Diversity in Living Organisms

The author ends the passage on a note of

PASSAGE – I
The passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

Migratory birds often move in linear flight formations called echelons. Typically, we find V and J-type structures, which are the most readily recognized flock echelons, nevertheless other variations to these major patterns can also be found. A true V-shaped echelon is, in reality, less common than a J formation, studies conducted on several species reveal.
Why do the birds fly in formations? Two well-corroborated and complementary explanations are available right now. A major idea is to save energy by capitalizing on the upwash vortex fields generated by the bird wings in the front. The second - to facilitate the job of orientation and communication among the flying birds. These two explanations are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and in fact, both are supported by many studies. The relative importance of each of them, no doubt, changes as various factors, like the season of the year or the reason behind  individual flights, change. During local feeding flights meant to locate food, for instance, careful orientation and collision avoidance are probably much more important than the conservation of energy. However, during long-distance migration, though orientation and communication remain important, but the case for conservation of energy by optimization of its position holds greater importance for each bird in the flock.

Where should the birds position themselves in relation to others to conserve the most energy as they fly in the air? Fluid dynamics and energy wave configuration calculations supply the answer. Analysts, using photography, have determined bird positions and found them to almost always be located to enable the bird to earn some energetic advantage. However, the birds are not always at the expected optimal location, indicating that other factors also come into play.

Researchers have used the knowledge of birds, visual axes, "blind spots" and visual fields to pinpoint the best locations for a bird in a flock to maintain optimal visual positioning. The actual positions are usually having a positive correlation with these predictions but are, again, not always perfect. The positions of birds have been classified and it has been found that some individuals occupy positions to satisfy the energy conservation principle; others enjoy better visual contact placement, while the rest do not apparently respond to either benefit or are in a position so as to gain some advantage from both the benefits available.

The passage could have been most appropriately titled in which of the following ways?

PASSAGE – I
The passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

Migratory birds often move in linear flight formations called echelons. Typically, we find V and J-type structures, which are the most readily recognized flock echelons, nevertheless other variations to these major patterns can also be found. A true V-shaped echelon is, in reality, less common than a J formation, studies conducted on several species reveal.
Why do the birds fly in formations? Two well-corroborated and complementary explanations are available right now. A major idea is to save energy by capitalizing on the upwash vortex fields generated by the bird wings in the front. The second - to facilitate the job of orientation and communication among the flying birds. These two explanations are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and in fact, both are supported by many studies. The relative importance of each of them, no doubt, changes as various factors, like the season of the year or the reason behind  individual flights, change. During local feeding flights meant to locate food, for instance, careful orientation and collision avoidance are probably much more important than the conservation of energy. However, during long-distance migration, though orientation and communication remain important, but the case for conservation of energy by optimization of its position holds greater importance for each bird in the flock.

Where should the birds position themselves in relation to others to conserve the most energy as they fly in the air? Fluid dynamics and energy wave configuration calculations supply the answer. Analysts, using photography, have determined bird positions and found them to almost always be located to enable the bird to earn some energetic advantage. However, the birds are not always at the expected optimal location, indicating that other factors also come into play.

Researchers have used the knowledge of birds, visual axes, "blind spots" and visual fields to pinpoint the best locations for a bird in a flock to maintain optimal visual positioning. The actual positions are usually having a positive correlation with these predictions but are, again, not always perfect. The positions of birds have been classified and it has been found that some individuals occupy positions to satisfy the energy conservation principle; others enjoy better visual contact placement, while the rest do not apparently respond to either benefit or are in a position so as to gain some advantage from both the benefits available.

Which of the following questions is / are not answered by the above passage?

1. Does energy conservation have the same importance during short and long flights respectively?
2. Do the bird formations always have a leader having higher social status?
3. Does the season of the year play a role in determining whether a particular theory will be able to account for bird behaviour in an echelon or not?

   PASSAGE – I
   The passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

   Migratory birds often move in linear flight formations called echelons. Typically, we find V and J-type structures, which are the most readily recognized flock echelons, nevertheless other variations to these major patterns can also be found. A true V-shaped echelon is, in reality, less common than a J formation, studies conducted on several species reveal.
   Why do the birds fly in formations? Two well-corroborated and complementary explanations are available right now. A major idea is to save energy by capitalizing on the upwash vortex fields generated by the bird wings in the front. The second - to facilitate the job of orientation and communication among the flying birds. These two explanations are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and in fact, both are supported by many studies. The relative importance of each of them, no doubt, changes as various factors, like the season of the year or the reason behind  individual flights, change. During local feeding flights meant to locate food, for instance, careful orientation and collision avoidance are probably much more important than the conservation of energy. However, during long-distance migration, though orientation and communication remain important, but the case for conservation of energy by optimization of its position holds greater importance for each bird in the flock.

