单选题
Only a handful of creatures on earth carry the dread
title "man-eater". The great white shark is one, quick at times snap up swimmers
and ship-wrecked sailors. People have been meals for lions and tigers.
Crocodiles will attack human prey. But perhaps no creature is more blindly
savage than a small fish of South America's inland waters—the piranha.
At first glance, the piranha seems harmless enough. Deep-bellied and
flat, it looks like a sunfish a youngster might catch on a lazy Sunday
afternoon. It is actually a close relative to silver dollar—an ornamental and
placid fish prized by aquarium enthusiasts. But towards the business end of a
piranha, any similarity to its more docile brethren ends. The
head of the piranha is massive by scale, its raked-back skull armored by thick
bone. Its large, round eyes are sometimes blood red; its mouth is armed with
triangular teeth as keen as razors. When the lower jaw, thrust forward in
bulldog fashion, snaps shut, the upper and lower teeth mesh perfectly. The
result on anything caught in between is that of surgical steel on butter. One
bite and out comes a neat piece of flesh the size of a dollar.
We had a chance to see those dread jaws in action ourselves when we hired a
guide, Jorge, to take us fishing out from Manarus, in Brazil's jungle. An hour
after we left the city, Jorge cut the engine in an inlet off the muddy Amazon,
and baited a hook with raw meat. Almost immediately, something struck, and Jorge
hauled the line back in, flipping a struggling fish about 12 inches long into
the bilge," Red piranha," he warned." Watch your hands and feet."
Thrashing in the narrow boat bottom, sunlight glittering off its
vermilion belly, it looked as handsome as any tropical fish we'd see. The
fierce-looking jaws, however, were snapping wildly at the air, Jorge reached for
an oar to deal it a blow just as the hook worked loose from the fish's mouth.
With a lightning-swift snap, the piranha chopped a neat semicircular chunk from
the wooden oar. We now understand why so many fishermen in piranha country are
missing fingers and toes.
单选题
The main idea of the first paragraph is ______.
A. The great white shark is a man-eater
B. The piranha is the most savage creature on earth
C. Crocodiles are more dangerous than shares
D. Only a handful of creatures on earth carry the dread title
"man-eater"
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】第一段末尾“no creature is more blindly savage than…piranha”，引出全文要介绍的食人鱼(piranha)，因此B项为正确答案。
单选题
According to paragraph 3, only one of these statements is TRUE. Which
one is the TRUE statement?
A.The piranha has a thick skull.
B.The piranha's eyes are always blood red.
C.The piranha is famous for its tender meat.
D.The piranha is harmful in appearance.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】细节题。第三段第一句“its raked-back skull armored by thick bone”与A项相符。
单选题
Which of the following statements about the piranha is UNTRUE?
A. The piranha is closely related to the silver dollar.
B. The piranha is flat and deep-bellied.
C. The piranha's eyes are sometimes blood red.
D. The piranha is often prized by aquarium enthusiasts.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】A、B、C三项都在第三段中出现了，而D项“prized by aquarium enthusiasts”的是“silver dollar”，不是“piranha”。
单选题
Which adjective used by the writer indicates that the piranha is
handsome tropical fish?