Like other penguins, African penguins have white feathers covering their chests and black feathers covering their backs. They have lifelong mates, and they live in huge numbers —so, scientists wondered how the birds were able to identify their partners among a sea of black-and-white birds. To find it out, they studied 12 African penguins at a marine park called Zoomarine Italia.

In one test, they hung two life-size photographs of the African penguins. One is selected randomly(随机选择地), while the other is the test subject’s mate. The scientists recorded their interactions with the photos: How long did they spend looking at each photo, as well as how much time did they spend standing near each one? The penguins spent more time looking at the photo of their partners—about 23 seconds longer, on average —than looking at the other photo. They also stood next to the mate’s photo for twice as long. Then, the researchers covered up the heads of the birds in the photographs, and the penguins still stayed near their partners’ photos.

In another experiment, the researchers hung up two photos of a bird’s mate —but, in one, they had digitally removed its spots(点). In this case, the penguin again spent more time looking at the photo with the spots. In the third experiment, the researchers hung two penguin photos with digitally removed spots—one of the test subject’s mate and the other: a random penguin. In this case, the penguins did not appear to recognize their partners—they spent almost the same time looking at or standing near both photos.

Together, the research results suggest African penguins are zeroing in on their partners’ spots and using them like name tags. Scientists say: “Our results prove birds recognize their mates by specific visual patterns and all sensory modalities(模态)should be considered in the study of animal communication.”

【小题1】What can we learn from Paragraph 1?

A．African penguins live independently.

B．African penguins have special ability to recognize partners.

C．African penguins have when feathers covering their backs.

D．Scientists studied 12 African penguins from the wild.

【小题2】What plays a key role in African penguins’ identifying their partners?

A．Their partners’ voice.	B．Their partners’ heads.
C．Their partners’ back feathers.	D．Their partners’ spotted bodies.

【小题3】What does the underlined phrase “zeroing in on” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．Losing sight of.	B．Taking delight in.
C．Paying attention to.	D．Speaking highly of.

【小题4】Where might you find the passage?

A．In a science report.	B．In a travel brochure.
C．In a biology textbook.	D．In a fashion magazine.