It was October 2004. Red foxes killed 180 penguins (企鹅) on Middle Island, Australia. Foxes are not native to Australia. But humans had brought foxes there to use for sport hunting (狩猎). Then, the foxes started killing penguins and other native wildlife for food.

The type of penguin that lives on Middle Island is called the little penguin. It is the smallest kind of penguin in the world. Once, about 800 little penguins lived on the island. By 2005, that number was below 10. What could people do?

A local chicken farmer named Allan Marsh had an idea. Marsh wanted to train sheepdogs to protect penguins. He said the sheepdogs would scare the foxes away. Marsh used sheepdogs to guard his chickens from foxes. He thought it would work for penguins, too.

Finally, in 2006, the first sheepdog began to work. Since then, the number of penguins on Middle Island has grown to 220.

Australian zoos are now trying to use sheepdogs to save the eastern barred bandicoot (东袋狸). People haven’t seen this small animal outside a zoo since 2002. The zoos plan to return bandicoots to the wild, with sheepdogs for protection.

【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE about little penguins?

A．They eat chickens.

B．They are not afraid of foxes.

C．They are not native to Australia.

D．They are the smallest penguins in the world.

【小题2】How many little penguins lived on Middle Island by 2005?

A．Less than 10.

B．About 150.

C．About 790.

D．More than 800.

【小题3】What does the underlined word “guard” in Paragraph 3 mean in Chinese?

A．猎杀

B．改变

C．看守

D．引诱

【小题4】How long have sheepdogs been used to protect little penguins?

A．8 years.

B．10 years.

C．12 years.

D．17 years.

【小题5】What do Australian zoos plan to do?

A．To keep little penguins in zoos.

B．To increase the number of sheepdogs.

C．To let bandicoots live freely in the wild.

D．To kill half of the foxes on Middle Island.