Question: Summarize the points made in the lecture, being sure to explain how they challenge the specific theories presented in the reading passage.
Populations of the yellow cedar, a species of tree that is common in northwestern North America, have been steadily declining for more than a century now, since about 1880. Scientists have advanced several hypotheses to explain this decline.
One hypothesis is that the yellow cedar decline may be caused by insect parasites, specifically the cedar bark beetle. This beetle is known to attack cedar trees; the beetle larvae eat the wood. There have been recorded instances of sustained beetle attacks overwhelming and killing yellow cedars, so this insect is a good candidate for the cause of the tree's decline.
A second hypothesis attributes the decline to brown bears. Bears sometimes claw at the cedars in order to eat the tree bark, which has a high sugar content. In fact, the cedar bark can contain as much sugar as the wild berries that are a staple of the bears' diet. Although the bears' clawing is unlikely to destroy trees by itself, their aggressive feeding habits may critically weaken enough trees to be responsible for the decline.
The third hypothesis states that gradual changes of climate may be to blame. Over the last hundred years, the patterns of seasonal as well as day-to-day temperatures have changed in northwestern North America. These changes have affected the root systems of the yellow cedar trees: the fine surface roots now start growing in the late winter rather than in the early spring. The change in the timing of root growth may have significant consequences. Growing roots are sensitive and are therefore likely to suffer damage from partial freezing on cold winter nights. This frozen root damage may be capable of undermining the health of the whole tree, eventually killing it.
The reading and lecture are both about the reasons for a kind of tree which are declining gradually. The author of the reading feels that there are mainly three reasons cause the disaster. The lecturer casts doubt on the claims made by the essay. He thinks that non of the three hypotheses is the key reason for the crisis.
To begin with, the author claims that cedar bark beetle may be the cause of the yellow cedar, because yellow cedar is one of the sources of the insects' food. The point is challenged by the lecturer. He says the healthy yellow cedar could produce some kind of powerful chemical material which is harmful to the beetle. The lecture claims that beetle often only attacks weak trees with poor health conditions.
Second, the author believes that brown bears sometimes claw at the trees, and a lot of trees died for this reason. The lecturer rebuts the argument. He says that the habitats of the cedar include the mainland and some small islands. Though the bears only live in the mainland, the population of trees on the island is decreasing.
Last, the author argues that climate could be one reason for the decrease of the cedar. It states that the roots of the cedars are too sensitive to resist the cold weather. But the lecturer says that even in a warm environment, the amount of caders is decreasing. As a result. clime changes can not be the main reason for killing the cedars.
Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 1, column 190, Rule ID: ENGLISH_WORD_REPEAT_BEGINNING_RULE
Message: Three successive sentences begin with the same word. Reword the sentence or use a thesaurus to find a synonym.
...ainly three reasons cause the disaster. The lecturer casts doubt on the claims made...
^^^
Line 1, column 325, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...heses is the key reason for the crisis. To begin with, the author claims that ce...
^^^^^
Line 3, column 145, Rule ID: POSSESIVE_APOSTROPHE[2]
Message: Possible typo: apostrophe is missing. Did you mean 'insects'' or 'insect's'?
Suggestion: insects'; insect's
...llow cedar is one of the sources of the insects food. The point is challenged by the le...
^^^^^^^
Line 3, column 343, Rule ID: ADVERB_WORD_ORDER[9]
Message: The adverb 'often' is usually put before the verb 'beetle'.
Suggestion: often beetle
... to the beetle. The lecture claims that beetle often only attacks weak trees with poor healt...
^^^^^^^^^^^^
Line 3, column 409, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...weak trees with poor health conditions. Second, the author believes that brown b...
^^^^^
Line 5, column 331, Rule ID: WHITESPACE_RULE
Message: Possible typo: you repeated a whitespace
Suggestion:
...n of trees on the island is decreasing. Last, the author argues that climate cou...
^^^^^
Line 7, column 265, Rule ID: SENTENCE_FRAGMENT[1]
Message: “As” at the beginning of a sentence requires a 2nd clause. Maybe a comma, question or exclamation mark is missing, or the sentence is incomplete and should be joined with the following sentence.
...nt, the amount of caders is decreasing. As a result. clime changes can not be the ...
^^
Line 7, column 278, Rule ID: UPPERCASE_SENTENCE_START
Message: This sentence does not start with an uppercase letter
Suggestion: Clime
...t of caders is decreasing. As a result. clime changes can not be the main reason for ...
^^^^^
Transition Words or Phrases used:
but, may, second, so, kind of, as a result, to begin with
Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments
Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 13.0 10.4613686534 124% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 4.0 5.04856512141 79% => OK
Conjunction : 4.0 7.30242825607 55% => More conjunction wanted.
Relative clauses : 11.0 12.0772626932 91% => OK
Pronoun: 14.0 22.412803532 62% => OK
Preposition: 26.0 30.3222958057 86% => OK
Nominalization: 3.0 5.01324503311 60% => More nominalizations (nouns with a suffix like: tion ment ence ance) wanted.
Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 1165.0 1373.03311258 85% => OK
No of words: 251.0 270.72406181 93% => More content wanted.
Chars per words: 4.64143426295 5.08290768461 91% => OK
Fourth root words length: 3.98032404683 4.04702891845 98% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.22673881275 2.5805825403 86% => OK
Unique words: 132.0 145.348785872 91% => More unique words wanted.
Unique words percentage: 0.525896414343 0.540411800872 97% => OK
syllable_count: 344.7 419.366225166 82% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.4 1.55342163355 90% => OK
A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 4.0 3.25607064018 123% => OK
Article: 11.0 8.23620309051 134% => OK
Subordination: 3.0 1.25165562914 240% => Less adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 2.0 1.51434878587 132% => OK
Preposition: 1.0 2.5761589404 39% => More preposition wanted as sentence beginning.
Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 17.0 13.0662251656 130% => OK
Sentence length: 14.0 21.2450331126 66% => The Avg. Sentence Length is relatively short.
Sentence length SD: 33.1486115822 49.2860985944 67% => OK
Chars per sentence: 68.5294117647 110.228320801 62% => OK
Words per sentence: 14.7647058824 21.698381199 68% => OK
Discourse Markers: 3.35294117647 7.06452816374 47% => More transition words/phrases wanted.
Paragraphs: 4.0 4.09492273731 98% => OK
Language errors: 8.0 4.19205298013 191% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 2.0 4.33554083885 46% => More positive sentences wanted.
Sentences with negative sentiment : 9.0 4.45695364238 202% => Less negative sentences wanted.
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 6.0 4.27373068433 140% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?
Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.171932230683 0.272083759551 63% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0559332332964 0.0996497079465 56% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0380839581831 0.0662205650399 58% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.102147371627 0.162205337803 63% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0342126839075 0.0443174109184 77% => OK
Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 7.8 13.3589403974 58% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 74.19 53.8541721854 138% => OK
smog_index: 3.1 5.55761589404 56% => Smog_index is low.
flesch_kincaid_grade: 6.4 11.0289183223 58% => Flesch kincaid grade is low.
coleman_liau_index: 9.04 12.2367328918 74% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 7.54 8.42419426049 90% => OK
difficult_words: 51.0 63.6247240618 80% => More difficult words wanted.
linsear_write_formula: 6.0 10.7273730684 56% => Linsear_write_formula is low.
gunning_fog: 7.6 10.498013245 72% => OK
text_standard: 8.0 11.2008830022 71% => OK
What are above readability scores?
---------------------
Rates: 61.6666666667 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 18.5 Out of 30
---------------------
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.