   Where should the birds position themselves in relation to others to conserve the most energy as they fly in the air? Fluid dynamics and energy wave configuration calculations supply the answer. Analysts, using photography, have determined bird positions and found them to almost always be located to enable the bird to earn some energetic advantage. However, the birds are not always at the expected optimal location, indicating that other factors also come into play.

   Researchers have used the knowledge of birds, visual axes, "blind spots" and visual fields to pinpoint the best locations for a bird in a flock to maintain optimal visual positioning. The actual positions are usually having a positive correlation with these predictions but are, again, not always perfect. The positions of birds have been classified and it has been found that some individuals occupy positions to satisfy the energy conservation principle; others enjoy better visual contact placement, while the rest do not apparently respond to either benefit or are in a position so as to gain some advantage from both the benefits available.

   The leaders of these bird formations change with time, but it has not been possible to discover the causes, frequency and characteristics associated with these changes. Observations on a sustained basis of such flocks covering long distances in the air are very difficult. Several intuitive predictions about the choice of the formation leader that immediately come to mind are - age, experience, sex, condition and social status of the leaders, but so far researchers have been unable to overcome the logistic issues to put these hypotheses to test. Birds have been trained to fly in formation with small aircraft by some scientists; possibly their efforts will yield opportunities to test these hypotheses.

Which of the following statements is the writer most likely to agree with?

1. Bird formations vary in accordance with the bird species.
2. There is positive proof for the theories of bird formation and the position of bird within it
3. Energy conservation seems to be the overarching single factor behind bird formations during all flights.

   PASSAGE – I
   The passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

   Migratory birds often move in linear flight formations called echelons. Typically, we find V and J-type structures, which are the most readily recognized flock echelons, nevertheless other variations to these major patterns can also be found. A true V-shaped echelon is, in reality, less common than a J formation, studies conducted on several species reveal.
   Why do the birds fly in formations? Two well-corroborated and complementary explanations are available right now. A major idea is to save energy by capitalizing on the upwash vortex fields generated by the bird wings in the front. The second - to facilitate the job of orientation and communication among the flying birds. These two explanations are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and in fact, both are supported by many studies. The relative importance of each of them, no doubt, changes as various factors, like the season of the year or the reason behind  individual flights, change. During local feeding flights meant to locate food, for instance, careful orientation and collision avoidance are probably much more important than the conservation of energy. However, during long-distance migration, though orientation and communication remain important, but the case for conservation of energy by optimization of its position holds greater importance for each bird in the flock.

   Where should the birds position themselves in relation to others to conserve the most energy as they fly in the air? Fluid dynamics and energy wave configuration calculations supply the answer. Analysts, using photography, have determined bird positions and found them to almost always be located to enable the bird to earn some energetic advantage. However, the birds are not always at the expected optimal location, indicating that other factors also come into play.

   Researchers have used the knowledge of birds, visual axes, "blind spots" and visual fields to pinpoint the best locations for a bird in a flock to maintain optimal visual positioning. The actual positions are usually having a positive correlation with these predictions but are, again, not always perfect. The positions of birds have been classified and it has been found that some individuals occupy positions to satisfy the energy conservation principle; others enjoy better visual contact placement, while the rest do not apparently respond to either benefit or are in a position so as to gain some advantage from both the benefits available.

   The leaders of these bird formations change with time, but it has not been possible to discover the causes, frequency and characteristics associated with these changes. Observations on a sustained basis of such flocks covering long distances in the air are very difficult. Several intuitive predictions about the choice of the formation leader that immediately come to mind are - age, experience, sex, condition and social status of the leaders, but so far researchers have been unable to overcome the logistic issues to put these hypotheses to test. Birds have been trained to fly in formation with small aircraft by some scientists; possibly their efforts will yield opportunities to test these hypotheses.

The passage is structured like which of the following?

PASSAGE – I
The passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

Migratory birds often move in linear flight formations called echelons. Typically, we find V and J-type structures, which are the most readily recognized flock echelons, nevertheless other variations to these major patterns can also be found. A true V-shaped echelon is, in reality, less common than a J formation, studies conducted on several species reveal.
Why do the birds fly in formations? Two well-corroborated and complementary explanations are available right now. A major idea is to save energy by capitalizing on the upwash vortex fields generated by the bird wings in the front. The second - to facilitate the job of orientation and communication among the flying birds. These two explanations are not necessarily mutually exclusive, and in fact, both are supported by many studies. The relative importance of each of them, no doubt, changes as various factors, like the season of the year or the reason behind  individual flights, change. During local feeding flights meant to locate food, for instance, careful orientation and collision avoidance are probably much more important than the conservation of energy. However, during long-distance migration, though orientation and communication remain important, but the case for conservation of energy by optimization of its position holds greater importance for each bird in the flock.

