READ THE PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW.
African elephants are the largest land animals on Earth. They are slightly larger than their Asian cousins and can be identified by their larger ears that look somewhat like the continent of Africa. (Asian elephants have smaller, rounded ears.) Elephant ears radiate heat to help keep these large animals cool, but sometimes the African heat is too much. Elephant are fond of water and enjoy showering by sucking water into their trunks and spraying it all over themselves. Afterwards, they often spray their skin with a protective coating of dust.
An elephant's trunk is actually a long nose used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking, and also for grabbing things– especially a potential meal. The trunk alone contains about 100,000 different muscles. African elephants have two fingerlike features on the end of their trunk that they can use to grab small items. (Asian elephants have one.) Both male and female African elephants have tusks that they use to dig for food and water and strip bark from trees. Males use the tusks to battle one another, but the ivory has also attracted violence of a far more dangerous sort.
Since ivory is so valuable to some humans, many elephants have been killed for their tusks. This trade is illegal today, but it has not been completely eliminated. Hence, the African elephant population remains endangered. Elephants are herbivores and eat roots, grasses, fruit and bark. An adult elephant can consume up to 300 pounds of food in a single day. These hungry animals do not sleep much, and they roam over great distances while foraging for the large quantities of food that they require to sustain their massive bodies.
Female elephants (cows) live in family herds with their young, but adult males (bulls) tend to roam on their own. Having a baby elephant is a serious commitment. Elephants have a longer pregnancy than any other mammal–almost 22 months. Cows usually give birth to one calf every two to four years. At birth, elephants already weigh some 200 pounds and stand about 3 feet tall. Grown adults can weigh anywhere from two-anda-half to seven tons, and measure up to 13 feet. Premature baby elephants normally don't make it in the world. After a twenty two month gestation period, a mother elephant and her baby form a practically unbreakable bond. The babies dependontheirmother'smilkforthefirsttwo years of life. When a female baby is born, it will normally stay with her mother for her whole life.
African elephants, unlike their Asian relatives, are not easily domesticated. They roam throughout sub-Saharan Africa and the rainforest of central and West Africa. The continent's northernmost elephants are found in Mali's Sahel desert. The small, nomadic herd of Mali elephants migrates in a circular route though the desert in search of water.
The African elephant sprays itself with water because ________.
Aits skin absorbs water to quench its thirst
Bit must keep its tusks moist
Cit is fond of water and enjoys showering when the temperature rises
DAll of these
hey is anyone gonna explain this!
