What Do Whales Feel?: reading answers and analysis

Which body part's nerves are poorly developed, explaining weak taste?

although at least some cetaceans have taste buds, the nerves serving these have degenerated or are rudimentary

Why: 'These' in 'the nerves serving these' points back to taste buds. The table's 'nerves linked to their ___' is the same structure, so the gap is 'taste buds'. Two words, well inside the limit.

The trap: 'Neural pathways' appears in the sentence before, but that's about smell, not taste.

Also accepted: baleen whales / the baleen whales

Which group can see but probably lacks stereoscopic vision?

the position of the eyes so restricts the field of vision in baleen whales that they probably do not have stereoscopic vision

Why: The table's note copies the passage almost word for word, and the animals named there are baleen whales. 'Baleen' or 'baleen whales' both fit within three words.

The trap: The next paragraph opens with dolphins and porpoises, who probably do have stereoscopic vision. Read 'do not' carefully.

Also accepted: forward, downward

In which directions do dolphins and porpoises probably see stereoscopically?

the position of the eyes in most dolphins and porpoises suggests that they have stereoscopic vision forward and downward

Why: The table row for dolphins and porpoises leaves the directions blank, and the passage gives two: 'forward and downward'. That's exactly three words.

The trap: The very next sentence says 'forward and upward', but that belongs to freshwater dolphins, which have their own row in the table.

Also accepted: freshwater dolphins

Which animal probably sees stereoscopically forward and upward?

Eye position in freshwater dolphins, which often swim on their side or upside down while feeding, suggests that what vision they have is stereoscopic forward and upward.

Why: The table gives you the direction, so scan for 'upward'. The animal in that sentence is the freshwater dolphin.

The trap: Don't write 'dolphins' on its own. That's the previous row. The table row is a different species, and the passage names it with 'freshwater'.

Also accepted: the water

Where does the bottlenose dolphin have exceptional vision?

the bottlenose dolphin has extremely keen vision in water

Why: 'Exceptional' is the table's word for 'extremely keen', and the passage says that's true 'in water'. One word is enough.

The trap: Some students write 'air', because of the leaping-for-fish story. But the passage says in-air vision may be poor, and the table already covers the air-water interface separately.

Also accepted: the lower frequencies

Which sound frequencies do most large baleen whales use?

Large baleen whales primarily use the lower frequencies and are often limited in their repertoire.

Why: 'Usually' paraphrases 'primarily', and the note 'repertoire limited' confirms you're in the right sentence. The gap takes 'lower frequencies'.

The trap: Don't write 'low frequencies'. Copy the passage's form, 'lower'. The toothed whales use 'more of the frequency spectrum', which belongs to the next row.

Also accepted: bowhead, humpback / humpback and bowhead

Which whales produce song-like sounds?

Notable exceptions are the nearly song-like choruses of bowhead whales in summer and the complex, haunting utterances of the humpback whales.

Why: These two species are the 'exceptions' to the limited baleen repertoire. The table row already supplies 'whales', so you need both names: 'bowhead and humpback'.

The trap: Only bowheads are literally called 'song-like', so many students write just 'bowhead'. The key wants both species named as the exceptions. 'Sperm whale' is the opposite, a monotonous producer of clicks.