Kangaroos and Koalas in Australia

王秀敏

Australia has a lot of lovely animals. You cannot find them anywhere else in the world. The most famous ones are kangaroos (袋鼠) and koalas.

The kangaroo is the symbol of Australia. They have large eyes and ears. They don?t walk, but they jump. They use their strong back legs. They can jump at 74 kilometers per hour. They can go over nine meters in one jump. Kangaroo mothers have pouches to carry their babies. The babies stay inside to get milk and keep warm.

Kangaroos are everywhere in Australia. They are on TV, in books and in the shops. But do you know that millions of kangaroos are killed every year? There are too many of them. There are about 20 to 25 million kangaroos in Australia. That?s more than the number of people in the country. Some kangaroos go hungry because there is not enough food to eat. They break into farms for food. Farmers are very angry with them.

The koala is another famous Australian animal. They look like bears, and have small eyes and big noses. They eat leaves from gum trees (桉树). Koalas have a special smell. They use it to mark their home—“This is my place. You can?t come in!” Like kangaroos, a koala baby lives in its mother?s pouch, too.

根據短文内容，选择最佳答案。

1. If we want to see kangaroos and koalas in natural forests, we can go to ________.

A. China B. France     C. Australia D. America

2. What does a kangaroo look like?

A. It looks like a bear.               B. It has big eyes and ears.

C. It has small eyes and big noses.     D. It doesn?t have legs.

3. The underlined word “pouches” means “________” in Chinese.

A. 育儿袋 B. 肌肉       C. 尾巴           D. 脚掌