雅思阅读第005套P1-AUSTRALIA’S PLATYPUS
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage1.
AUSTRALIA’SPLATYPUS
Of all the creatures on theearth, the Australian platypus, Omithorbynchusparadoxus, is perhapsone of the most mysterious and reclusive. Derived from the Latin platys meaning'flat and broad’ and pous meaning 'foot’, the platypus haslong been an iconic symbol of Australia. Upon being discovered in Australia inthe 1700s, sketches of this unusual creature were made and sent back to Englandwhereupon they were considered by experts to be a hoax. Indeed, the incrediblecollection of its body parts – broad, flat tail, rubbery snout, webbed feet andshort dense fur – make it one of the world’s most unusual animals.
Officially classified as amammal, the egg-laying platypus is mostly active during the night, a nocturnalanimal. As if this combination of characteristics and behaviours were notunusual enough, the platypus is the only Australian mammal known to bevenomous. The male platypus has a sharply pointed, moveable spur on its hindfoot which delivers a poison capable of killing smaller animals and causingsevere pain to humans. The spur – about 2 centimetres in length – is quitesimilar to the fang of a snake and, if provoked, is used as a means of defence.Those who have been stung by a platypus’ spur report an immediate swellingaround the wound followed by increased swelling throughout the affected limb.Excruciating, almost paralysing pain in the affected area accompanies the stingwhich, in some victims has been known to last for a period of months. Onereport from a victim who was stung in the palm of the hand states that “…thespur could not be pulled out of the hand until the platypus was killed.” Duringthe breeding season, the amount of venom in the male platypus increases. Thishas led some zoologists to theorise that the poisonous spur is primarily forasserting dominance amongst fellow-males. To be stung by a male platypus is arare event with only a very small number of people being on the receiving endof this most reclusive creature.
In the same area of the hindfoot where the male has the poisonous spur, the female platypus only developstwo buds which drop off in their first year of life never to appear again. Thefemale platypus produces a clutch of one to three eggs in late winter orspring, incubating them in an underground burrow. The eggs are 15-18millimetres long and have a whitish, papery shell like those of lizards and snakes.The mother is believed to keep the eggs warm by placing them between her lowerbelly and curled-up tail for a period of about 10 or 11 days as she rests in anunderground nest made of leaves or other vegetation collected from the water.The baby platypus drinks a rich milk which is secreted from two round patchesof skin midway along the mother’s bell)’. It is believed that a baby platypusfeeds by slurping up milk with rhythmic sweeps of its stubby bill. When thejuveniles first enter the water at the age of about four months, they arenearly (80-90%) as long as an adult. Male platypus do not help to raise theyoung.
In Australia, the platypus isofficially classified as 'Common but Vulnerable’. As a species, it is notcurrently considered to be endangered. However, platypus populations arebelieved to have declined or disappeared in many catchments 1, particularly in urban and agriculturallandscapes. In most cases, the specific underlying reasons for the reduction innumbers remain unknown. Platypus surveys have only been carried out in a fewcatchments in eastern Australia. It is therefore impossible to provide anaccurate estimate of the total number of platypus remaining in the wild. Basedon recent studies, the average platypus population density along relativelygood quality streams in the foothills of Victoria’s Great Dividing Range isonly around one to two animals per kilometre of channel. Because platypus arepredators near the top of the food chain and require large amounts of food tosurvive (up to about 30% of a given animal’s body weight each day), it isbelieved that their numbers are most often limited by the availability of food,mainly in the form of bottom-dwelling aquatic invertebrates such as shrimps,worms, yabbies, pea-shell mussels, and immature and adult aquatic insects.Small frogs and fish eggs are also eaten occasionally, along with someterrestrial insects that fall into the water from overhanging vegetation.
1: Catchments are an area of land drainedby a creek or river system, or a place set aside for collecting water whichruns off the surface of the land.
Until the early twentiethcentury, platypus were widely killed for (heir fur. The species is nowprotected by law throughout Australia. Platypus are wild animals with specialisedliving requirements. It is illegal for members of the public to keep them incaptivity. A platypus which has been accidentally captured along a stream orfound wandering in an unusual place should never be taken home and treated as apet, even for a brief time. The animal will not survive the experience. Only asmall number of Australian zoos and universities hold a permit to maintainplatypus in captivity for legitimate display or research purposes. CurrentAustralian government policy does not allow’ this species to be taken overseasfor any reason.
SECTION 1: QUESTIONS 1-13
Questions 1-5
Do the following statementsreflect the claims of the writer?
In boxes 1-5 onyour answer sheet, write
YES
if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO
if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN
if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
1 ________________ The appearance of the platypuscaused experts to doubt it was real.
2 ________________ The amount of venom in a maleplatypus changes during the year.
3 ________________ Most platypus live in EasternAustralia.
4 ________________ Snake venom and platypus venomare very similar.
5 ________________ Because their environment isspecialised, platypus cannot be kept as pets.
Questions 6-9
Complete the summary.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for eachanswer.
Write your answers inboxes 6-9 on your answer sheet.
Platypus are unique Australian animals. Although all platypus share many similarities, the male and female are somewhat different from each other. For example, on the hind feet, the male has a 6________________ while the young female has 7________________ .
In the 8________________ the mother keeps her eggs warm and, once born, supplies her 9 ________________ . On the other hand, the male platypus does not help raise the young at all.
Questions 10-13
Complete the sentences below withwords taken from Reading Passage 1.
Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Write your answers inboxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.
Even though the platypus is notendangered, it is considered 10 ________________
Platypus numbers in 11 ________________ areas have declined in manycatchments.
Platypus numbers are low whichis probably due to a lack of 12 ________________
Platypus captivity for researchand study purposes requires a 13 ________________
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