Unit 6 课时小练(二十三) 阅读完形提分练-【赢在微点】轻松课堂2023-2024学年新教材高中英语必修第二册（外研版）

课时小练(二十三)　阅读完形提分练 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 阅读理解A　体裁:说明文　主题语境:动物研究　难度:★★★☆☆ 　 　　Researchers have recorded penguins making sounds underwater for the first time—the first time such behavior has been identified (确认) in seabirds. These animals, like other seabirds, are highly vocal (发声的) on land. They are known to communicate when their heads are above the water in the ocean, possibly for the purposes of group formation. However until the latest study—published in the journal Zoological Science—it was not known whether penguins made sounds underwater, like some other air⁃breathing marine predators, such as whales and dolphins. For their research, a team of scientists led by Andréa from Nelson Mandela University in South Africa, wanted to investigate this issue. To do so, they fitted adult penguins from three species with video cameras featuring built⁃in microphones. To the surprise of Andréa and her colleagues, the team recorded a total of 203 underwater vocalizations from the penguins in the underwater footage they captured over a month⁃long period in 2019. These are the first recordings of seabirds producing vocalizations underwater. “I couldn􀆳t believe it. I had to replay it many times,” Andréa said. The vocalizations that the team recorded—which sound like rapid whoops—were very short in duration, lasting about 0.06 seconds on average. And all of these sounds were emitted (发出) during dives in which the animals were searching for food. Currently, it is not clear why the penguins are making these sounds; however, they only produce them while hunting. In fact, more than 50 percent of the vocalizations were immediately preceded by an acceleration movement or followed by an attempt to hunt. According to the researchers this suggests that the sounds are related to hunting behavior—especially because the penguins tend to be alone when they make them, indicating that communication was not the purpose. The researchers guess that the penguins may be using the