Writing Based on Reading and Listening Directions: For this task, you will read a passage about an academic topic and yo

Despite many discoveries which might seem to suggest that smilodons are social animals, in my view, it is more likely that they were just like tigers living today: animals that prefer to live and hunt alone.
    The reading suggests the reason that wounded smilodons continued to live is that other members provided food for them. However, the truth is that wounded smilodons could also have scavenged other animals’ corpses to survive. Due to the extreme natural environment 1.8 million years ago, weaker animals tended to die from the severe cold or other harsh physical conditions. Smilodons, however, were hardy enough to resist the cold and survive, despite the unforgiving nature of the world in which they lived.
    As to the fossil evidence discovered in the tar pit, there may be other explanations for the death of so many smilodons in one place at the same time. Upon seeing a wounded animal caught in the sticky tar, several individual smilodons probably attempted to capture the animal and became stuck themselves. One smilodon entered the pit, became trapped, and in turn attracted other smilodons to the pit as well.
    Smilodons, due to their natural physical prowess, were gifted hunters. They had thick fur and were equipped with long, sharp teeth capable of ripping the flesh from prey. Therefore, they had little need to hunt in groups: a lone smilodon could easily fend for itself and survive.