Question

    We all know that zebras have stripes (条纹). However, both animal experts and zebra fans all over the world haven’t known the reason for centuries. But now it appears that some researchers in California may have finally solved the age-old mystery!

In order to find the reason why zebras have stripes, a team of scientists led by Professor Tim Caro set to work. They began by comparing the thickness, location, and the stripes on seven species of zebras that live in various geographic locations. They then examined some factors that may continuously affect zebras, such as their natural enemies, the temperatures of their living places and the small insects around them like flies. To their amazement, the only factor that was linked with the stripes was the annoying flies. The zebras with the most obvious and the largest number of stripes mostly live in areas with more flies.

But that led to another question: why are zebras the only kind of animal smart enough to develop the stripes? After all, there are plenty of other animals like horses and donkeys, which are facing the same trouble. Upon closer examination of the black and white animals, the researchers noticed that unlike the others, zebras have very short coats of hair, making them particularly easy to be bitten (咬) by the flies!

While Tim says that this mystery is finally solved, it has given rise to a new one. Why are these fearless flies that have no fears of attacking animals that are thousands of times bigger, afraid of black and white stripes? If you have any answer, be sure to add it to the comments below. It may help the professor with his new research!

1.What does the underlined phrase in Paragraph 2 mean ________?

A.was connected with B.was different from

C.was similar to D.was harmful to

2.Why are zebras easy to be bitten?

A.They have very short coats of hair. B.They have a special smell.

C.They are very tall and strong. D.They live in dangerous places.

3.What will Tim study next?

A.Why flies like attacking zebras.

B.Why flies don’t attack horses or donkeys.

C.Why flies like attacking bigger animals.

D.Why flies are frightened of black and white stripes.

4.What does the passage mainly talk about?

A.The living habits of zebras. B.How zebras deal with flies.

C.Why zebras have stripes D.People’s comments on zebras.

Answer

1.A

2.A

3.D

4.C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，介绍了为什么动物中只有斑马长黑白条纹，结果发现是和苍蝇有关系。

1.词句猜测题。was connected with与……相关；was different from与……不同；was similar to与……相似；was harmful to对……有害。划线短语所在句句意为“令他们惊讶的是，与条纹________的唯一因素是恼人的苍蝇”，根据此处在猜测长条纹的原因，可知此处表示“与之有关”，故选A。

2.细节理解题。根据“the researchers noticed that unlike the others, zebras have very short coats of hair, making them particularly easy to be bitten by the flies”，可知是因为斑马的毛发较短，故选A。

3.推理判断题。根据“While Tim says that this mystery is finally solved, it has given rise to a new one. Why are these fearless flies that have no fears of attacking animals that are thousands of times bigger, afraid of black and white stripes”，可推知他接下来可能会研究为什么苍蝇会害怕黑白条纹，故选D。

4.文章主旨题。通读全文，可知文章主要介绍了为什么斑马会长黑白条纹，故选C。