Have you ever wondered why birds sing? Maybe you thought that they were just happy. After all, you probably sing or whistle when you are happy. Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy. However, they sing most of the time for a very different reason. Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay out of their territory. Do you know what a 'territory' is? A territory is an area that an animal, usually the male, claims as its own. Only he and his family are welcome there. No other families of the same species are welcome. Your yard and house are your territory where only your family and friends are welcome. If a stranger enter your territory and threaten you, you may shout. Probably this is enough to frighten him away. If so, you have actually scared the stranger away without having to fight him. A bird does the same thing. But he expects an outsider almost any time, especially at nesting season. So he is screaming all the time, whether he can see an outsider or not. This screaming is what we call a bird's song, and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away. Birds sing loudest in the spring when they are trying to attract a mate and warn others not to enter the territory of theirs. You can see that birds have a language of their own. Most of it has something to do with attracting mates and setting up territories. What is a bird's 'territory'? A) A place where families of other species are not accepted. B) A place where a bird may shout at the top of its voice. C) An area for which birds fight against each other. D) An area which a bird considers to be its own.
D
(Question)
What looks like an angry old man and lives at the bottom of the ocean? It's the world's ugliest animal---the blobfish . Its strange skin is shaped by its habitat. It lives 800 meters below the ocean's surface, a depth where very few other creatures can survive. Most fishes have a swim bladder , which is filled with gas and helps them stay afloat. At the depth that the blobfish live, water pressure is 80 times higher than that at higher sea levels and any swim bladder wouldn't be able to serve its purpose. The blobfish don't have a swim bladder because their skin works the same way. It helps them stay afloat without having to use any energy. The blobfish have a pretty relaxed attitude towards eating. All they do is stay and wait for crabs or lobsters to come by. Since the blobfish like to eat crabs and lobsters, they often get caught in nets that are used to catch lobsters or crabs and end up dying or being killed. They are not suitable for eating so they are useless for fishermen. There's a purpose behind the blobfish's new title; it has become the new mascot for the Ugly Animal Preservation Society, an organization whose purpose is to preserve endangered ugly animals. "We've needed an ugly face for endangered ugly animals for a long time and I've been amazed by the public reaction," said the Society's Simon Watt. "For too long cute animals have taken the limelight but now the blobfish will be a voice for those who always get forgotten."They hope this new face will help the world know that we need to help preserve the populations of ugly animals too. The biggest difference between the blobfish and most other fishes is that the blobfish _ . A) cannot be eaten by people B) don't have a swim bladder C) only live at high sea levels D) aren't active in catching food
(Answer)
B
It was a weeknight. We were a half dozen guys in our late teens, hanging around "the flat" -- as usual. The flat was poorly furnished, which, after some time, grew tiresome. We wanted action. We got in a car, big enough for all of us to crowd into -- and off we went, in search of adventure. We soon found ourselves at Blue Gum Corner, a place named after the huge old blue gum tree that stood by there, a well-known local landmark. It stands at a minor crossroad leading to our town. The trunk is tall and smooth with no handholds for climbing. About six metres from the ground the first branch sticks out over the road. We parked beneath the huge old tree and discussed what we might do. All of a sudden we hit upon an idea -- a hanging! I was chosen as "hangee". The plan was quite simple. As I stood upon the roof of the car, the rope was threaded down my jacket through my collar and down one leg of my jeans. I put my foot through the loop at the bottom. There I hung, still. The boys rolled about laughing until, a car, I hear a car! Before they ran to hide in the nearby field, they gave me a good push so that "the body" would swing as the car drove by. To our disappointment, the car simply turned off for town without even slowing. The boys came out of their hiding places and we discussed the situation. Surely they had seen me, hadn't they? Then we heard another car. The act was repeated, but still without any obvious reaction. We played the game about five or six times, but as no one seemed to notice, we abandoned the trick. What we did not know was that every car that had passed had unquestionably seen "the body" and each one, too scared to stop, had driven directly to the local Police Station. Now at that time of the night, the local policeman was sound asleep in his bed, so the first person sent to the scene was the traffic officer that happened to be on duty that particular night. He had been informed that some person had been killed, by hanging, at Blue Gum Corner. When he arrived, the body was gone! And he... The boys managed to escape from the field when _ . A) the two police cars were being charged B) the police officer was taking over the duty C) the traffic officer was making a call for help D) the two spotlights were not working together
D