Question

from settled in the wild

1

it is a rainy morning, the first week of may, good weather to plant nasturtiums. i sit on the porch steps with rubber boots on, a baseball cap, and a slicker, holding the packages of seeds i bought at the feed store in town yesterday. the rain is steady and cold, the light is steel gray, and the yard is patchy and wet. but the pictures on the packages vibrate with color. nothing looks as good as these nasturtium flowers right now: deep red, eye - jolting orange, electric yellow.

2

absentmindedly, i begin to recite william wordsworths \i wandered lonely as a cloud\ to myself. i have known the poem by heart ever since my father taught it to me when i was a child:

for oft, when on my couch i lie
in vacant or in pensive mood,
they flash upon the inward eye
which is the bliss of solitude;
and then my heart with pleasure fills,
and dances with the daffodils.

3

wordsworths inner eye saw daffodils. i say the poem and see hummingbirds. the nasturtiums are for them, and planting the flowers is my gesture of faith that they will come back to my yard once more. as i rip open the packages and push the seeds into the dirt, i know that these tiny bright - colored nectar - drinking birds, each of whom weighs only a few grams—about the weight of four or five of these seeds—have already whirred in erratic flocks across five hundred miles of open water, running the gulf of mexico in a twenty - six - hour heat.

4

hummers do exactly what physiologists once insisted they could not do...

this question has two parts. answer part a, and then answer part b.

part a
according to paragraph 7, what is the main result of torpor in hummingbirds?

1. the birds become cold blooded.
2. the birds retain daytime warmth.
3. the birds use up very little energy.
4. the birds lose most of their appetite.

part b
which detail from paragraph 8 best supports the correct answer from part a?

1.
eptilian adaptation\

1. \little motors idle\
2. \hanging upside down\
3. \toes locked to thin branches\

reset bella r verduzco - ramirez, id*******28 growth: reading 6+ ca 2010 1.1 question #10

Explanation:

Part A

To solve this, we analyze the meaning of "torpor" in hummingbirds. Torpor is a state of decreased physiological activity, so we evaluate each option:

1. Hummingbirds are endothermic (warm - blooded), so they can't become cold - blooded. Eliminate option 1.
2. Torpor is a state of reduced activity, not about retaining daytime warmth. Eliminate option 2.
3. In torpor, metabolic rate drops, so energy use is very low. This matches the definition of torpor.
4. Appetite loss isn't the main result of torpor; the main is reduced energy use. Eliminate option 4.

We need a detail from paragraph 8 (not fully shown, but from the options) that supports the idea of low energy use (from Part A).

1. "Reptilian adaptation" doesn't relate to energy use. Eliminate.
2. "Little motors idle" implies that the hummingbirds' metabolic "motors" (energy - using systems) are inactive, which supports low energy use in torpor.
3. "Hanging upside down" is a posture, not related to energy use. Eliminate.
4. "Toes locked to thin branches" is about perching, not energy use. Eliminate.

Answer:

1. The birds use up very little energy.

Part B