A team of researchers from several institutions in the UK and one in Estonia has created a type of buoy(浮标)that has proven to be effective at frightening seabirds, thus preventing them from getting caught in gillnets - a type of vertical fishing net that is made of a material that makes it nearly invisible underwater.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of seabirds die when they get caught in gillnets. Some estimates suggest that up to a half-million birds are caught in them each year. Over the years, researchers have created devices to prevent the birds from trying to catch fish near or in gillnets, but those didn’t work well.

To find a way that would work for all seabirds, the researchers first studied seabirds in a general sense, looking to find things that they would avoid. They noted that seabirds avoided eye contact with other creatures. Then the researchers came up with a simple idea - they put a small pole to a regular buoy and then attached a pair of googly eyes(金鱼眼) to the top of it. They made the eyes big enough so that even birds with poor eyesight, such as geese, would see them. Adding to the effectiveness of the device, waves made the eyes move back and forth. And the wind made the buoy spin very slowly, making sure that birds from every direction would get a good look at the eyes.

To test their idea, the researchers selected several sites near gillnets and counted how many birds approached and how many attempted to catch fish near the nets. They then set up their googly-eyed buoys and once again counted birds. Over the course of 62 days, they found the number of birds that tried to catch fish near the gillnets dropped by approximately 25% for a distance of up to 50 meters. They also found that the birds were less likely to fish near where the buoys had been for up to three weeks after they had been removed.

【小题1】What is the function of Paragraph 2?

A．Introducing a new topic to discuss.

B．Providing background information.

C．Summarizing the previous paragraph.

D．Pointing out the main idea of the text.

【小题2】Why did the researchers make the googly eyes big?

A．To clearly observe seabirds’ eye contact.

B．To ensure all the seabirds can see them.

C．To effectively identify the right direction.

D．To allow them to survive the strong wind.

【小题3】What does the researchers’ test result mainly suggest?

A．The new device still needs improving.

B．Gillnets are a death valley for seabirds.

C．The googly-eyed buoy proves effective.

D．Seabirds hardly catch fish near the nets.

【小题4】What is the text mainly about?

A．A device keeping seabirds safe from gillnets.

B．A way to help seabirds catch fish effectively.

C．A googly-eyed buoy guiding seabirds to hunt.

D．A group of researchers interested in seabirds.