Bison and Humans When human beings first migrated from Asia into North America at the end of the last ice age, they found an enormous, now extinct creature known as the giant long-horned bison (Bison priscus). We know that early Americans hunted these beasts because excavated skeletons of the bison bear stone spear tips. The style of the points dates them to twelve to thirteen thousand years ago, not long after the first wave of human immigrants washed south and east across the continent. These early Americans ate a variety of plants and animals, but judging from the campsite remains, they had a special taste for long-horned bison. It was their favorite prey, perhaps because one animal filled so many stomachs. According to paragraph 1, which of the following best describes the relationship between humans twelve to thirteen thousand years ago and the giant long-horned bison •A.Humans first came to the Americas as a result of following long hornedbison that were migrating from Asia to the Americas.•B.Humans in the Americas preferred hunting long-horned bison tohunting other animals.•C.Humans in the Americas were forced to migrate south and east acrossthe continent as a result of the presence of long-horned bison.•D.Humans in the Americas generally ate plants and small animalsbecause long-horned bison were difficult to hunt.The giant horns that gave Bison priscus its common name tell us some important things about its lifestyle. Animals with gigantic weapons on their heads usually live alone or in small groups. Animals that live in herds usually have small horns. Horns and antlers help males in several ways. Animals use these horns and antlers to fight with other members of the same species, to increase their appeal to potential mates, and to protect themselves from predators. Fossil bones suggest that giant bison used their long, outward-facing horns to injure their opponents. An individual with longer horns had a better chance of circumventing its opponents horns and fatally wounding them than one with shorter horns, and females probably preferred to mate with winners of these contests rather than with losers, either because they liked what they saw in the male or because they liked the territory that the male could defend from competitors. The word “gigantic” in the passage is closest in meaning to •A.very big•B.very•C.dangerous•D.powerful sharpAccording to paragraph 2, the fact that Bison priscus had giant horns suggests which of the following about its lifestyle •A.The bison were probably more concerned with protecting themselvesfrom predators than with fighting each other.•B.The horns were probably more for display to attract mates than for useas actual weapons.•C.Those individuals with smaller horns probably banded together to fightthe males with larger horns.•D.Individuals probably lived by themselves or with only...
