跟踪导练（四）5.docVIP

跟踪导练（四）5 　　阅读理解 　　Scientists have always been interested in the high level of organization in ant societies. American researchers have watched ants build life-saving rafts （筏） to keep afloat during floods. They also have recorded how ants choose their next queen―the female whose job is to produce eggs. 　　New technology is helping to improve researchers’ understanding of the insects. But there is still a lot to be learned. 　　Fire ants living in Brazilian forests are perfectly at home in an environment where flooding is common. To save themselves， the insects connect their legs together and create floating rafts. Some ant rafts can be up to 20 centimeters wide. 　　David Hu is an engineer with the Georgia Institute of Technology， also known as Georgia Tech， saying， “If you have 100 ants， which means 600 legs， 99 percent of those legs will be connected to a neighbor. So they’re very， very good at keeping this network.” 　　David Hu and other Georgia Tech researchers wanted to study ants and the secret of their engineering. They froze ant rafts and then looked at them with the help of computed technology， or CT， images. The pictures showed that larger ants serve in central positions to which smaller ants hold. The larger ants create pockets of air that keep the insects afloat. 　　Scientists say small robots or materials that can change shape could be programmed in a similar way， working towards a shared goal. 　　Researchers at North Carolina State University are also studying ants. They examined how Indian jumping ants choose the leader of the colony when they lose their top female or queen. 　　1. The writer takes fire ants as an example to tell us ___ . 　　A. how ants survive B. how ants find food 　　C. how ants communicate D. how ants live together 　　2. David Hu’s words suggest that ants know the way ___ . 　　A. to keep safe in the river B. to join together closely 　　C. to look for each other D. to build a large raft 　　3. Why did the larger ants serve in cent