The idea about the phoenix goes back to Ancient Egypt, where we find the phoenix described as a handsome, eagle-like bird, with part-golden, part-red plumage, that spent most of its life in the Arabian deserts. It was rarely seen and according to one version of the story, only appeared in Egypt once every five hundred years, when it flew to Heliopolis, “city of the sun”, and deliberately burnt itself to ashes by settling on the altar (祭坛) flame there! However, it seems it did not really die because from those same ashes a young, fully formed phoenix was born and flew away, apparently back to Arabia.
It is pretty obvious that no one has ever seen or will see a living phoenix. The interesting thing is that we can find certain clues which may explain one aspect of the Egyptians’ idea. It may sound unbelievable, but some birds are apparently quite charmed by flames and small fires, especially members of the crow family. One zoologist actually proved this by setting fire to some straw near to a tame（驯养的）rook, a large black bird like a crow. Far from becoming nervous and backing away, the bird deliberately stood over the flames, with raised and vibrating wings. It didn’t get burnt, but the image it presented by its strange behavior was almost exactly like that shown in illustrations of the mythical phoenix!
Why birds should occasionally behave in this strange way is not clear. One idea is that they carefully use the heat of the flames to relieve the annoyance caused by their feather mites (虱) which all birds have. Whatever the reason, it is quite possible that the Ancient Egyptians saw birds behaving in this way, from time to time, and used it as the basis of their phoenix myth, adding fanciful details which closely linked it to their worship of the sun and their belief in resurrection.
Nowadays, the phoenix is much less important to us than it was to the Egyptians. But the logo of modern fire insurance companies, which employ the phoenix as one of their symbols, refers that in one sense the idea of it remains.
小题1: According to the passage, the phoenix _________ .| A．is a handsome and eagle-like bird living in Arab | | B．used to be seen when the Egyptians held religious activities | | C．has never really existed in the world | | D．is the king of all kinds of birds |
小题2: The reason why birds stand above flames is probably that _________ .| A．the phoenix used to do so | B．they may get rid of the mites | | C．they want to burn their feather | D．they can heat themselves |
小题3:Which of the following statements is NOT correct?| A．The ancient Egyptians worshiped the phoenix. | | B．The scientists have discovered why birds are attracted by fire. | | C．The modern people still favor the idea of the phoenix. | | D．The mythical tales about the phoenix were based on facts. |
小题4:Which of the following is closest to the underlined word “resurrection” in the 3rd paragraph?| A．living forever | B．offering warmth | | C．coming back to life | D．staying healthy |
小题5:What does the phoenix probably mean in the logo of a fire insurance company?| A．Our company can protect you from being harmed by fire. | | B．If your property is destroyed by fire, we will help you build it up again. | | C．Our company will always be energetic and wealthy. | | D．If needed, we will save you at the risk of losing lives. |
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