Emperor penguins are the largest penguins on the earth. The largest emperor penguin is over a meter tall and up to 40 kilograms heavy.
For many months each year, emperors live near the sea in large groups called colonies. However, in May, the weather gets colder and ice covers large part of the sea. Each colony moves many kilometers from the water. There, each mother penguin lays just one egg. Then all the hungry mothers must walk back to the sea to find food. The father penguins put their eggs on top of their feet, under a special piece of skin called the brood pouch.
Working together
For two months, the father penguins keep the eggs safe and warm. They do this through some of the coldest weather on Earth. By July, it is winter in Antarctica. Most animals leave for warmer places, but the father penguins stay. In this time, without food, a father penguin can lose almost half of his body weight, so he is thinner.
New Life
By August, the babies begin to hatch. The mother penguin returns just in time to see her baby come out of its egg. The chick is then moved to her brood pouch. This can be difficult. If the chick falls, it may freeze quickly because of the really cold weather, so the penguin parents must be very careful. Once the chick goes into its mother’s brood pouch, the father penguin can go back to the sea to find food.
Growing up
Over the next few months, penguin parents take turns going to the sea for food. They each make the trip over a few times, bringing back food for the chick. The chick grows quickly and is always hungry.
Into the Water
By December, winter is ending. The chick is five months old and can live by itself. Soon it goes into the water for the first time. It will swim and eat. By next April, it goes back here. After a few more years, it, too, will start its own family.
【小题1】The underlined word “hatch” in Paragraph 4 means ________.A.pushing out from its body | B.putting the egg on top of its feet |
C.coming out of an egg | D.moving to the brood pouch |
A.Mother penguin will feed it. |
B.The chick will die because of the cold. |
C.Father penguin will play with it. |
D.The chick will sleep on the snow. |
A.How Emperor Penguins Find Food |
B.Emperor Penguins and Cold Weather |
C.Different Kinds of Penguins |
D.How Emperor Penguins Look After Babies |
The pandas were taken by trucks from China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center to Ya’an, another base less affected by the earthquake, said Xiong Beirong,an official of Sichuan Provincial Forestry Bureau (林业局).
Eight other pandas left for the Chengdu Research Base on May 18. They will be carried by China Southern Airlines (CSA) to Beijing, where they will stay at the Beijing Zoo, said Wolong director Zhang Hemin.
Liu Shaoyong, a leader of CSA, said the pandas were scheduled (预定) to leave Chengdu at 3 p.m. Saturday. They will travel on a Boeing 747-700 plane with bamboo and water.
“There is enough water now, but food is still a big problem. The pandas need bamboos and apples.” Xiong Beirong said.
After the earthquake, tons of bamboo shoots, apples, eggs, milk powder and medicines were brought to the center, but the supplies could only last about a week, she said.
There are about 1,590 pandas living in the wild in China, mostly in Sichuan and the northwestern provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu.
【小题1】This passage is probably from ________________.
A.a novel | B.a storybook |
C.a newspaper | D.a diary |
A.six | B.eight | C.nine | D.fourteen |
A.On May 23 | B.On May 12 |
C.On May 18 | D.On May 3 |
A.Six pandas left an important panda base in Wolong after the earthquake. |
B.Eight other pandas will be carried to Beijing by plane. |
C.Pandas eat bamboo shoots, apples, eggs, milk powder and so on. |
D.Water is still a big problem for the pandas after the earthquake. |
A.供应品 | B.滋补品 | C.药品 | D.保健品 |
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