1. (2021八上·江山期末) 阅读理解

The pilot whale(座头鲸) is one of the largest sea animals in the world. Some of them can be 7 meters long and 3000 kilos heavy. There are about 4000 pilot whales in the world. Most of them live in the Pacific and the Atlantic. A few of them can be seen in Bohai and other big seas in China.

ln September, a tragedy happened on the west coast of Tasmania，Australia. As many as 380 pilot whales became stranded(搁浅)and died. It may be the largest stranding happened in Australia on record, the BBC reported.

For centuries, the whales stranding happened all over the world. Why do pilot whales do this? Scientists did a lot of studies but they say the reason about that is often unknown. However, they offered some differ guesses.

Some scientists say the whales catch small fish for food and get stranded because they are not noticing here they are going. Others think that the earth has a geomagnetic field (地磁场), and this geomagnetic field makes the whales change their ways of travelling into the wrong place .

There is another guess. Pilot whales travel in large groups. "If one head whale mistakenly take the who group far away the deep sea, the others will not leave, "said Sheryl Gibney, a great scientist from New Zealar "Some will come in and try to help, they get stranded on the beach then more will come."

Pilot whales can float (漂浮) in the deep water easily although they have a very large body . If they get stranded, their heavy body can slowly kill themselves. More than 90% of all the stranded whales will die, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the US.

1. （1） The word "tragedy" in Paragraph 2 probably means something __________________.

   A . happy B . sad C . funny D . boring
3. （2） According to the passage, which of the following is true?

   A . The stranding happened in Australia broke the world's record. B . Scientists have offered four different explanations. C . The whales get stranded because they want to play on the beach. D . More than 90% of the stranded pilot whales will lose their life.
5. （3） According to Sheryl Gibney's words, the pilot whale is a kind of __________________ animal.

   A . dangerous B . strong C . brave D . helpful
7. （4） In the passage, the writer mainly wants to tell us __________________.

   A . where the whales stranding happen. B . how whales find their direction while traveling. C . what may make the whales become stranded. D . when the whales easily get stranded.