In December 2022, aged one and a half years old, the world’s first surviving nonuplets (九胞胎) went on their first plane flight. They travelled from Morocco, where they were born and lived for 19 months, to their parents’ home country of Mali. 

And now, two months before their third birthday, the nonuplets have made their first trip to Europe, visiting Italy to appear on the televised talent show Lo Show dei Record. All nine children are healthy and developing well.

The nonuplets were too small to hold their Guinness World Records certificate (证书) when it was first presented to them in 2022, but they’ve grown a lot since then and they each now enjoy holding the award! Their official Guinness World Records title is: most children delivered (分娩) at a single birth to survive. The record was previously held by eight babies born to Nadya Suleman (USA) in 2009.

The five girls were named Adama, Oumou, Hawa, Kadidia, and Fatouma; the four boys were named Oumar, Elhadji, Bah and Mohammed VI. The nonuplets’ mother, Halima Cissé, said that it’s arduous to put all her children to bed each night, but they can be made to fall asleep with cuddles (搂抱): “We cuddle them so they can sleep; they really like cuddles to sleep,” she said.

Until the arrival of the Cissé children, there had been no recorded cases of nonuplets surviving more than a few hours after birth. Speaking about his children’s world record, the children’s father Abdelkader said: “It’s something special. The family is known worldwide, it’s a great thing.”

1.Which country were the nonuplets born in?

A Morocco.

B Mali.

C Italy.

D The USA.

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据第一段最后一句“They travelled from Morocco, where they were born and lived for 19 months, to their parents’ home country of Mali.”他们从出生并生活了19个月的摩洛哥出发，前往父母的祖国马里，即他们出生在摩洛哥。故选A。

2.Why did the nonuplets go to Europe?

A To show their talent.

B To improve their health.

C To take part in a TV show.

D To celebrate their third birthday.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据第二段中的“visiting Italy to appear on the televised talent show Lo Show dei Record.”前往意大利参加电视节目Lo show dei Record。故选C。

3.The eight babies mentioned in Paragraph 3 are ________ years older than the nonuplets.

A 8

B 10

C 12

D 14

解析：选C。C 数字计算题。根据第一段的“In December 2022, aged one and a half years old”2022年12月，九胞胎一岁半，即他们出生于2021年；根据第三段最后一句可知，八胞胎出生于2009年，由此可知，八胞胎比九胞胎大12岁。故选C。

4.What does the underlined word “arduous” probably mean?

A Difficult.

B Necessary.

C Easy.

D Impossible.

解析：选A。A 词义猜测题。根据划线词后面的“but they can be made to fall asleep with cuddles”但是可以通过搂抱他们，让他们入睡；并结合前文内容，总共有九个小孩，可知，每天晚上要让他们入睡并不容易。故选A。

5.How does Abdelkader feel about his children’s world record?

A He is scared.

B He is worried.

C He is tired.

D He is proud.

解析：选D。D 推理判断题。根据最后一段中九胞胎的父亲Abdelkader所说“It’s something special. The family is known worldwide, it’s a great thing.”它很特别，让这个家族闻名全世界，这是一件特别棒的事情。由此可推断，他为此感到骄傲。故选D。