I bent down in the shade under a
sixty-foot-tall cactus（仙人掌）, waiting for them to appear. The time was eight thirty in the
morning. For seven mornings I had come to the same distant spot in the Sonoran
Desert, in southern Arizona. I was here to watch the roadrunner, a small
fast-running bird.
I spotted two birds under a bush with red flowers.
The roadrunners rushed out from under it. The birds moved rapidly on long
skinny legs. Their feathers were brown and black. Their tails were seven inches
long. Roadrunners use the tail for balance when running.
That day, the roadrunners performed a
courtship（求婚）dance. They
ran in wild circles. Suddenly, one stopped and stood still, its round eyes full
of light. The second bird took hold of a small stick off the ground and
presented it to the first, a gift serving as a symbol of their partnership.
I returned to the spot
each day, leaving bits of boiled chicken hoping they would return. Roadrunners
eat snakes, lizards, mice, beetles, and spiders. Food is in short supply in the
desert, so my offerings were welcome. The pair grew used to me.
Soon after the pair
finished building their nest six white eggs appeared in the nest bowl. In about
three weeks, six roadrunner chicks, skin as black as coal, cried for food.
Their parents brought food such as fence lizards and stink bugs. They fed their
young until they were a month and a half old.
Early one morning, a
coyote（丛林狼）came around,
nose to the ground, for fresh bird meat. The roadrunners fearlessly drove the
coyote away, but it was soon back. After three attacks the coyote went away for
good, tail between its legs.
I stopped watching the
nest when the little roadrunners, at two months of age, were ready to live on
their own. It was hard to break away from “my roadrunner family.” Whenever I
see a roadrunner now, rushing over the ground, I say hello to it as an old
friend.
1.The author went to the Sonoran Desert to .
A. go on a tour of the desert
B. carry out research into some
animals in the desert
C. make an observation about a kind of bird
D. enjoy an adventure in
southern Arizona
2.What can we learn about roadrunners from
the text?
A. They have short tails and
legs.
B. They move at a fast pace.
C. Their feathers are red and
brown.
D. They don’t like boiled chicken.
3.We can learn from the last but one
paragraph that the roadrunners were .
A.
brave B.
clever C.
easily-frightened D. lazy
4.Which of the following would be the best
title for the text?
A. How do roadrunners seek a
partner?
B. My close friendship with roadrunners.
C. Roadrunner family in the
Sonoran Desert.
D. How did I find roadrunners in Arizona?
