Practice test 9_Ngocphan

Both the reading and the listening passage deal with the same topic: the body temperature of dinosaurs. However, their perspective is different. While the writer argues that dinosaurs were warm-blooded, the lecture casts doubt on the writer’s argument at three points as follows.

Above all, the writer says that dinosaurs and mammals have some similarities such as being active and having erect posture. So because mammals are warm-blooded; dinosaurs were, too. Conversely, the speaker claims that many creatures like komodo dragons which can run quickly to catch large prey like deer are active but still cold-blooded. Moreover, no one knows exactly how dinosaurs’ posture actually looked like and there is no evidence that warm-blooded metabolism is closely related to erect posture.

Second, according to the reading passage, the dinosaurs had some behaviors similar to that of some other warm-blooded animals. For example, they kept their offspring warm and fed them because their young had no teeth. On the contrary, the speaker contends that their young did not depend much on their parents because they could hunt food near their nests from a very early age. Furthermore, nurturing behavior can be observed in almost all mothers including snakes and lizards that lay eggs. Therefore, caring for their children is not persuasive evidence that dinosaurs were warm-blooded.

 Finally, the lecturer refutes the notion presented in the reading that the dinosaurs have feathers, hairs on their skin. And like in birds and reptiles, the main functions of feathers and fur of dinosaurs is to keep their body warm. Instead, she argues that such feathers serve many other purposes ranging from attracting mates to threatening enemies and even camouflaging.  Thus, saying that dinosaurs use their feathers for warmth is sheer speculation.