Question

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions.

  The human criterion for perfect vision is 20/20 for reading the standard lines on a Snellen eye chart without a hitch. The score is determined by how well you read lines of letters of different sizes from 20 feet away. But being able to read the bottom line on the eye chart does not approximate perfection as far as other species are concerned. Most birds would consider us very visually handicapped. The hawk, for instance, has such sharp eyes that it can spot a dime on the sidewalk while perched on top of the Empire State Building.

  It can make fine visual distinctions because it is blessed with one million cones per square millimeter in its retina. And in water, humans are farsighted, while the kingfisher, swooping down to spear fish, can see well in both the air and water because it is endowed with two foveae - areas of the eye, consisting mostly of cones, that provide visual distinctions. One fovea permits the bird, while in the air, to scan the water below with one eye at a time. This is called monocular vision. Once it hits the water, the other fovea joins in, allowing the kingfisher to focus both eyes, like binoculars, on its prey at the same time.

  A frog’s vision is distinguished by its ability to perceive things as a constant motion picture. Known as “bug detectors”, a highly developed set of cells in a frog’s eyes responds mainly to moving objects. So, it is said that a frog sitting in a field of dead bugs wouldn’t see them as food and would starve. The bee has a “compound” eye, which is used for navigation. It has 15,000 facets that divide what it sees into a pattern of dots, or mosaic. With this kind of vision, the bee sees the sun only as a single dot, a constant point of

reference. Thus, the eye is a superb navigational instrument that constantly measures the angle of its line of flight in relation to the sun. A bee’s eye also gauges flight speed. And if that is not enough to leave our 20/20 “perfect vision” paling into insignificance, the bee is capable of seeing something we can’t - ultraviolet light.

          Thus, what humans consider to be “perfect vision” is in fact rather limited when we look at other species. However, there is still much to be said for the human eye. Of all the mammals, only humans and some primates can enjoy the pleasures of color vision.

According to the passage, why might birds and animals consider humans very visually handicapped?

A. Humans can’t see very well in either air or water.

B. Human eyes are not as well suited to our needs.

C. The main outstanding feature of human eyes is color vision.

D. Human eyes can’t do what their eyes can do.

Answer 1

Đáp án D.

Key words: birds and animals, consider, humans, visually handicapped

Clue: “Most birds would consider US very visually handicapped. The hawk, for instance, has such sharp eyes that it can spot a dime on the sidewalk while perched on top of the Empire State Building”: Hầu hết các loài chim sẽ cho rằng chúng ta có tật về mắt. Ví dụ diều hâu có đôi mắt tinh đến nỗi nó có thể xác định được một đốm nhỏ trên vỉa hè khi đang đậu trên đỉnh tòa nhà Empire State.

  A. humans can’t see very well in either air or water: con người không thể nhìn tốt trên không hoặc dưới nước.

  B. human eyes are not as well suited to our needs: mắt của con người không đáp ứng tốt nhu cầu của chúng ta.

  C. the main outstanding feature of human eyes is color vision: điểm nổi bật chính của mắt người là nhìn thấy màu sắc.

  D. human eyes can’t do what their eyes can do: mắt con người không thể làm được những gì mà mắt chim và các loài động vật có thể làm.

Diều hâu có thể nhìn thấy một điểm nhỏ khi nó đậu trên đỉnh tòa nhà Empire State, đó là điều mắt người không thể làm được và cũng là một ví dụ cho thấy các loài chim và động vật sẽ cho rằng con người có tật về mắt.

Vậy đáp án chính xác là đáp án D.

MEMORIZE

- hawk (n): con diều hâu; người hiếu chiến - hawk - eyed (adj): mắt tinh như diều hâu - hawk - nosed (adj): mũi khoằm (như mũi diều hâu) - hawk (v): 1. đi săn bằng chim ưng. 2. tung tin đồn, truyền tin - not to know a hawk from a handsaw: dốt đặc không biết gì