1 . Imagine driving down a country road past a huge, open field where goats are eating grass. Suddenly a truck breaks down and makes a loud noise. Just as suddenly, the goats fall to the ground.
A few moments pass. The goats are back on their feet. What just happened? Well, the goats were very frightened and dropped to the ground, but not all goats act like this. There is only one kind of goat that behaves this way when it is surprised. It is called a Tennessee Fainting Goat.
In the 1800s, a farmer arrived in Marshall County, Tennessee, with a few goats and a cow. People say he came from Nova Scotia, Canada. Since the man did not talk much, no one knew where he got these goats. When he left, he took the cow, but he sold the goats.
The behavior of one of the goats was different from most others. Being frightened caused the goat’s body to go stiff and sometimes fall over. No one had seen goats do this before. They began to call this new goat a Tennessee Fainting Goat.
This special kind of goat does not actually faint. They just look like they do. The fainting goats stay awake. The baby goats, however, usually do fall over, but the good thing is that they do not have far to fall. Some older ones learn to stand near something like a fence or a tree, just in case they are frightened.
Now there are about three thousand fainting goats in the United States. People enjoy raising them, because goats of this kind are gentle, smart, and playful. They just get scared stiff now and then. The moment of stiffness only lasts about ten or fifteen seconds. Then the goats walk and act like any other goat.
1. What happens to the goats that fall to the ground a few moments later?| A．They fall asleep. | B．They eat much more. |
| C．They stand up again. | D．They are taken away by the truck. |
| A．Green fields. | B．A light wind. | C．Loud thunder. | D．Pleasant smells. |
| A．No one likes to raise them. | B．Not all of them really fall over. |
| C．Their stiffness lasts a long time. | D．Not all of them stay awake when they faint. |
| A．likes eating outside | B．sleeps during the day |
| C．comes from Canada | D．acts in a strange way |
