The kangaroo is the world’s largest living marsupial (有袋动物). It was first found on the island of southwestern Australia. The animal was given its name by a famous English tourist in the 18th century.
The kangaroo may be 7 feet (2.1m) tall when standing upright and the male (雄性) can weigh as heavy as 200 pounds (90kg). The female (雌性) is smaller and lighter than the male. The kangaroo’s head is small, but its ears are large, and its fore feet are really small. The animal has strong back legs and long tail.
The kangaroo usually covers from 5 to 10 feet (1.5 to 3m) with each jump. The female is usually faster than the male. The mother kangaroo has a pouch (育儿袋) in its abdomen (腹部). The baby kangaroo grows up in the mother’s pouch slowly.
The kangaroo lives on grass and other plants. It is always moving from one place to another, lying down to sleep on the ground during the night. It likes to enjoy the warm sunshine. When it’s in danger, it can use its back legs and strong tail to protect itself.
1. Who gave the kangaroo its name in the 18th century?2. Which kind of kangaroo looks smaller and lighter?
3. Where does the baby kangaroo grow up?
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Not all penguins (企鹅) live in cold places. African penguins live in the south of Africa. Like other penguins, African penguins spend most of the day feeding in the sea, and that helps keep them cool. They also stay in some cool places when they can.
Most other penguins lay their eggs in the open. But African penguins do it in a different way. They dig holes (洞) to lay their eggs so that they can protect the eggs from the sun’s heat (高温). The baby penguins stay in the holes for about three weeks. Then, they are old enough to go out. But they need to return to the hole to stay cool from time to time and stay away from dangerous animals. On land, some animals such as dogs and cats will eat them.
The African penguin is in danger now. There are only about 52,000 African penguins left in the wild. People pick penguin eggs for sale. The oil (石油) is polluting the sea, so the penguins are losing their home.
| African penguins Living habits • They live in the • They lay their eggs in holes because the weather is • The baby penguins stay in the holes for about Living conditions • There are only about 52,000 African penguins in the wild. • People pick penguin eggs to  |
【推荐2】Can dolphins talk? Maybe they can’t talk with words, but they talk with sounds. They show their feelings with sounds.
Dolphins travel in a group. We call a group of fish a “school.” They don’ t study, but they travel together. Dolphins are mammals, not fish, but they swim together in a school.
Dolphins talk to the other dolphins in the school. They give messages. They tell when they are happy or sad or afraid. They say “Welcome” when a dolphin comes back to the school. They talk when they play.
They make a few sounds above water. They make many more sounds under water, People cannot hear these sounds because they are very, very high. Scientists make tapes of the sounds and study them.
Sometimes people catch a dolphin for a large aquarium(水族馆). People can watch the dolphins in a show. Dolphins don’t like to be away from their school in an aquarium. They are sad and lonely.
There are many stories about dolphins. They help people. Sometimes they save somebody’s life. Dolphin meat is good, but people don’t like to kill them. They say that dolphins bring good luck. Many people believe in this.
Dolphins
| How dolphins talk | They don’t talk with words, but |
| How dolphins live | They travel and |
| How dolphins communicate | They can give messages. They tell others about their |
Dolphins and humans | Sometimes people raise them in an aquarium so that other people can watch the People don’t like to kill them because they keep people |
Jambo’s Story
In 1986, a video of a frightening event involving a gorilla (大猩猩) and a boy was watched by millions of people around the world. The video is still popular on the Internet today, changed people’s opinions of gorillas forever.
On 31 August, 1986 a couple took their two young sons to Jersey Zoo. When the family arrived, they went to see the gorillas straight away. The father noticed that the children were too small to see the animals, so he picked up his five-year-old son, Levan, and put him on the top of the wall. Then he turned round to pick up his other son.
When the father turned back, Levan had disappeared. The boy had fallen off the wall, into the gorilla area. The parents looked down and saw that their son was lying on the ground, about four metres below them. He wasn’t moving.
Levan’s father tried to climb down into the wall to save the boy, but he was stopped by the other zoo visitors. Slowly, the gorillas came closer to Levan. A large crowd of people had come to see what was happening. Everyone was shouting. They were scared that gorillas might seriously hurt the boy.
Jambo, a 200kg male gorilla, got to Levan first. He moved carefully around Levan. He softly touched his back. Then he sat down between Levan and the other gorillas. When he saw that a young gorilla had come too close, Jambo stood up and did not let him pass. His message to the other gorillas was clear,”Don’t touch him!” He pulled lightly of Levan’s clothes and after a while Levan opened his eyes and started to cry.
Jambo ran away and his gorilla family followed him. Some time later, zookeepers saved Levan. He had broken several bones in the fall, and had seriously hurt his head, but he was alive. A man had filmed everything and millions of people around the world watched the video on the news.
Jambo! People had always thought that gorillas were dangerous animals, but the video changed their minds. Soon letters, cards and even boxes of bananas arrived for him at the zoo. Jambo died in 1992, but people built a statue (雕像，塑像) at the zoo to remind the world of this wonderful animal.
1. Is the video still popular on the Internet today?
2. How old was Levan in 1986?
3. What did Jambo do when a young gorilla had come close to Levan?
4. Who saved Levan after Jambo and his gorilla family ran away?
5. Why did people build a statue for Jambo at the zoo?
