Passage 24
（2010 全國 I C）

along the river banks of the amazon and the Orinoco there lives a bird that swims before it can fly, flies like a fat chicken, eats green leaves, has the stomach of a cow and has claws （爪）on its wings when young.They build their homes about 4.6 m above the river, an important feature （特征）for the safety of the young.It is called the hoatzin.

In appearance, the birds of both sexes look very much alike with brown on the back and cream and red on the underside.The head is small, with a large set of feathers on the top, bright red eyes, and blue skin.Its nearest relatives are the common birds, cuckoos.Its most striking feature, though, is only found in the young.

baby hoatzins have a claw on the leading edge of each wing and another at the end of each wing tip.Using these four claws, together with the beak （喙）, they can climb about in the bushes, looking very much like primitive birds must have done.When the young hoatzins have learned to fly, they lose their claws.

during the drier months between december and March hoatzins fly about the forest in groups of 20 to 30 birds, but in april, when the rainy season begins, they collect together in smaller living units of two to seven birds for producing purposes.

1.What is the text mainly about?

A. Hoatzins in dry and rainy seasons.

B. The relatives and enemies of hoatzins.

C. Primitive birds and hoatzins of the amazon.

D. The appearance and living habits of hoatzins.

2.Young hoatzins are different from their parents in that ______.

A. they look like young cuckoos

B. they have claws on the wings

C. they eat a lot like a cow

D. they live on river banks

3.What can we infer about primitive birds from the text?

A. They had claws to help them climb.

B. They could fly long distances.

C. They had four wings like hoatzins.

D. They had a head with long feathers on the top.

4.Why do hoatzins collect together in smaller groups when the rainy season comes?

A. To find more food.

B. To protect themselves better.

C. To keep themselves warm.

D. To produce their young.

【重點詞匯】

river bank 河岸

stomach n.胃，腹部

hoatzin n.麝雉

underside n.下側，下部表面，底面

relative n.親屬，親緣植物（或動物）

cuckoo n.布谷鳥，杜鵑

striking adj.顯著的，突出的，引人注目的

leading edge 前緣，（尤指飛機的）機翼前緣

tip n.末端

bush n.灌木（叢）

primitive adj.原始的，早期的

producing n.生產，繁殖

【疑難長句】

1.Along the river banks of the amazon and the Orinoco there lives a bird that swims before it can fly, flies like a fat chicken, eats green leaves, has the stomach of a cow and has claws on its wings when young.

本句的核心結構是there be句型，along引導地點狀語，that引導定語從句，修飾bird，定語從句中有多個并列的謂語動詞。

（參考譯文）在亞馬遜河和奧里諾科河的岸邊棲息著一種鳥，這種鳥在學會飛翔之前能夠游泳，飛行時的樣子像一只肥雞，以綠葉為食，胃口大得像牛，幼年時期翅膀上長著爪子。

2.during the drier months between december and March hoatzins fly about the forest in groups of 20 to 30 birds, but in april, when the rainy season begins, they collect together in smaller living units of two to seven birds for producing purposes.

drier month的字面意思是“比較干旱的月份”，其實就是指熱帶雨林的“旱季”。about在這里表示“到處，四處”。collect together意思是“集結在一起”。unit表示“單位，單元”。

（參考譯文）在十二月至三月的干旱季節(jié)里，麝雉成群結隊地在林中飛來飛去，每群20至30只，但到了四月雨季來臨時，它們會組成較小的生活群落，每群2至7只，目的是為了繁衍后代。