Like many creatures, humpback whales migrate long distances for feeding and mating purposes. How animals manage to migrate long distances is often puzzling. In the case of humpback whales, we may have found the answer: they may be navigating by the stars, much as early human sailors did. What we know about humpback whales makes this a distinct possibility.
First, humpback whales seem to be intelligent enough to use stars to navigate by. Whales' brains have a high degree of complexity'a common determiner of intelligence. This suggests that the whales' brain power far exceeds that of most other animals. The whales' well-developed cognitive ability seems to provide a sound basis for the ability to use a complex, abstract system of sensory stimuli such as the night sky for orientation.
Second, humpback whales migrate in straight lines. Animals can maintain movement in a straight direction for long distances only if they orient themselves by some external objects or forces. Many birds and other terrestrial creatures, for example, use physical landmarks to help them stay on track as they migrate. Whales, which swim in the open ocean, cannot rely on land features; they could, however, rely on stars at night to provide them with external signs by which to maintain direction over long distances.
Third, humpback whales exhibit an unusual behavior: they are sometimes observed floating straight up for minutes at a time, their heads above the water as though they were looking upward. The behavior is known as spy-hopping, and it is very rare among marine animals. One explanation for the function of spy-hopping is that the whales are looking at the stars, which are providing them with information to navigate by.
Both the reading passage and the lecture are discussing about humpback whales' navigation. The lecturer offers three firm evidences to challenge what is stated in the reading.
The first point involves intelligence. It is shown in the reading passage that humpback whales have high complexity in brain and thus are intelligent enough to use stars for navigation. However, the lecturer proposes that there is no specific connection between intelligence and star navigation and provides the example that ducks which are identified as normal intelligence have the abilities to navigate by stars.
The second point involves external objects and forces. The statement held by the writer claims that stars are the external signs that lead humpback whales to migrate in straight lines. In contrast, it is argued in the listening passage that it may be the earth magnet that serves as the external forces since humpback whales have a special part called biomagnetite which can sense the earth magnetic change.
The third point involves spy-hopping. While the passage indicates that humpback whales are looking at stars when doing spy-hopping, the lecturer points out that spy-hopping may be a means to hunt and that humpback whales usually do spy-hopping during daytime which has no star at all.
In conclusion, based on the evidences provided, the lecturer refutes that points made in reading passage.
Transition Words or Phrases used:
first, however, if, look, may, second, third, thus, while, in conclusion, in contrast
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 11.0 10.4613686534 105% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 3.0 5.04856512141 59% => OK
Conjunction : 6.0 7.30242825607 82% => OK
Relative clauses : 15.0 12.0772626932 124% => OK
Pronoun: 14.0 22.412803532 62% => OK
Preposition: 23.0 30.3222958057 76% => OK
Nominalization: 8.0 5.01324503311 160% => OK
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1185.0 1373.03311258 86% => OK
No of words: 221.0 270.72406181 82% => More content wanted.
Chars per words: 5.36199095023 5.08290768461 105% => OK
Fourth root words length: 3.85565412703 4.04702891845 95% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.69696164166 2.5805825403 105% => OK
Unique words: 121.0 145.348785872 83% => More unique words wanted.
Unique words percentage: 0.547511312217 0.540411800872 101% => OK
syllable_count: 355.5 419.366225166 85% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.6 1.55342163355 103% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 2.0 3.25607064018 61% => OK
Article: 8.0 8.23620309051 97% => OK
Subordination: 1.0 1.25165562914 80% => OK
Conjunction: 0.0 1.51434878587 0% => OK
Preposition: 2.0 2.5761589404 78% => OK
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 11.0 13.0662251656 84% => Need more sentences. Double check the format of sentences, make sure there is a space between two sentences, or have enough periods. And also check the lengths of sentences, maybe they are too long.
Sentence length: 20.0 21.2450331126 94% => OK
Sentence length SD: 73.2694562771 49.2860985944 149% => OK
Chars per sentence: 107.727272727 110.228320801 98% => OK
Words per sentence: 20.0909090909 21.698381199 93% => OK
Discourse Markers: 7.72727272727 7.06452816374 109% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 4.09492273731 122% => OK
Language errors: 0.0 4.19205298013 0% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 6.0 4.33554083885 138% => OK
Sentences with negative sentiment : 1.0 4.45695364238 22% => More negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 4.0 4.27373068433 94% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.162824654848 0.272083759551 60% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0544281379921 0.0996497079465 55% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0514905532416 0.0662205650399 78% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.0793005080778 0.162205337803 49% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0483441577624 0.0443174109184 109% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 13.9 13.3589403974 104% => OK
flesch_reading_ease: 51.18 53.8541721854 95% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 5.55761589404 158% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 11.1 11.0289183223 101% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 13.81 12.2367328918 113% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 8.7 8.42419426049 103% => OK
difficult_words: 57.0 63.6247240618 90% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 9.0 10.7273730684 84% => OK
gunning_fog: 10.0 10.498013245 95% => OK
text_standard: 9.0 11.2008830022 80% => OK
What are above readability scores?
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Rates: 61.6666666667 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 18.5 Out of 30
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.