University of Queensland leads a study. They study whether the snakes can hear sound or not. There are three rooms. People can’t hear anything from the outside. People put snakes of different types in these rooms. Then researchers play three different sounds in these rooms.

The study shows that snakes can hear, though they might not have ears. Because snakes don’t have external (外部的) ears, people usually think they are deaf. But the study, which uses 19 snakes from five different families to discover the differences, has found that they do hear sound.

But different types of snakes act differently when hearing the same sound. “Only the python (蟒蛇) tended to move toward sound, while taipans (太攀蛇), brown snakes and especially death adders (蝰蛇) were all more likely to move away from it,” Dr Zdenek said. Taipans are more careful with the sounds. Different reactions may come from different evolutionary (进化的) pressures over millions of years. Pythons are large snakes, and they probably don’t need to be so careful, so they tended to move to sound.

“But our study shows that sound may be an important part of their sensory repertoire (感官储备). Snakes are very weak, shy creatures that hide most of the time, and we still have so much to learn about them,” Dr Zdenek said.

1.What’s the subject of the study?

A Snakes’ hearing.

B Ears of snakes.

C Snakes’ sounds.

D Snakes’ types.

解析：选A。A细节理解题。根据第一段第二句“They study whether the snakes can hear sound or not.”可知，研究的主题是蛇究竟能不能听到声音，即蛇的听力。故选A。

2.Why do the researchers use different snakes?

A To play different sounds.

B To compare the differences.

C To find out the same points.

D To make the study more scientific.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句“which uses 19 snakes from five different families to discover the differences”可知，研究使用不同种类的蛇是为了发现它们之间的不同。故选B。

3.What’s the main idea of Paragraph Three?

A How people do the study.

B Where the study happens.

C What the study finds.

D Why people study snakes.

解析：选C。C段落大意题。根据第三段内容可知，本段主要描述了该研究的结果。故选C。

4.What may the researchers do in the future?

A Do more research about snakes.

B Study other animals’ health.

C Join hands with other universities.

D Stop their studies about snakes.

解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据最后一段“and we still have so much to learn about them”可知，研究人员们可能会进一步对蛇进行相关研究。故选A。

5.The passage probably comes from ________.

A a dictionary

B a poster

C a magazine

D a notice

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据全文内容可知，本文是关于蛇是否有能听见声音的相关研究，最有可能出现在科学杂志上。故选C。