Question: Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they cast doubt on the specific points made in the reading passage.
Like many creatures, humpback whales migrate long distances for feeding and mating purposes. How animals manage to migrate long distances is often puzzling. In the case of humpback whales, we may have found the answer: they may be navigating by the stars, much as early human sailors did. What we know about humpback whales makes this a distinct possibility.First, humpback whales seem to be intelligent enough to use stars to navigate by. Whales’ brains have a high degree of complexity—a common determiner of intelligence. This suggests that the whales’ brain power far exceeds that of most other animals. The whales’ well-developed cognitive ability seems to provide a sound basis for the ability to use a complex, abstract system of sensory stimuli such as the night sky for orientation.Second, humpback whales migrate in straight lines. Animals can maintain movement in a straight direction for long distances only if they orient themselves by some external objects or forces. Many birds and other terrestrial creatures, for example, use physical landmarks to help them stay on track as they migrate. Whales, which swim in the open ocean, cannot rely on land features; they could, however, rely on stars at night to provide them with external signs by which to maintain direction over long distances.Third, humpback whales exhibit an unusual behavior: they are sometimes observed floating straight up for minutes at a time, their heads above the water as though they were looking upward. The behavior is known as spy-hopping, and it is very rare among marine animals. One explanation for the function of spy-hopping is that the whales are looking at the stars, which are providing them with information to navigate by..
The speaker and the author hold different attitude towards how humpback whales manage to migrate long distances for feeding and mating. The writer puts forward that they navigate by the stars. However, the professor presents her refutation in the lecture.
Firstly, it is said in the reading material that humpback whales are intelligent enough to use stars to navigate by. To rebut this idea, the lecture suggests that there is no connection between the intelligence and the using of star to get right direction. Take ducks as an example. Ducks do not have super intelligence but they can use the celestrial compass to find the right way. Therefore, the ability of navigating by the stars is an instinct animals are born with rather than something they cultivate from nurture.
Secondly, even though the reading passage proposes that without physical landmarks to help them, humpback whales rely on stars at night to migrate in straight lines, the professor maintains that there are other different things they can rely on to maintain direction. Magnetic field, for example, can be the compass for humpback whales because bio-magnetite, an organ inside humpback whales' brain is found, and that organ is very sensitive to the magnetic field. Thus, the assumption of the author is severely weakened.
Thirdly, the author of the reading indicates that humpback whales do spy-hopping to look at stars at night, whereas, the lecturer contends that the rare behavior has nothing to do with observing the stars. Other animals that do not migrate like sharks can also do that behavior, and that is for looking for animals they want to hunt rather than maintaining a certain direction. In addition, humpback whales do spy-hopping also during the day when there is no star at all. The professor, thus, concludes that what states in the reading is simply a speculation.
| Post date | Users | Rates | Link to Content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-08-20 | YIngxin Zhang | 80 | view |
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Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 3, column 449, Rule ID: A_PLURAL[2]
Message: Don't use indefinite articles with plural words. Did you mean 'animal'?
Suggestion: animal
... navigating by the stars is an instinct animals are born with rather than something the...
^^^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, but, first, firstly, however, if, look, second, secondly, so, therefore, third, thirdly, thus, whereas, for example, in addition
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 13.0 10.4613686534 124% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 4.0 5.04856512141 79% => OK
Conjunction : 6.0 7.30242825607 82% => OK
Relative clauses : 13.0 12.0772626932 108% => OK
Pronoun: 21.0 22.412803532 94% => OK
Preposition: 39.0 30.3222958057 129% => OK
Nominalization: 10.0 5.01324503311 199% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1565.0 1373.03311258 114% => OK
No of words: 306.0 270.72406181 113% => OK
Chars per words: 5.11437908497 5.08290768461 101% => OK
Fourth root words length: 4.18244613648 4.04702891845 103% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.61691257963 2.5805825403 101% => OK
Unique words: 161.0 145.348785872 111% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.52614379085 0.540411800872 97% => OK
syllable_count: 471.6 419.366225166 112% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.55342163355 97% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 1.0 3.25607064018 31% => OK
Article: 11.0 8.23620309051 134% => OK
Subordination: 1.0 1.25165562914 80% => OK
Conjunction: 2.0 1.51434878587 132% => OK
Preposition: 2.0 2.5761589404 78% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 15.0 13.0662251656 115% => OK
Sentence length: 20.0 21.2450331126 94% => OK
Sentence length SD: 63.5213349986 49.2860985944 129% => OK
Chars per sentence: 104.333333333 110.228320801 95% => OK
Words per sentence: 20.4 21.698381199 94% => OK
Discourse Markers: 8.93333333333 7.06452816374 126% => OK
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 1.0 4.19205298013 24% => 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: 0.201820283489 0.272083759551 74% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0620626694504 0.0996497079465 62% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0655557161352 0.0662205650399 99% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.131105331027 0.162205337803 81% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.05010191074 0.0443174109184 113% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 12.8 13.3589403974 96% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 59.64 53.8541721854 111% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 9.9 11.0289183223 90% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 12.36 12.2367328918 101% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.34 8.42419426049 99% => OK
difficult_words: 72.0 63.6247240618 113% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 6.5 10.7273730684 61% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.0 10.498013245 95% => OK
text_standard: 10.0 11.2008830022 89% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Rates: 80.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 24.0 Out of 30
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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.