What Do Whales Feel?

An examination of the functioning of thesenses in cetaceans, the group of mammals comprising whales, dolphins andporpoises

Some of the senses that we and other terrestrial mammals take for granted are either reduced or absent in cetaceans or fail to function well in water. For example, it appears from their brain structure that toothed species are unable to smell. Baleen species, on the other hand, appear to have some related brain structures but it is not known whether these are functional. It has been speculated that, as the blowholes evolved and migrated to the top of the head, the neural pathways serving sense of smell may have been nearly all sacrificed. Similarly, although at least some cetaceans have taste buds, the nerves serving these have degenerated or are rudimentary.

The sense of touch has sometimes been described as weak too, but this view is probably mistaken. Trainers of captive dolphins and small whales often remark on their animals’ responsiveness to being touched or rubbed, and both captive and free-ranging cetacean individuals of all species (particularly adults and calves, or members of the same subgroup) appear to make frequent contact. This contact may help to maintain order within a group, and stroking or touching are part of the courtship ritual in most species. The area around the blowhole is also particularly sensitive and captive animals often object strongly to being touched there.

The sense of vision is developed to different degrees in different species. Baleen species studied at close quarters underwater - specifically a grey whale calf in captivity for a year,and free-ranging right whales and humpback whales studied and filmed off Argentina and Hawaii - have obviously tracked objects with vision underwater,and they can apparently see moderately well both in water and in air. However,the position of the eyes so restricts the field of vision in baleen whales that they probably do not have stereoscopic vision.

On the other hand, the position of the eyes in most dolphins and porpoises suggests that they have stereoscopic vision forward and downward. Eye position in freshwater dolphins, which often swim on their side or upside down while feeding, suggests that what vision they have is stereoscopic forward and upward. By comparison, the bottlenose dolphin has extremely keen vision in water. Judging from the way it watches and tracks airborne flying fish, it can apparently see fairly well through the air-water interface as well. And although preliminary experimental evidence suggests that their in-air vision is poor, the accuracy with which dolphins leap high to take small fish out of a trainer’s hand provides anecdotal evidence to the contrary.

Such variation can no doubt be explained with reference to the habitats in which individual species have developed. For example, vision is obviously more useful to species inhabiting clear open waters than to those living in turbid rivers and flooded plains. The South American boutu and Chinese beiji, for instance, appear to have very limited vision, and the Indian susus are blind, their eyes reduced to slits that probably allow them to sense only the direction and intensity of light.

Although the senses of taste and smell appear to have deteriorated, and vision in water appears to be uncertain, such weaknesses are more than compensated for by cetaceans’ well-developed acoustic sense. Most species are highly vocal, although they vary in the range of sounds they produce, and many forage for food using echolocation(1). Large baleen whales primarily use the lower frequencies and are often limited in their repertoire.Notable exceptions are the nearly song-like choruses of bowhead whales in summer and the complex, haunting utterances of the humpback whales. Toothed species in general employ more of the frequency spectrum, and produce a wider variety of sounds, than baleen species (though the sperm whale apparently produces a monotonous series of high-energy clicks and little else). Some of the more complicated sounds are clearly communicative, although what role they may play in the social life and ‘culture’ of cetaceans has been more the subject of wild speculation than of solid science.

1. echolocation: the perception of objects by means of sound wave echoes.

Questions 15-21

Complete the table below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Reading Passage 2 for each answer Write your answers in boxes 15-21 on your answer sheet.

Questions 22-26

Answer the questions below using NO MORETHAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes22-26 on your answer sheet.

22. Which of the senses is described here as being involved in mating?
23. Which species swims upside down while eating?
24. What can bottlenose dolphins follow from under the water?
25. Which type of habitat is related to good visual ability?
26. Which of the senses is best developed in cetaceans?

解题思路：

先观察题型，第一部分是填空题，细节题一般都顺序出题，可以根据关键字来扫读。第二部分是问答题，应该也是顺序题。

题目主要是从鲸鱼的嗅觉，味觉，触觉，视觉和听觉这五感来提问。第一部分先用笔圈出关键字，再回答。第二部分的问答题同样先看题

22. Which of the senses is described here as being involved in mating?
exp --> 五感之一
23. Which species swims upside down while eating?
exp --> 某一种类的鲸鱼
24. What can bottlenose dolphins follow from under the water?
exp --> 一种东西
25. Which type of habitat is related to good visual ability?
exp --> 估计是一种鲸鱼
26. Which of the senses is best developed in cetaceans?
exp --> 五感之一

开始扫读

An examination of the functioning of the senses in cetaceans, the group of mammals comprising whales, dolphins and porpoises

Q15的关键字taste（味觉）/nerve（神经元）、Q22的mating关键字

Some of the senses that we and other terrestrial mammals take for granted are either reduced or absent in cetaceans or fail to function well in water. For example, it appears from their brain structure that toothed species are unable to smell. Baleen species, on the other hand, appear to have some related brain structures but it is not known whether these are functional. It has been speculated that, as the blowholes evolved and migrated to the top of the head, the neural pathways serving sense of smell may have been nearly all sacrificed（也是同义转换）. Similarly, although at least some cetaceans have taste buds（Q15关键字）, the nerves serving these have degenerated or are rudimentary（undeveloped同义转换）.

