The dodo was a large, flightless bird native to the Island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. Mauritius was colonized by the Dutch settler in the late sixteenth century, and, fewer than one hundred years later, the last dodo disappeared. There is much speculation as to why the dodo disappeared, but experts have narrowed the reasons down to the actions of humans.
There were no humans on Mauritius prior to the Dutch’s arrival, so the dodos had no fear of humans and thus were easily hunted. The Dutch also brought other animals, such as cats, dogs, pigs, and various farm animals, and there were many instances where these animals hunted dodos and destroyed their eggs and nests. The dodo, being flightless, built its nests on the ground in forested areas and laid its eggs in these nests. The eggs and young dodos therefore had no protection against predators.
When the Dutch colonized Mauritius, they began rapidly altering the land for farming. They cleared forests, which destroyed the dodo’s natural habitats. The dodos soon had fewer places to make their nests and lay their eggs. Also, since the dodo fed on the tropical fruits native to the island, when the Dutch chopped down the trees, a large part of the dodo’s food supply was destroyed.
Some also speculate that the outsiders introduced a disease which proceeded to wipe out the dodos. Some diseases may pass form humans to animals, or, more commonly, from animal to animal. This will account for the virtually overnight disappearance of the dodos. The introduction of a new species often wreaks havoc on the natives. When the European settlers arrived in America, many Native Americans died due to a lack of immunity to new diseases. The same could easily have happened to the dodo.Now Listen to part of a lecture
on the topic you just read about:
Directions: You have 20 minutes to plan and write your response. Your response will be judged on the basis of the quality of your writing and on how well you response presents the points in the lecture and their relationship to the reading passage. Typically, an effective response will be 150 to 225 words.Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they challenge the specific arguments presented in the reading passage.建
議
自己練習完
再看下面範文哦！
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參考範文（子睿老師）：
The passage and the lecture both discuss the reasons for the extinction of Dodos. According to the passage, the dodos were killed off by humans; however, the professor claims that dodos declined as a species naturally.
The author suggests that since dodos did not fear humans, they could be easily hunted and thus declined quickly. But the professor claims that although dodos could be easily caught, humans did not try to hunt or kill them at all, for their meat was tough and bad-tasting, so humans did not cause their extinction.
The passage indicates that dodo’s population was decreased by humans who destroyed their food supplies by cutting down trees. Nevertheless, the professor points out that even when the last dodo was spotted in 1662, large part of island remained its original condition. Also, since dodos did not rely on trees like many other birds do, the clearing of tree was not the reason for the decrease of their numbers.
The author believes that the dodos were killed by diseases brought by humans because of a lack of immunity, and their nests and eggs could also be destroyed by the farm animals that humans brought. On the contrary, the professor argues that it could be nature itself which destroyed dodos. Many others birds had survived after the arrival of humans, and there is evidence that big winds struck the island many times in the past, and they could be the reason for the destroyed nests and eggs.
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