The fiddler crab (蟹) is a living clock. It shows the time of day by the colour of its skin, which is dark by day and pale by night. The crab’s changing colour follows a regular twenty—four hour plan that exactly matches the daily rhythm of the sun.
Does the crab actually keep time, or does its skin simply answer to the sun’s rays, changing colour according to the amount of light strikes it? To find out, biologists kept crabs in a dark room for two months. Even without daylight, the crab’s skin colour continued to change exactly on time.
This characteristic probably developed gradually in answer to the daily rising and setting of the sun, to help protect the crab from sunlight and enemies. After millions of years it has bee pletely regulated (受控制) inside the living body of the crab.
The biologists noticed that once each day the colour of the fiddler crab is especially dark, and that each day this happens fifty minutes later than on the day before. From this they discovered that each crab follows not only the rhythm of the sun but also that of the tides (潮水). The crab’s period of greatest darkening is exactly the time of low tide on the beach where it was caught!
【小题1】The fiddler crab is like a clock because it changes colour .
A in a regular 24—hour rhythm B. in answer to the sun’s rays
C. at low tide D. every fifty minutes
【小题2】The crab’s changing colour .A．tells the crab what time it isB．protects the crab from the sunlight and enemiesC．keeps the crab warmD．is of no real use【小题3】 When the fiddler crabs were kept in the dark , they .A．did not change colourB．changed colour more quickly C．changed colour more slowlyD．changed colour on the same timetable【小题4】The crab’s colour—changing ability was probably developed .A．in the process of evolution (进化)B．over millions of yearsC．by the work of biologistsD．both A and B【小题5】The best title for this selection would be .A．The Sun and the TidesB．Discoveries in BiologyC．A scientific StudyD．A Living ClockA
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