这里貌似找不到Q15的答案，只能往前面的句子里找了，前面找到一个neural pathways，就填它吧。

The sense of touch has sometimes been described as weak too, but this view is probably mistaken. Trainers of captive dolphins and small whales often remark on their animals’ responsiveness to being touched or rubbed, and both captive and free-ranging cetacean individuals of all species (particularly adults and calves, or members of the same subgroup) appear to make frequent contact. This contact may help to maintain order within a group, and stroking or touching are part of the courtship ritual in most species. The area around the blowhole is also particularly sensitive and captive animals often object strongly to being touched there.

这一段一直说touch在海豚朋友圈的作用，属于mating的同义转换，所以Q22填 touch
Q16是视觉，关键词为no stereoscopic；Q23是swim up and down while eating

The sense of vision is developed to different degrees in different species. Baleen species studied at close quarters underwater - specifically a grey whale calf in captivity for a year,and free-ranging right whales and humpback whales studied and filmed off Argentina and Hawaii - have obviously tracked objects with vision underwater,and they can apparently see moderately well both in water and in air. However,the position of the eyes so restricts the field of vision in baleen whales（Q16答案） that they probably do not have stereoscopic vision（Q16关键字）.

Q17关键字：dolphins and porpoises；Q23是swim up and down while eating

On the other hand, the position of the eyes in most dolphins and porpoises（Q17 keyword） suggests that they have stereoscopic vision forward and downward（Q17 答案，回去看Q18，keyword是 forward and upward）. Eye position in freshwater dolphins, which often swim on their side or upside down while feeding（Q23 keyword，答案是 freshwater dolphins）, suggests that what vision they have is stereoscopic forward and upward（Q18关键字，纳尼，Q18答案也是freshwater dolphins）. By comparison, the bottlenose dolphin（Q19关键字，同时也是Q24关键字） has extremely keen vision in water. Judging from the way it watches and tracks（Q24 follows同义词） airborne flying fish（Q24答案）, it can apparently see fairly well through the air-water interface（Q19关键字，锁定Q19答案为 water ） as well. And although preliminary experimental evidence suggests that their in-air vision is poor, the accuracy with which dolphins leap high to take small fish out of a trainer’s hand provides anecdotal evidence to the contrary.

Q20为听觉，关键字 most large baleen，repertoire limited；Q25关键字good visual ability

Such variation can no doubt be explained with reference to the habitats in which individual species have developed. For example, vision is obviously more useful to species inhabiting（Q25 habitat） clear open waters（Q25 答案） than to those living in turbid rivers and flooded plains. The South American boutu and Chinese beiji, for instance, appear to have very limited vision, and the Indian susus are blind, their eyes reduced to slits that probably allow them to sense only the direction and intensity of light.

Q26关键字：cetaceans

Although the senses of taste and smell appear to have deteriorated, and vision in water appears to be uncertain, such weaknesses are more than compensated for by cetaceans’ well-developed acoustic sense（听觉了）. Most species are highly vocal, although they vary in the range of sounds they produce, and many forage for food using echolocation(1). Large baleen whales（Q20关键字） primarily use the lower frequencies （Q20 答案） and are often limited in their repertoire（Q20关键字）. Notable exceptions are the nearly song-like（Q21关键字） choruses of bowhead whales（Q21答案1） in summer and the complex, haunting utterances of the humpback whales（Q21答案2）. Toothed species in general employ more of the frequency spectrum, and produce a wider variety of sounds, than baleen species (though the sperm whale apparently produces a monotonous series of high-energy clicks and little else). Some of the more complicated sounds are clearly communicative（best developed同义转换）, although what role they may play in the social life and ‘culture’ of cetaceans（Q26关键字） has been more the subject of wild speculation than of solid science.（所以，Q26答案只能是听觉，acoustic sense）

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对一下答案：

Q15 neural pathways taste buds
Q16 baleen whales    baleen/the baleen whales FUCK，语法错了
Q17 forward & downward
Q18 freshwater dolphins
Q19 water
Q20 lower frequencies
Q21 bowhead & humpback
Q22 sense of touch
Q23 freshwater dolphins
Q24 airborne flying fish
Q25 clear open waters
Q26 acoustic sense

Q15，还是没弄懂技巧，自作聪明了一把，不过填这个答案的时候本来也不太确定
如果答案是名词，考虑前面是否要加 the