托福口语 Task 4

Today, we're going to talk about animal behavior, specifically how some animals use deception to survive. Now, deception isn't just about lying; it's about manipulating signals to gain an advantage. One key point is that animals often use deceptive signals to avoid predators or to catch prey. Let me give you two examples. First, consider the harmless milk snake. It has evolved to mimic the bright red, yellow, and black bands of the venomous coral snake. Predators that have learned to avoid coral snakes also avoid the milk snake, even though it's harmless. This is called Batesian mimicry. Second, think about the anglerfish. It lives in the deep, dark ocean where light is scarce. It has a glowing lure that dangles in front of its mouth, which looks like a small fish. When a curious predator approaches to investigate the lure, the anglerfish quickly snaps it up. So in both cases, the animals use deceptive appearances to gain a survival advantage—one to avoid being eaten, and the other to catch a meal.