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Have you ever wondered how birds find their way when flying? Read and find out. Choose the best answer a, b, c or d for the questions 1 – 5.

 The pigeon is famous for always being able to find its way home. In fact racing pigeons is a popular sport in some countries. Owners take their birds hundreds of miles away and then release them. The bird that gets back home in the fastest time is the winner. Until now it has been thought that the birds have their own built-in system of navigation and use the position of the sun and stars to guide them. However a ten-year study has proved to scientists that pigeons travel rather like drivers do and follow the major roads. The birds that were monitored in the study were constantly flying along motorways and even turning left and right at main junctions, while ignoring small winding roads. A professor of zoology at Oxford University and a racing pigeon expert agree. The professor says that birds use their traditional forms of navigation first but when they fly the same route again they remember the roads and follow them. A group of birds was released as a test and all flew along the same major road and turned right at the first junction. The pigeon racer describes this research as absolutely accurate. Every Saturday, he says, you can see flocks of pigeons flying along the motorways.

1. Pigeon racing consists of:

a. owners seeing how far each pigeon can fly.

b. scientific research into the way pigeons fly.

c. pigeons being released on the motorways.

d. owners seeing which pigeon gets home first.

2. Pigeons’ 'built-in system of navigation' refers to:

a. their natural instinct for finding their way.

b. their natural ability to follow major roads.

c. the fact that they fly as a large flock.

d. special equipment the researchers have used to track them.

3. The roads pigeons followed were:

a. all the roads going in the right direction.

b. only motorways.

c. the important direct routes.

d. the smaller less busy country roads.

4. A junction is:

a. a sharp bent in the road.

b. where a motorway and a road meet.

c. a place where one road crosses another.

d. a place where you can buy petrol.

5. Pigeons are especially seen on Saturdays because:

a. that’s the day the roads are busiest.

b. that’s the day the research takes place.

c. that’s the day pigeon racing takes place.

d. that’s the day the motorways are open.