The fire took place in the first minutes of 2020 this morning. Police believe it may have been caused by sky lanterns launched to celebrate the New Year. Krefeld Zoo, which is north of Dusseldorf said the ape house burned down completely and animals died including five orangutans, two gorillas, a chimpanzee and several monkeys, as well as birds and fruit bats.

“We have to seriously work through the mourning process,” zoo director Wolfgang Dressen said, adding that his zookeepers are in shock. Witnesses said they saw paper lanterns with small fires inside flying in the night sky nearby. Krefeld’s head of criminal police Gerd Hoppman said, “People reported seeing those sky lanterns flying at low altitude near the zoo and then it started burning.”

Police and firefighters were called to the fire at 12:38 am local time. Two chimpanzees were rescued by firefighters, having suffered burns. They are in a stable condition, according to Mr Dressen. “It’s close to a miracle that Bally, a 40-year-old female chimpanzee, and Limbo, a younger male survived,” he said. He added that many of the dead animals were close to extinction in the wild. A gorilla garden, which is near the ape house, was spared from the fire. Gorilla Kidogo and six members of his family group are alive.

The use of sky lanterns is illegal in Krefeld and other parts of Germany. Mr Hoppman urged the people who launched them or witnesses to come forward to police. He added that some of the white paper lanterns, which measured 34 cm long, had not burned up entirely and some had handwritten notes inside. Mr Hoppmann said they found some used lanterns on the ground that had not burned entirely.

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1.What perhaps caused the fire in the zoo?

A Lights.

B Candles.

C Fireworks.

D Sky lanterns.

解析：选D。细节理解题。根据第一段第二句Police believe it may have been caused by sky lanterns launched to celebrate the New Year.以及第二段最后一句People reported seeing those sky lanterns flying at low altitude near the zoo and then it started burning.可知，警方认为孔明灯会是本次火灾的罪魁祸首，故选D。

2.Many animals were dead in the fire EXCEPT_______.

A monkeys

B elephants

C fruit bats

D chimpanzees

解析：选B。细节理解题。根据第一段最后一句Krefeld Zoo, which is north of Dusseldorf said the ape house burned down completely and animals died including five orangutans, two gorillas, a chimpanzee and several monkeys, as well as birds and fruit bats.可知，死亡动物包括五只猩猩、两只大猩猩、一只黑猩猩和几只猴子，以及鸟类和果蝠，未提及大象，故选B。

3.What can we infer from Paragraph 3?

A Bally and Limbo didn’t get hurt at all.

B Firefighters got burnt during the rescue.

C Many rare animals were kept in the zoo.

D Police and firefighters took action at midnight.

解析：选C。推理判断题。根据第三段He added that many of the dead animals were close to extinction in the wild.可知，许多死去的动物在野外濒临灭绝，由此推测动物园饲养了许多珍稀动物，故选C。

4.What can we learn from the passage?

A People are not allow to make any sky lanterns.

B The police are trying to investigate the case.

C Some clues of the fire seem hidden in the zoo.

D Krefeld Zoo is still open to the public after the fire.

解析：选B。推理判断题。根据第四段第二句Mr Hoppman urged the people who launched them or witnesses to come forward to police.可知，Hoppman先生敦促放飞孔明灯的人或目击者向警方投案自首，由此推测警方正在调查此案，故选B。