VIII. Read the text and choose the best answer.
VIII. Read the text and choose the best answer.
Bats are not the dirty, bloodthirsty monsters that they are portrayed to be in vampire films. These animals groom themselves carefully like cats and only rarely carry rabies. Of the hundreds of species of bats, only three rely on blood meals. In fact, the majority eat fruit, insects, spiders, or small animals. They consume an enormous number of pests, pollinate many varieties of plant life, and help reforest barren land by excreting millions of undigested seeds.
Almost all bats use echolocation to navigate, especially at night. As they fly, they emit a series of high-pitched squeaks at the rate of about fifty per minute. As these signals bounce off objects in their path, an echo is detected by the bats' sensitive ears which informs them of the direction and distance of obstacles so that they can undertake corrective or evasive action. But bats are not blind as widely assumed. In fact, all species of bats can see, probably about as well as human beings.
It is also a little-known fact that bats are highly social creatures. Thousands or even millions of individual bats may belong to a colony, hanging upside down in caves or in trees. Within their social systems, bats assume specialized roles. Some may guard the entrance to their caves, others may scout for food, and still others may warn the colony of approaching danger. A nursery colony may be part of a larger colony to provide mother bats with a safe, supportive environment in which to rear their young.
