Question

One kind of female butterfly mates only once in its life -- and then closes its wings to avoid "harassment" when pursued by persistent and unwanted males, a Japanese researcher said.

Observations of the Small Copper Butterfly, a colourful orange and black butterfly, showed that some females closed their wings when males flew by, but only when they were males of their own species, said Jun-Ya Ide, an associate professor at Kurume Institute of Technology in Fukuoka, western Japan.

"When we looked into why, the males were courting the females. They do this very stubbornly, so the females sometimes try to get away -- or prefer to stay unobserved," he added.

Ide and his colleagues brought a model of a male butterfly near the females to test their reactions and found that young females that had yet to mate kept their wings open, but those that had already mated closed them.

Not only can the persistent attentions of unwanted suitors harm the delicate females, fleeing from them -- with the male often in pursuit -- uses up strength and can even shorten their lives, he added.

"Closing their wings makes them less visible, helping them avoid communication with their own species. We figured they were trying to avoid harassment by males," Ide said.

1.What does the word “harassment”mean in the paragraph？

A. attack B. embarrassment

C. sexual invasion D. threat

2.Why some some females closed their wings when males flew by？

A. because they close their wings to avoid "harassment" when pursued by persistent and unwanted males.

B. because the female butterfly mates only once in its life.

C. because they don’t like the male butterfly at all.

D. because they are afraid of the male butterfly.

3.According the the passage, which is correct?

A. The females closed their wings when males flew by.

B. Only the model of a male butterfly can make the young female butterflies to keep their wings open.

C. The female butterfly mates only once in its life

D. Not only can the persistent attentions of wanted suitors harm the delicate females, fleeing from them with the male often in pursuit -- uses up strength and can even shorten their lives.

Answer 1

1.C

2.A

3.C

【解析】本文是一篇說明文，科學家發現一種雌性蝴蝶一生只交配一次，并且會在交配之后合上翅膀，以此來躲避雄性蝴蝶的追逐。

1. kind of female butterfly mates only once in its life -- and then closes its wings to avoid "harassment" when pursued by persistent and unwanted males, a Japanese researcher said.日本一位研究人員稱，雌性紅灰蝶一生只交配一次，在其它雄性紅灰蝶不停地追求它時，它會合上翅膀躲避這種harassment。根據句意，故選C性騷擾。

2. their wings makes them less visible, helping them avoid communication with their own species. We figured they were trying to avoid harassment by males,"“合上翅膀可以讓雌蝶不那么顯眼，避免與同類紅灰蝶的接觸。我們認為它們是在躲避雄蝶的性騷擾。”故選A

3. kind of female butterfly mates only once in its life 一種雌性蝴蝶一生只交配一次。故選C

考點：考察說明文閱讀。