Hundreds of pilot whales died on the beaches of the Chatham Islands, about 800 kilometers east of New Zealand. It is the second large stranding(搁浅) of whales in these weeks. The first large one was in Australia. Lots of pilot whales died in Tasmania in late September.

People in New Zealand went to help but they could not get the whales back in the water. The islands are far away from New Zealand, and the sharks(鲨鱼) in the water made it hard to help the whales.

At least 477 whales are believed to have died. Many of them died naturally. Someone said, “although they died naturally, for those helping, they are still sad and difficult.” 

People said the whale bodies will not be moved. They will decompose(腐烂) naturally.

1.Where did the whales die?

A Under an island.

B On the beaches.

C In the forests.

D In the sea.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据第一段第一句“Hundreds of pilot whales died on the beaches”可知鲸鱼死在了沙滩上。故选B。

2.When was the first large stranding of whales in these weeks?

A In September.

B In October.

C In December.

D In August.

解析：选A。A细节理解题。根据第一段最后两句“The first large one was in Australia. Lots of pilot whales died in Tasmania in late September.”可知，近几周最大的一次鲸鱼搁浅于九月下旬发生在澳大利亚。故选A。

3.What makes it difficult for people to get the whales back in the water?

A People are tired.

B Many whales died.

C The islands are small.

D There are sharks in the water.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句“the sharks in the water made it hard to help the whales”可知，水里有鲨鱼，人们很难把鲸鱼送回水中。故选D。

4.The underlined word “they” refers to(指的是)__________.

A whales

B people

C sharks

D islands

解析：选B。B词意指代题。根据划线部分前文“but for those helping”可知，对于这些想要帮助这些鲸鱼的人来说，他们仍然很伤心，也很困难。故选B。

5.The passage is talking about ______.

A Nature

B Environment

C People

D Science

解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据全文可知，文章围绕新西兰沙滩鲸鱼搁浅一事展开，是关于自然的，故选A。