We have
seen that all living things must take in and use energy to maintain their
bodies, to grow, to obtain more energy, and to reproduce. Since the
evolutionarily successful individual is one that leaves descendants in future
generations, natural selection favours those individuals that can channel the
most energy into producing offspring. The use of energy in other activities such
as feeding, fighting, or growing is selectively advantageous only so far as
these activities result in the organism's accumulating more energy to produce
offspring. Each individual has an energy income—all of the
energy that it acquires during its lifetime. It also has an energy budget, its
allotment of different amounts of energy to various activities. The most
evolutionarily successful organisms are those which are most effective in
conversion of energy to offspring. This does not mean that organisms use all
their energy directly to produce offspring. For example, suppose that a tree
converts some of its energy into growing a large root system, the energy thus
spent cannot be used to produce offspring. Its large root system may enable the
tree to obtain a great deal of water and minerals from the soil and so to
produce more leaves, another diversion of energy away from the production of
offspring. However, all of the leaves that the tree produces may then enable the
tree to synthesize more food than it would have otherwise, and so allow it to
make up for some of its previous energy expenditure by producing more offspring
in the end. Thus organisms make energy investment which may ultimately yield
energy gains that can be reinvested in the production of offspring. Sometimes
these investments will turn out to be selectively disadvantageous because they
postpone production of offspring. If the organism meets an early death, it will
never get a chance to reproduce. So any item in an organism's energy budget must
have the potential to produce an ultimate productive gain that is equal to the
risks involved in diverting energy away from the immediate production of
offspring.
单选题
The most evolutionarily successful individual is one that directs the most energy to reproduction.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】这句话便是本文的中心思想。
单选题
Sometimes the investment of energy can be disadvantageous to organisms.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】见文章第二段倒数第二句。
单选题
It would be a waste of energy for organisms to use energy in non-productive activities.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】根据文章第一段最后一句可知,这些活动可以积累繁殖所需的能量。
单选题
Each individual has an energy income and an energy budget sa well.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】见文章第二段第一句和第二句。
单选题
Organisms derive most of their energy ultimately form their parents.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】文章只说生物把大量能量用在繁殖上,并未提及下一代的情况。
单选题
Not all energy of an organism is used in reproduction.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】由文章第一段可知,生物还把能量用在feeding等方面。
单选题
The ultimate significance of a tree's growing a large not system can thus produce more offspring.