【正文】 how they felt about things. I mean it’s interesting to speculate. And the physical artifacts can give us clues, but there is a lot we can’t really know. So, for instance, their art. They painted on the plastered walls and usually they painted hunting scenes with wild animals in them. Now they did hunt and they also raised cereal crops and kept sheep, but we don’t know why so many of the paintings are of hunting scenes. Was it supposed to have religious or magical significance? That’s the kind of thing we can only guess at based on clues. And hopefully, further excavation of Catalhoyuk will yield more clues. But we’ll probably never know for sure.TPO 1 Lecture 4 BiologyNarrator　　Listen to part of a lecture in a biology class.Professor　　For today’s discussion, we’ll review the case study on how some animals have behaviorally adapted to their environments. Now you had to read about two animal species, the Eastern marmot and the Olympic marmot. Marmots are rodents. They are large ground squirrels, about the size of an average house cat. And they live in a variety of habitats. And even though they spend the significant portion of the year hibernating, according to this case study, marmots are still considered excellent subjects for animal behavioral studies. Why is that?　　Student　　Well, when they are not hibernating, you can find them in open areas. And they are pretty active during the day, which makes them easy to observe, right?Professor　　Uhha, so first let’s discuss the Eastern marmots. They reside throughout the eastern region of North America where there is a temperate climate, where the growing season lasts for at least five months of the year, which is when they do all their mating, playing and eating.Student　　Oh, I see. At first I wasn’t sure what growing season meant, just from the reading. But now I get it. It39。s the amount of time it takes for them to grow, right? So it would be five months?Professor　　Umm? Oh, uh… I’m sorry but no. It has nothing to do with that. It39。s not about the time it takes for Eastern marmots to grow. It’s when the food is available. That is when it’s not covered in snow and there is no frost covering the grass and, umm, vegetative parts of a plant’s herbs and the flowers the marmots like to eat. So growing season refers to the availability of the food they eat, OK? So now how would you describe the Eastern marmots’ social habits?Student　　Well, they are really territorial, and loners, and just so aggressive even with other Eastern marmots. And their mating ritual is just so impersonal.Professor　　Uhha? Now when they emerge in the spring from hibernation, the mating process begins. For them, well, they e together to mate and then they go their separate ways. Then about six to eight weeks after birth, the offspring leave their mothers.Student　　Really? Just six weeks? Is that possible for the offspring to make it on their own so young?Professor　　Well, it’s not as if they aren’t ready for the real world because they are. Remember, they mature quickly and the weather’s nice. Also they live in open fields where there is lots of edible vegetation. So roughly six weeks after birth, Eastern marmots are just old enough to take their chances of surviving in the temperate environment. So how does this relate to their behavior?Student　　Oh, I get it. Since the climate’s not too bad, the Eastern marmots don39。t have to rely on each other too much and they really don39。t need to stay together as a family to survive either.Professor　　Uhha. Any contrast, the Olympic marmots? What about them?　　Student　　Well, they live together as a family and take care of their young until they are at least two years old. They’re really friendly with each other. And what I really like is that they even have greeting ceremonies. And they are not at all aggressive and territorial like the Eastern marmots. So their social behavior is so different from Eastern marmots because of the climate where they live? That seems so bizarre.Professor　　Well, the Olympic marmots inhabit meadows high in the Olympic Mountains where the weather conditions are much harsher. So there is a lot more wind and snow. The growing season only lasts about two to three months. So in that much shorter period of time, all the Olympic marmots, male and female, eat, play, work and nurture the young together. Because the climate is so harsh, cooperation increases the survival rate of the Olympic marmots. They keep their young at home until they are physically able to survive on their own. This could explain why the social behavior of the Olympic marmots is so unlike that of the Eastern marmots.TPO2 Conversation 1　　Narrator　　Listen to a conversation between a student and a professor.Student　　Uh, excuse me, Professor Thompson. I know your office hours are tomorrow, but I was wondering if you had a few minutes free now to discuss something.Professor　　Sure, John. What did you want to talk about?Student　　Well, I have some quick questions about how to write up the research project I did this semester—about climate variations.Professor　　Oh, yes. You were looking at variations in climate in the Grant City area, right? How far along have you gotten?Student　　I’ve got all my data, so I’m starting to summarize it now, preparing graphs and stuff. But I’m just. . . I’m looking at it and I’m afraid that it’s not enough, but I’m not sure what else to put in the report.Professor　　I hear the same thing from every student. You know, you have to remember now that you’re the expert on what you’ve done. So, think about what you’d need to include if you were going to explain your research project to someone with general or casual knowledge about the subject, like . . . like your parents. That’s usually my rule of thumb: would my parents understand this?Student　　OK. I get it.Professor　　I hope you can recognize by my saying that how much you do know about the