Question

Pierre is a 25-year-old penguin at the California Academy of Sciences. Due to his old age, he was going bald, which made him feel too cold to swim in the pool. Therefore, biologists at the academy had a wetsuit created for this penguin to help him get back in the swimming pool.

Unlike marine mammals, which have a layer of blubber to keep them warm, penguins depend on their waterproof feathers. Without them, Pierre was unwilling to jump into the swimming pool and ended up trembling on the side of the pool while his 19 peers played in the water.

"He was cold; he would shake," said Pam Schaller, a senior biologist. Schaller first tried a heat lamp to keep Pierre warm. Then she got another idea: if wetsuits keep humans warm in the cold Pacific, why not make one for Pierre?

Schaller designed the suit, which covered Pierre’s body and had small openings for his flippers.

"I would walk behind him and look at where there were any gaps, and cut and refit and cut and refit until it looked like it was extremely suitable," she said.

One concern was that the other penguins would reject Pierre in his new suit, but in fact, they accepted his new look. He swam freely and got along with others well, although he was the only penguin with a black stomach.

Schaller couldn’t say for sure whether the wetsuit allowed Pierre to recover his fine feathers, but "certainly we were able to keep him comfortable during a period of time that would have been very difficult for him to stay comfortable".

Pierre will take off his suit after his new feathers grow back.

Pierre felt too cold to swim in the pool because of _____.

  A. not having a layer of blubber     B. having few feathers due to old age

  C. having no wetsuit              D. others penguins rejecting him

The idea of making a wetsuit for Pierre came from _____.

  A. total invention                 B. the use of wetsuit on humans

  C. the use of heat lamp             D. waterproof feathers

Schaller followed Pierre in order to see _____.

  A. whether other penguins would reject him

  B. if anywhere of wetsuit needed to be cut and refit

  C. if the wetsuit kept warm

  D. whether the wetsuit would keep the feathers from recovering

What does the underlined word in the second paragraph mean?

  A. feeling scared   B. staying alone   C. shaking with cold  D. keeping warm

The best title of the passage is _____.

  A. Wetsuit for An Old Penguin     B. Old Penguin Getting Bald

  C. Unwilling to Swim            D. Strange Look of Pierre

Answer 1

【小題1】B

【小題2】B

【小題3】B

【小題4】D

【小題5】A

解析:

人們印象中，企鵝應該不怕冷。而生活在美國加利福尼亞州舊金山加州科學院水族館的一只斑嘴環企鵝，由于羽毛脫落而無法忍受冰冷的池水。為此，加州科學院研究人員特地為這只企鵝穿上“防寒服”，讓它能夠與同伴一樣在水中游泳嬉戲。

【小題1】細節理解題。文章第一段說明了Pierre怕冷的原因：Due to his old age, he was going bald, which made him feel too cold to swim in the pool.

【小題2】 細節理解題。文章第三段講述了Pam想出這個辦法的過程：Then she got another idea: if wetsuits keep humans warm in the cold Pacific, why not make one for Pierre?

【小題3】 細節理解題。文章第五段說明了Pam跟蹤Pierre的原因：I would walk behind him and look at where there were any gaps, and cut and refit and cut and refit until it looked like it was extremely suitable。

【小題4】詞義考查題。tremble意為“顫抖，哆嗦”。

【小題5】主旨大意題。全篇講述的是生物學家給一只老企鵝做保暖夾克，幫它重返泳池的故事。因此A項正確。