填空题

In the cause of equal rights, feminists (女权主义者) have had much to complain about. But one striking piece of inequality has been (47) : lifespan. In this area, women have the (48) hand. All round the world, they live longer than men. Why they should do so is not (49) obvious. But the same is true in many other (50) . From lions to antelope and from sea lions to deer, males, for some reason, simply can’t go the distance.
One theory is that males must (51) for female attention. Females are not subject to such pressure. If this theory is correct, the effect will be especially (52) in those varieties where males rival for the attention of lots of females. Conversely, it will be reduced or absent where they do not.
That obviously takes its toll directly. But a more delicate effect may also be at work. Most scholars of ageing agree that an animal’s (53) lifespan is set by how long it can reasonably expect to escape predation (掠夺行为), disease, accident and damaging (54) by others of its kind. If it will be killed quickly anyway, there is not much reason for evolution to divert scarce resources into keeping the machine in excellent condition. Those resources should, instead, be (55) to reproduction. And the more (56) the outside world is, the shorter the uppermost lifespan should be.

• A) overlookedF) threatening K) spontaneous
• B) upperG) undoubtedly L) devoted
• C) aggressionH) species M) combine
• D) immediatelyI) evident N) upright
• E) clumsyJ) compete O) maximum