Part III Reading Comprehension
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
Most animals seek shade when temperatures in the Sahara Desert soar to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. But for the Saharan silver ant, 26 from their underground nests into the sun’s brutal rays to 27 for food, this is the perfect time to seek lunch. In 2015 these ants were joined in the desert by scientists from two Belgian universities, who spent a month in the 28 heat tracking the ants and digging out their nests. The goal was simple, to discover how the 29 adapted to the kind of heat that can 30 melt the bottom of shoes.
Back in Belgium, the scientists looked at the ants under an electronic microscope and found that their 31 , triangular hair reflects light like a prism（棱镜）, giving them a metallic reflection and protecting them from the sun’s awful heat. When Ph.D. student Quentin Willot 32 the hair from an ant with a 33 knife and put it under a heat lamp, its temperature jumped.
The ants’ method of staying cool is 34 among animals. Could this reflective type of hair protect people? Willot says companies are interested in 35 these ants’ method of heat protection for human use, including everything from helping to protect the lives of firefighters to keeping homes cool in summer.
A）adapting B）consciously C）crawling D）crowded E）extreme F）hunt G）literally H）moderate I）remote J）removed K）species L）specimens M）thick N）tiny O）unique
