Reading passage:
Parasaurolophus
Like other members of its taxonomic family, the duck-billed Hadrosaurids, Parasaurolophus had a large, distinctive bony crest on its head that contained extended hollow passages. The unique crest of Parasaurolophus protruded from the rear of the skull, not from the front or top like those of other Hadrosaurids. While the exact purpose of its crest remains unknown, scientists have come up with some theories.
Sense of smell
One theory holds that the main function of the crest was the enhancement of the dinosaur's sense of smell. Examination of the fossils reveals that the crest housed numerous blood vessels. The nose bones of modern animals with an acute sense of smell share a similar structure, one defined by a complex network of blood vessels. Therefore, it is likely that the crest of the Parasaurolophus granted the dinosaur improved olfactory abilities.
Cooling
Another theory suggests that the crest helped to prevent the dinosaur from overheating by lowering its body temperature. The long crest increased the surface area of Parasaurolophus's body. The greater surface area allowed body heat to be released at a faster rate. This purpose was featured in other dinosaurs with bone-like protrusions, such as the stegosaurus, whose plates along its back similarly increased the overall surface area of its body. Scientists have long held that the plates were an adaptation that helped the stegosaurus stay cool. As such, the crest of Parasaurolophus most likely did the same.
Sound
A third explanation is that Parasaurolophus used its crest to make low frequency sounds and alert other members of its group. By forcing air through the crests, the dinosaur could have easily made deep, resonant sounds. This theory is further supported by the fact that Parasaurolophus had excellent hearing, which commonly indicates that an animal primarily communicates through sound.
Listening script:
Parasaurolophus
Like other members of its taxonomic family, the duck-billed Hadrosaurids, Parasaurolophus had a large, distinctive bony crest on its head that contained extended hollow passages. The unique crest of Parasaurolophus protruded from the rear of the skull, not from the front or top like those of other Hadrosaurids. While the exact purpose of its crest remains unknown, scientists have come up with some theories.
Sense of smell
One theory holds that the main function of the crest was the enhancement of the dinosaur's sense of smell. Examination of the fossils reveals that the crest housed numerous blood vessels. The nose bones of modern animals with an acute sense of smell share a similar structure, one defined by a complex network of blood vessels. Therefore, it is likely that the crest of the Parasaurolophus granted the dinosaur improved olfactory abilities.
Cooling
Another theory suggests that the crest helped to prevent the dinosaur from overheating by lowering its body temperature. The long crest increased the surface area of Parasaurolophus's body. The greater surface area allowed body heat to be released at a faster rate. This purpose was featured in other dinosaurs with bone-like protrusions, such as the stegosaurus, whose plates along its back similarly increased the overall surface area of its body. Scientists have long held that the plates were an adaptation that helped the stegosaurus stay cool. As such, the crest of Parasaurolophus most likely did the same.
Sound
A third explanation is that Parasaurolophus used its crest to make low frequency sounds and alert other members of its group. By forcing air through the crests, the dinosaur could have easily made deep, resonant sounds. This theory is further supported by the fact that Parasaurolophus had excellent hearing, which commonly indicates that an animal primarily communicates through sound.
My answer:
The passage indicates three theories to prove the exact purpose of parasaurolophus's crest. However, the lecturer effectively challenges the point made in the passage by providing three reasons with saying that the claims has critical flaws.
Firstly, she doesn't agree that the crest was for the sense of smell. She mentions that if the assertion makes sesnse, the certain brain region which process sensory data should have been developed enough. However, the case in parasaurolophus's skull has not been reported. So it is hard to say it worked for sense of smell.
Secondly, she refutes that the crest helped to prevent the dinosaur from overheating by lowering its body temperature. Especially, she points out that the difference between the structure of body surface between parasurolophus and stegosaurus makes the point that the crest of parasaurolophus did the same from reading passage non-effective.
Lastly, she contradicts that its use was for communication with sound between the dinosaur. she mentions that parasaurolophus was not the only one who has excellent hearing at that time and there has been zero evience that they have used the sound as commnucation tool.
Evaluation:
I'll be glad to provide feedback on your integrated writing task. The scoring guidelines for the TOEFL Writing test consider the following aspects:
Integrated Task Development (Score: 3/5): Your essay does a decent job of summarizing the main points from both the reading and listening passages, however, the rebuttals to the claims from the reading passage could be more fleshed out and detailed.
Organization (Score: 4/5): Your response is structured quite well with clear introduction, body, and conclusion paragraphs. You also did a good job of delineating different points with separate paragraphs. However, the transitions between ideas could be smoother.
Language Use (Score: 3/5): Your use of language is generally clear, but there are some minor grammatical mistakes, and the vocabulary could be varied a bit more to better demonstrate language proficiency.
Overall, you're on the right track! With a bit more attention to detail, especially in explaining the reasons provided in the listening passage, and polishing your language use, your scores could further improve.
Re-writing (1)
The reading passage presents three hypotheses to account for the unique crest of the Parasaurolophus. However, the speaker in the lecture fundamentally disputes these suggestions, providing compelling counterarguments that cast doubt on each theory.
Firstly, the speaker opposes the idea that the crest served to enhance the dinosaur's olfactory capacity. She argues that if the crest had indeed played such a role, there would have been substantial development in the specific brain region responsible for processing sensory information. However, no such evidence exists in the fossil records of the Parasaurolophus, thus casting doubt on the validity of this theory.
Secondly, the speaker contests the proposal that the crest functioned as a cooling mechanism for the dinosaur. She particularly highlights the structural dissimilarities between the Parasaurolophus and the Stegosaurus, the latter of which is believed to have used its back plates for thermoregulation. This disparity between the two dinosaurs suggests that the crest of the Parasaurolophus may not have played the same role.
Finally, the speaker contradicts the assertion that the crest was used for acoustic communication amongst the Parasaurolophus. She asserts that excellent hearing was not unique to the Parasaurolophus during its era, and furthermore, there is no concrete evidence to support the claim that they utilized sound as a primary mode of communication.
In conclusion, while the reading suggests potential uses for the Parasaurolophus's crest related to smell, temperature regulation, and sound communication, the lecture casts significant doubt on each of these theories, effectively challenging their validity.