PrepTest 104, Section 3, Question 20
Homing pigeons can be taken from their lofts(451 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(12 more words not shown)
- AEven pigeons that(25 more words not shown)
- BPigeons whose sense(23 more words not shown)
- CEven pigeons that(17 more words not shown)
- DEven pigeons that(20 more words not shown)
- EPigeons' sense of(18 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
Papi thinks pigeons learn a map by associating smells with directions. To weaken that explanation, I'd look for successful homing when the birds can't use the expected smell information. My first prediction would be birds finding home despite being unable to smell.
What we’re looking for
The answer might interfere with the information another way. The point is to test whether access to those odors is doing the work.
Working the answers
- A
Moving among lofts doesn't prevent pigeons from learning the odors around their current home. This doesn't show the proposed map failing to explain their navigation.
- B
This goes in the supporting direction: interfering with smell makes homing slower. It doesn't undermine Papi's proposed connection.
- C
An odor map needn't give every bird the same exact route. Different routes don't establish that smells aren't helping them find home.
- DCorrect
These birds get home from beyond the range of the odors detectable around their home territories. They succeed where the familiar odor information Papi's map depends on would be unavailable. That challenges the mechanism, even though it differs from our initial prediction of blocking smell itself.
- E
Equal sensitivity doesn't mean equal use of smells. Pigeons might use ordinary smell information to build a directional map even if other birds with equally good noses don't. This compares detection ability without addressing how the information is used.
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