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Is it true that cats have nine lives? One 4-year-old American cat named Sugar definitely seems to
have more than one. Sugar fell from the 19th floor of her owner's home in Boston last month and was
only hurt a little on her chest.
"This story isn't much of a surprise," said Jake Socha, a scientist at Virginia Tech University, US, in
an interview with the BBC. "There have been lots of records of these cats surviving."
Back in 1987, scientists studied 132 cats. All of them had been brought to a vet's clinic in New York
after falling from tall buildings. Around 90 percent of these cats were alive after their fall and only 37
percent had been seriously injured.
"Being able to survive falls is a critical thing for animals that live in trees, and cats are one of them,"
said Socha.
Cats have developed special body structures to survive accidental falls. Their legs are muscular. This
can protect their bones from breaking, Professor Andrew Biewener from Harvard University told the
BBC. Cats can also spread out their legs like a parachute to reduce their falling speed, he said.
The strange part, according to scientists, is that cats have a better chance of survival if they fall from
higher than seven stories. This is because cats have a good sense of which way is down. They can twist
their bodies as they fall to make sure they land on their feet. A higher fall means more time for the cat to
change its body position.
However, you should not throw your cat out of the window to see how this works. Most pet cats are
overweight nowadays. They are not fit enough to change their position in midair, warned Steve Dale, an
American cat behavior scientist.
"This cat (Sugar) was lucky," Dale said. In fact, most cats would suffer serious lung damage, a broken
leg or a broken jaw or teeth damage, he said.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 3?
A. Cats really do have nine lives.
B. Many cats can survive falls.
C. Cats are the softest animals in the world.
D. More than half of the cats that fall from high places end up badly injured.
2. What does the underlined word "critical" mean in the context?
A. Important.
B. Easy.
C. Challenging.
D. Serious.
3. Why can cats survive falls according to the article?
a. They have a hidden parachute in their bodies.
b. Their legs have developed in a way that protects their bones from breaking.
c. They can land on their feet.
d. They can twist their bodies to reduce the speed at which they are falling.
A. a, b
B. b, c
C. c, d
D. b, d
4. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. A pet cat that falls out of a tall building is not really at risk.
B. Sugar was lucky that she was only injured in the leg.
C. Cats are confused as to which way is down when they are in midair.
D. A cat that falls from the fourth story of a building is more likely to die than one
that falls from the 10th story.