TOEFL Speaking Task 4 Practice Test #15

Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a Biology class.

Professor: So we’ve been talking about forest fires, and usually when a forest fire occurs, the animals in the area will, of course run away, flee as fast as they can so as not to get hurt by the flames. Some animals, though, actually benefit from forest fires, and so will seek them out. Because forest fires can be helpful, can help them fulfill certain survival needs. Let’s discuss two benefits forest fires can have for these animals. One benefit is that they can make it easier for predators to find food. A forest fire will force animals out of their hiding places and out into the open, which predators take advantage of, because fleeing animals are much easier to catch than they normally are when they are hiding. For example, scientists have observed wild turkeys doing this. These birds will go to the edge of a forest fire, and wait there in order to catch all the insects running out of the burning forest, which is a much easier way to catch insects than the normal way of pecking for them on the ground. Another benefit forest fires can have is to help provide a good place for the development of young animals. Forest fires can make an otherwise harmful environment more suitable for their development. For example, some trees in the forest are poisonous to beetles, they have a special chemical that keeps beetles away. But after a fire, beetles will seek out these trees because the trees are dead, and beetles are able to lay their eggs in the trees without being hurt by the chemical. The young beetles use the tree as nourishment until they mature into adult beetles.