Reading Comprehension
试题详情
文章：
| Line | In terrestrial environments, gravity places |
| special demands on the cardiovascular systems of | |
| animals. Gravitational pressure can cause blood to | |
| pool in the lower regions of the body, making it | |
| (5) | difficult to circulate blood to critical organs such as |
| the brain. Terrestrial snakes, in particular, exhibit | |
| adaptations that aid in circulating blood against the | |
| force of gravity. | |
| The problem confronting terrestrial snakes is best | |
| (10) | illustrated by what happens to sea snakes when |
| removed from their supportive medium. Because the | |
| vertical pressure gradients within the blood vessels | |
| are counteracted by similar pressure gradients in | |
| the surrounding water, the distribution of blood | |
| (15) | throughout the body of sea snakes remains about |
| the same regardless of their orientation in space, | |
| provided they remain in the ocean. When removed | |
| from the water and tilted at various angles with the | |
| head up, however, blood pressure at their midpoint | |
| (20) | drops significantly, and at brain level falls to zero. |
| That many terrestrial snakes in similar spatial | |
| orientations do not experience this kind of circulatory | |
| failure suggests that certain adaptations enable them | |
| to regulate blood pressure more effectively in those | |
| (25) | orientations. |
| One such adaptation is the closer proximity of | |
| the terrestrial snake’s heart to its head, which helps | |
| to ensure circulation to the brain, regardless of the | |
| snake’s orientation in space. The heart of sea snakes | |
| (30) | can be located near the middle of the body, a |
| position that minimizes the work entailed in | |
| circulating blood to both extremities. In arboreal | |
| snakes, however, which dwell in trees and often | |
| assume a vertical posture, the average distance | |
| (35) | from the heart to the head can be as little as |
| 15 percent of overall body length. Such a location | |
| requires that blood circulated to the tail of the | |
| snake travel a greater distance back to the heart, | |
| a problem solved by another adaptation. When | |
| (40) | climbing, arboreal snakes often pause |
| momentarily to wiggle their bodies, causing waves | |
| of muscle contraction that advance from the lower | |
| torso to the head. By compressing the veins and | |
| forcing blood forward, these contractions | |
| (45) | apparently improve the flow of venous blood |
| returning to the heart. |
题目：
It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following is true of species of terrestrial snakes that often need to assume a vertical posture?
选项:
A、They are more likely to be susceptible to circulatory failure in vertical postures than are sea snakes.
B、Their hearts are less likely to be located at the midpoint of their bodies than is the case with sea snakes.
C、They cannot counteract the pooling of blood in lower regions of their bodies as effectively as sea snakes can.
D、The blood pressure at their midpoint decreases significantly when they are tilted with their heads up.
E、They are unable to rely on muscle contractions to move venous blood from the lower torso to the head.
答案:
B
