When many people see birds cleaning their feathers, they attribute it to vanity on the part of the bird. But, in reality, what they are doing is maintaining their wings, the instruments that they depend on for safe flight. If a bird’s wings are not in perfect condition, the bird either won’t be able to fly or won’t be able to control its flight. That is why after a long flight and even throughout the day, you will see them cleaning their feathers.
Most birds, if they get a chance, will take a bath at least once a day. They do this to get rid of the dust that has accumulated in their feathers throughout their flight s during the day. In dry or desert areas, birds will not always be able to find water in which to bath, but they still need to clean their feathers. What many birds will do is to take dust baths. They will roll around in dust until it covers their feathers. They will stand up, shaking the dust out, and then clean their feathers with their beaks (鸟嘴) as usual.
Baths are important for another reason. During the course of the day and night, many parasites (寄生虫) are attracted to birds. Bugs, mites, fleas and so on will try to reach birds and suck from their blood. Daily baths help to keep the parasites to a minimum.
Some birds, especially those that spend a lot of time in or around water, have skin glands (皮肤腺) that produce oil. After bathing, these birds will squeeze the glands to spread the oil over their wings to keep them free of water.
If you are a bird lover and have bird houses in your yard, it can be good to go to the extra step, providing a bird bath. Once the birds in your neighborhood discover it, you will be surprised at how popular it bees as they periodically stop by to take their daily bath.
【小题1】What’s the passage mainly about?A．How birds clean themselves.B．What birds enjoy doing. C．Why baths matter so much to birds.D．What bird lovers should do.【小题2】What does the underlined part in Para 1 probably mean?A．Most people think it good for birds to clean their feathers.B．Most people show much interest in how birds clean themselves.C．Most people believe that birds’ keeping themselves clean is necessary.D．Most people think birds’ cleaning their feathers of no practical significance.【小题3】According to Para 3, birds’ feather cleaning .A．helps keep them healthyB．keeps them free of any parasiteC．makes them more attractiveD．helps them relax enough【小题4】In the last paragraph, the author further reminds us that .A．we should love birds as much as possibleB．birds enjoy cleaning themselves by bathingC．we can be good bird lovers by bathing birdsD．birds like to e close to the people in a yardC
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(答案→)C
解析：文章介绍了文章介绍了洗澡及梳理羽毛对鸟儿的重要性，并解释了原因，号召我们要为鸟儿做更多的事情。
【小题1】C 主旨大意题。文章介绍了洗澡及梳理羽毛对鸟儿的重要性，并解释了原因。
【小题2】B 猜测句意题。根据下一句in reality, what they are doing is maintaining their wings说明鸟儿梳理羽毛是为了维护翅膀。they attribute it to vanity on the part of the bird.中的vanity指那些漂亮但无用的东西，故这句话指的是很多人对于鸟儿如何梳理羽毛感兴趣，却不清楚鸟儿为什么这样做。故B正确。
【小题3】A 段落大意题。在第三段中提及了鸟儿的羽毛中会有很多的寄生虫和各种各样的有害的东西，所以鸟儿清洁羽毛是为了保持羽毛的健康，故A正确。
【小题4】A 推理题。在最后一段中提出我们要为鸟儿做更多的事情，要尽可能地多爱鸟，故A正确。