Where should the birds position themselves in relation to others to conserve the most energy as they fly in the air? Fluid dynamics and energy wave configuration calculations supply the answer. Analysts, using photography, have determined bird positions and found them to almost always be located to enable the bird to earn some energetic advantage. However, the birds are not always at the expected optimal location, indicating that other factors also come into play.

Researchers have used the knowledge of birds, visual axes, "blind spots" and visual fields to pinpoint the best locations for a bird in a flock to maintain optimal visual positioning. The actual positions are usually having a positive correlation with these predictions but are, again, not always perfect. The positions of birds have been classified and it has been found that some individuals occupy positions to satisfy the energy conservation principle; others enjoy better visual contact placement, while the rest do not apparently respond to either benefit or are in a position so as to gain some advantage from both the benefits available.

Which of the following inferences cannot be drawn from the above selection?

1. The author's idea about the development of soft tissue on the feet of birds is open to question.
2. The toad is rarely eaten, if at all, by predators.
3. The frog's original home, at the time of birth, was the water bodies.

   PASSAGE – IV

   The passage is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage

   It is evident that, in what is called the evolution of animal forms, the foot came in suddenly when the backboned creatures began to live on the dry land--that is, with the frogs. How it came in is a question which still puzzles the phylogenists, who cannot find a sure pedigree for the frog. There it is, anyhow, and the remarkable point about it is that the foot of a frog is not a rudimentary thing, but an authentic standard foot, like the yard measure kept in the Tower of London, of which all other feet are copies or adaptations. This instrument, as part of the original outfit given to the pioneers of the brainy, backboned, and four-limbed races, when they were sent out to multiply and replenish the earth, is surely worth considering well. It consists essentially of a sole, or palm, made up of small bones and of five separate digits, each with several joints.

   In the hind foot of a frog the toes are very long and webbed from point to point. In this it differs a good deal from the toad, and there is significance in the difference. The "heavy-gaited toad," satisfied with sour ants, hard beetles, and such other fare as it can easily pick up, and grown nasty in consequence, so that nothing seeks to eat it, has hobbled through life, like a plethoric old gentleman, until the present day, on its original feet. The more versatile and nimble-witted frog, seeking better diet and greater security of life, went back to the element in which it was bred, and, swimming much, became better fitted for swimming. The soft elastic skin between the fingers or toes is just the sort of tissue which responds most readily to inward impulses, and we find that the very same change has come about in those birds and beasts which live much in water. I know that this is not the accepted theory of evolution, but I am waiting till it shall become so. We all develop in the direction of our tendencies, and shall, I doubt not, be wise enough some day to give animals leave to do the same.

   When we pass from reptiles to birds, lo! an astounding thing has happened. That there were flying reptiles in the fossil ages we know, and there are flying beasts in our own. But the wings of these are simple mechanical alterations, which the imagination of a child, or a savage, could explain. The hands of a bat are hands still, and, though the fingers are hampered by their awkward gloves, the thumbs are free. The giant fruit bats of the tropics clamber about the trees quite acrobatically with their thumbs and feet. Here is a whole sub-kingdom, as they call it, of the animal world which has unreservedly and irrevocably bartered one pair of its limbs for a flying-machine. The apparatus is made of feathers--a new invention, unknown to amphibian or saurian, whence obtained nobody can say—and these are grafted into the transformed frame of the old limbs. The bargain was worth making, for the winged bird at once soared away in all senses from the creeping things of earth, and became a more ethereal being. But the price was heavy. The bird must get through life with one pair of feet and its mouth.

   And let us note that the art of standing began with birds. Frogs sit, and, as far as I know, every reptile, be it lizard, crocodile, alligator, or tortoise, lays its body on the ground when not actually carrying it. And these have each four fat legs. Contrast the flamingo, which, having only two, and those like willow wands, tucks up one of them and sleeps poised high on the other, like a tulip on its stem. Note also that one toe has been altogether discarded by birds as superfluous. The germ, or bud, must be there, for the Dorking fowl has produced a fifth toe under some influence of the poultry-yard, but no natural bird has more than four. Except in swifts, which never perch, but cling to rocks and walls, one is turned backwards, and, by a cunning contrivance, the act of bending the leg draws them all automatically together. So a hen closes its toes at every step it takes, as if it grasped something, and, of course, when it settles down on its roost, they grasp that tight and hold it fast till morning. But to birds that do not perch this mechanism is only an encumbrance, so many of them, like the plovers, abolish the hind toe entirely, and the prince of all two-legged runners, the ostrich, has got rid of one of the front toes also, retaining only two.