The kangaroo is one of the symbols of Australia. There are many different types of kangaroos. Most of them live in the wild. Most of them eat plants, and some eat fungi (真菌). Kangaroos usually come out to look for food at night. Adult kangaroos jump with their long and strong back legs. Sometimes they can jump up to 4 metres, and the farthest jump is nearly 13 metres.

However, they are very small when they are born. Baby kangaroos are just 2 centimetres long and weigh (重) about 1 gram at birth. They stay in their mothers’ pouches (育儿袋). When the baby kangaroos are about 7 months old, they begin to leave their mothers’ pouches and learn how to look after themselves. After 1 year, they stop drinking their mothers’ milk. They live on their own, but they still need their mothers’ help and protection till they are 3-4 years old.

Savannah is the oldest city in Georgia, US. Here is the city guide of Savannah.

【小题1】

If you want to spend the night in Savannah, you have lots of places to choose from. You can stay at a big hotel, a small inn (客栈), or a comfortable motel (汽车旅馆). Savannah’s hotels, motels, and inns are famous for their friendly service (服务).

【小题2】

Savannah is famous for its wonderful restaurants. Many restaurants serve local seafood or old-fashioned Southern food.

【小题3】

If you like to shop, Savannah is the place for you! You’ll find all kinds of stores in Savannah. You can go shopping in small stores or big shopping malls. Are you looking for a special treasure (珍宝) or a great deal? You’ll find it in Savannah.

【小题4】

There are many things to do and see in Savannah. The sightseeing (风景) is great. You can visit beautiful historic homes and museums. You can take a boat tour or visit Civil War forts (堡垒). With all of Savannah’s history, art, and beautiful buildings, be sure to take the time to enjoy all that Savannah has to offer (提供)!

【小题5】

Savannah has lots of sunshine throughout the year. Summers are hot and humid (湿润的). Winters are generally mild (和煦的). Temperatures (温度) are usually between -1℃ and 33℃.

Flamingos are tall, mostly pink birds with long legs. But they aren’t actually born pink. They are grey or white, and turn pink over the first couple of years of their lives.

Have you ever heard the saying “you are what you eat”? Well, flamingos are just that. In the wild, flamingos feed on shrimp, small clams, fish, insects, and algae (藻类). Yum! These foods, especially the algae, are rich in carotenoids (类胡萝卜素). Inside a flamingo’s body, carotenoids are changed into a red-orange pigment (色素) that turns its feathers pink.

Before scientists understood that flamingos got their colour from their food, zookeepers puzzled over why the pink birds turned white in zoos. Now they feed flamingos a diet rich in carotenoids and vitamins to keep their birds “in the pink”.

Still, flamingos fade when caring for their babies. Unlike their chicks, mama and papa birds don’t eat much. This makes the pigment stored in their feathers become less and less, so they lose colour.

If a flamingo eats blueberries, will it turn blue? Dr. Kevin McGraw, who studies feather colour in birds at Arizona State University, guesses if a flamingo eats enough blueberries, it would probably still turn pink, not blue! That’s because the pigments that make blueberries blue, are changed into colourless chemicals in the bird’s body. But blueberries also have a small number of carotenoids. So they would probably lightly colour the feathers pink.