It takes a long time to raise a family of owlets, so the great horned owl begins early in the year. In January and February, or as late as March in the North, the male calls to the female with a resonant hoot. The female is larger than the male. She sometimes reaches a 5 body length of twenty-two to twenty-four inches, with a wingspread up to fifty inches. To impress her, the male does a strange courtship dance. He bobs. He bows. He ruffles his feathers and hops around with an important air. He flutters from limb to limb and makes flying sorties into the air. Sometimes he returns with an offering of food. 10 They share the repast, after which she joins the dance, hopping and bobbing about as though keeping time to the beat of an inner drum.
Owls are poor home builders. They prefer to nest in a large hollow in a tree or even to occupy the deserted nest of a hawk or crow. 15 These structures are large and rough, built of sticks and bark and lined with leaves and feathers. Sometimes owls nest on a rocky ledge, or even on the bare ground. even to occupy the deserted nest of a hawk or crow. These structures are large and rough, built of sticks and bark and lined with leaves and feathers. Sometimes owls nest 20 on a rocky ledge, or even on the bare ground. The mother lays two or three round, dull white eggs. Then she stoically settles herself on the nest and spreads her feather skirts about her to protect her precious charges from snow and cold.
25 It is five weeks before the first downy white owlet pecks its way out of the shell. As the young birds feather out, they look like wise old men with their wide eyes and quizzical expressions. They clamor for food and keep the parents busy supplying mice, squirrels, rabbits, crayfish, and beetles. Later in the season baby crows are 30 taken. Migrating songsters, waterfowl, and game birds all fall prey to the hungry family. It is nearly ten weeks before fledglings leave the nest to search for their own food. The parent birds weary of family life by November and drive the young owls away to establish hunting ranges of their own.
1. What is the topic of this passage?
(A) Raising a family of great horned owls
(B) Mating rituals of great horned owls
(C) Nest building of great horned owls
(D) Habits of young great horned owls
2. In line 3-4, the phrase "a resonant hoot" is closest in meaning to
(A) an instrument
(B) a sound
(C) a movement
(D) an offering of food
3. It can be inferred from the passage that the courtship of great horned owls
(A) takes place on the ground
(B) is an active process
(C) happens in the fall
(D) involves the male alone
4. According to the passage, great horned owls
(A) are discriminate nest builders
(B) need big nests for their numerous eggs
(C) may inhabit a previously used nest
(D) build nests on tree limbs
5. According to the passage, which of the following is the mother owl's job?
(A) To initiate the courtship ritual
(B) To feed the young
(C) To sit on the nest
(D) To build the nest
6. The phrase "precious charges" in lines 23 refers to
(A) the eggs
(B) the nest
(C) the hawks and crows
(D) other nesting owls
7. According to the passage, young owlets eat everything EXCEPT
(A) other small birds
(B) insects
(C) small mammals
(D) nuts and seeds
8. In line 27, the word "they" refers to
(A) the wise old men
(B) the adult birds
(C) the young birds
(D) the prey
9. What can be inferred from the passage about the adult parents of the young great horned owls?
(A) They are sorry to see their young leave home.
(B) They are lazy and careless about feeding the small owlets.
(C) They probably don't see their young after November.
(D) They don't eat while they are feeding their young.
10. The phrase "weary of" in line 32 is closest in meaning to
(A) tire of
(B) become sad about
(C) support
(D) are attracted to