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  3. Certainly no creature in the sea is odder than the common sea cucumber. All living creatures, especially human beings, have thei

Certainly no creature in the sea is odder than the common sea cucumber. All living creatures, especially human beings, have thei

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问题      Certainly no creature in the sea is odder than the common sea cucumber. All living creatures, especially human beings, have their peculiarities, but everything about the little sea cucumber seems unusual. What else can be said about it is: a bizarre animal that, among other eccentricities, eats mud, feeds almost continuously day and night but can live without eating for long periods, and can be poisonous but is considered supremely edible by gourmets.
     For some fifty million years, despite all its eccentricities, the sea cucumber has subsisted on its diet of mud. It is adaptable enough to live attached to rocks by its tubefeet, under rocks in shallow water, or on the surface of mud flats.
     Common in cool water on both Atlantic and Pacific shores, it has the ability to suck up mud or sand and digest whatever nutrients are present.
     Sea cucumbers come in a variety of colors, ranging from black to reddish-brown to sand-color and white. One form even has vivid purple tentacles. Usually the creatures are cucumber-shaped hence their name and because they are typically rock inhabitants, this shape, combined with flexibility, enables them to squeeze into crevices where they are safe from predators and ocean currents.
     Although they have voracious appetites, eating day and night, sea cucumbers have the capacity to become motionless and live at a low metabolic rate — feeding sparingly or not at all for long periods, so that the marine organisms that provide their food have a chance to multiply. If it were not for this faculty, they would devour all the food available in short time and would probably starve themselves out of existence.
     But the most spectacular thing about the sea cucumber is the way it defends itself. Its major enemies are fish and crabs. When attacked, it squirts all its internal organs into the water. It also casts off attached structures such as tentacles. The sea cucumber will eviscerate and regenerate itself when it is attacked or even touched; it will do the same if the surrounding water temperature is too high or if the water becomes too polluted.  
The fifth paragraph of the passage mainly discusses
选项 A、the reproduction of sea cucumbers.
B、the food sources of sea cucumbers.
C、the eating habits of sea cucumbers.
D、threats to sea cucumbers’ existence.
答案C
解析 文中第五段提到，尽管海参的食量很大，整天不停地吃，但也能很长时间不吃不动或很少进食，以便给其提供食物的海洋生物一个能繁殖的机会。要不是这种能力，海参会在很短时间内吞掉所有食物，这样会使它们因饥饿而灭绝。由此可知，本段主要说明了海参的进食习性，因此答案为C 。
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