The peacock's tail - Marvel EDU

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Practice Listening: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers ID: #37848 Short The peacock's tail

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Listen to the recording and answer the question by selecting all the correct responses. You will need to select more than one response.

Transcript:

The peacock's tail, by contrast, was at best a waste of space and in practice a severe encumbrance; and Darwin felt obliged to invoke what he felt was a separate mechanism of evolution, which he called 'sexual selection'. The driving mechanism was simply that females liked — in his words — 'beauty for beauty's sake'. But Darwin's friend and col laborator, Alfred Russel Wallace, though in many ways more 'romantic' than Darwin, was in others even more Darwinian. 'Beauty for beauty's sake' he wanted nothing of. If peahens chose cocks with the showiest trains, he felt, then it must be that they knew what they were about. The cocks must have some other quality, which was not necessarily obvious to the human observer, but which the hens themselves could appreciate. According to Wallace, then, the train was not an end in itself, but an advertisement for some genuine contribution to survival.

Based on the passage, what are the contrasting views of Darwin and Wallace regarding the peacock's tail?

* Click on the correct answers

Darwin believed the peacock's tail was primarily for attracting mates. Wallace thought the tail advertised some quality that contributed to survival. Darwin felt the tail was a significant evolutionary disadvantage. Wallace agreed with Darwin that the tail was just an ornamental feature. Darwin proposed 'sexual selection' as a separate mechanism of evolution. Wallace believed that peahens chose mates based on their intelligence.

Result:

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Option 2: "Wallace thought the tail advertised some quality that contributed to survival."

Explanation: This option is correct as it reflects Wallace's belief that the peacock's tail served as an advertisement for qualities that contributed to survival, which is supported by the text stating that the tail was not an end in itself but indicated genuine contributions to survival.

Option 1: "Darwin believed the peacock's tail was primarily for attracting mates."

Explanation: This option is incorrect because while Darwin did discuss the tail's role in attracting mates, he emphasized that it was a waste of space and a severe encumbrance, indicating that he viewed it as a disadvantage rather than primarily for attraction.

Option 3: "Darwin felt the tail was a significant evolutionary disadvantage."

Explanation: This option is correct because the text explicitly states that Darwin viewed the peacock's tail as a severe encumbrance and a waste of space, indicating that he considered it a significant evolutionary disadvantage.

Option 4: "Wallace agreed with Darwin that the tail was just an ornamental feature."

Explanation: This option is incorrect because Wallace did not agree with Darwin's view. Instead, he believed that the tail had a purpose beyond mere ornamentation, as it advertised qualities that contributed to survival.

Option 5: "Darwin proposed 'sexual selection' as a separate mechanism of evolution."

Explanation: This option is correct as the text states that Darwin felt obliged to invoke 'sexual selection' as a separate mechanism of evolution, indicating his belief in its significance in explaining the peacock's tail.

Option 6: "Wallace believed that peahens chose mates based on their intelligence."

Explanation: This option is incorrect because the text does not support the idea that Wallace believed peahens chose mates based on intelligence. Instead, he suggested that peahens chose mates based on qualities that were not necessarily obvious to humans.

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