition is cold. Pterosaurs, therefore, may have quick metabolism and can produce a lot of energy for them to fly.
Second, even though the reading material proposes that pterosaurs may be so heavy that they would not have been able to flap their wings enough to stay aloft for any length of time, the professor maintains that pterosaurs may be very light. In order to keep their weight low, they have hollow bones rather than solid ones, and it is likely that their weight is low enough to flap their wings and be able to fly. Thus, the assumption of the author is severely weakened.
Third, the author of the reading indicates that pterosaurs need big and powerful muscles in their back legs to launch themselves into the air like what birds do. Whereas, fossilized bones demonstrate that their back leg muscles are too small to allow them to run fast enough and high enough to launch into the air. But according to the lecturer, there are many differences between birds and pterosaurs. Birds utilize their back limbs to jump out of the land, while pterosaurs may walk on their full limb to push off the ground, and they may run fast enough or jump high enough to launch into the air.
| Post date | Users | Rates | Link to Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-10-06 | YIngxin Zhang | 73 | view |
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Comments
Essay evaluations by e-grader
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, first, however, if, may, second, so, therefore, third, thus, whereas, while, kind of
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 17.0 10.4613686534 163% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 12.0 5.04856512141 238% => Less auxiliary verb wanted.
Conjunction : 15.0 7.30242825607 205% => Less conjunction wanted
Relative clauses : 12.0 12.0772626932 99% => OK
Pronoun: 32.0 22.412803532 143% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 47.0 30.3222958057 155% => OK
Nominalization: 3.0 5.01324503311 60% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1762.0 1373.03311258 128% => OK
No of words: 368.0 270.72406181 136% => OK
Chars per words: 4.78804347826 5.08290768461 94% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.37987740619 4.04702891845 108% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.45834267831 2.5805825403 95% => OK
Unique words: 175.0 145.348785872 120% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.475543478261 0.540411800872 88% => More unique words wanted or less content wanted.
syllable_count: 522.9 419.366225166 125% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.4 1.55342163355 90% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 2.0 3.25607064018 61% => OK
Article: 8.0 8.23620309051 97% => OK
Subordination: 2.0 1.25165562914 160% => OK
Conjunction: 5.0 1.51434878587 330% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning.
Preposition: 2.0 2.5761589404 78% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 15.0 13.0662251656 115% => OK
Sentence length: 24.0 21.2450331126 113% => OK
Sentence length SD: 56.2200438752 49.2860985944 114% => OK
Chars per sentence: 117.466666667 110.228320801 107% => OK
Words per sentence: 24.5333333333 21.698381199 113% => OK
Discourse Markers: 6.33333333333 7.06452816374 90% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 0.0 4.19205298013 0% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 5.0 4.33554083885 115% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 3.0 4.45695364238 67% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 7.0 4.27373068433 164% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.119173901854 0.272083759551 44% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.044085440223 0.0996497079465 44% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0411555636729 0.0662205650399 62% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0826560359701 0.162205337803 51% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0332680488493 0.0443174109184 75% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 13.4 13.3589403974 100% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 64.04 53.8541721854 119% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 10.3 11.0289183223 93% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 10.8 12.2367328918 88% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 7.53 8.42419426049 89% => OK
difficult_words: 63.0 63.6247240618 99% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 10.5 10.7273730684 98% => OK
gunning_fog: 11.6 10.498013245 110% => OK
text_standard: 11.0 11.2008830022 98% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Write the essay in 20 minutes.
Rates: 73.3333333333 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 22.0 Out of 30
---------------------
Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, first, however, if, may, second, so, therefore, third, thus, whereas, while, kind of
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 17.0 10.4613686534 163% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 12.0 5.04856512141 238% => Less auxiliary verb wanted.
Conjunction : 15.0 7.30242825607 205% => Less conjunction wanted
Relative clauses : 12.0 12.0772626932 99% => OK
Pronoun: 32.0 22.412803532 143% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 47.0 30.3222958057 155% => OK
Nominalization: 3.0 5.01324503311 60% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1762.0 1373.03311258 128% => OK
No of words: 368.0 270.72406181 136% => OK
Chars per words: 4.78804347826 5.08290768461 94% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.37987740619 4.04702891845 108% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.45834267831 2.5805825403 95% => OK
Unique words: 175.0 145.348785872 120% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.475543478261 0.540411800872 88% => More unique words wanted or less content wanted.
syllable_count: 522.9 419.366225166 125% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.4 1.55342163355 90% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 2.0 3.25607064018 61% => OK
Article: 8.0 8.23620309051 97% => OK
Subordination: 2.0 1.25165562914 160% => OK
Conjunction: 5.0 1.51434878587 330% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning.
Preposition: 2.0 2.5761589404 78% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 15.0 13.0662251656 115% => OK
Sentence length: 24.0 21.2450331126 113% => OK
Sentence length SD: 56.2200438752 49.2860985944 114% => OK
Chars per sentence: 117.466666667 110.228320801 107% => OK
Words per sentence: 24.5333333333 21.698381199 113% => OK
Discourse Markers: 6.33333333333 7.06452816374 90% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 0.0 4.19205298013 0% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 5.0 4.33554083885 115% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 3.0 4.45695364238 67% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 7.0 4.27373068433 164% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.119173901854 0.272083759551 44% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.044085440223 0.0996497079465 44% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0411555636729 0.0662205650399 62% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0826560359701 0.162205337803 51% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0332680488493 0.0443174109184 75% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 13.4 13.3589403974 100% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 64.04 53.8541721854 119% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 10.3 11.0289183223 93% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 10.8 12.2367328918 88% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 7.53 8.42419426049 89% => OK
difficult_words: 63.0 63.6247240618 99% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 10.5 10.7273730684 98% => OK
gunning_fog: 11.6 10.498013245 110% => OK
text_standard: 11.0 11.2008830022 98% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Write the essay in 20 minutes.
Rates: 73.3333333333 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 22.0 Out of 30
---------------------
Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.