Doves and pigeons have an average life expectancy of around 20 years, but Sugar, the oldest living dove in captivity (圈养), lived more than double that.

Born on 23 June 1981, the lovely white dove spent most of his days close to his human, 77-year-old Dewayne Orender, watching their favourite TV programmes together and listening to music. “He seems very happy and content,” Dewayne told Guinness World Records earlier this month. “He loves me deeply.”

The pair were so close that when Dewayne was in the hospital, Sugar was so nervous that he just stayed on the floor of his cage and hardly ate. Once his human came back, he was back to his old self again.

“I had to go back to the hospital a while back for a recording session… and I left Sugar with my mom,” Dewayne recalled about another time he was away from home. “She called me at the session and said Sugar just lay on the floor of the cage and wouldn’t get up. He was grieving for me! When I got back from hospital, once again he ate like he was making up for lost time.”

Sugar beat the record set by the former holder of the title of ‘world’s oldest dove/pigeon in captivity’ by over 15 years, but Dewayne Orender hoped his pet would reach age 50, so he could throw him a big party, complete with treats like an extra piece of whole wheat bread and some popcorn.

1.1. What was Sugar and Dewayne’s relationship?

A Close friends.

B Real enemies.

C Doctor and patient.

D Teacher and student.

解析：选A。A细节理解题。文章第二段明确描述“the lovely white dove spent most of his days close to his human, 77-year-old Dewayne Orender, watching their favourite TV programmes together and listening to music.”这只可爱的白鸽大部分时间都与 77 岁的德韦恩老人待在一起， Sugar与德韦恩日常一起看电视、听音乐，且德韦恩表示“He loves me deeply”，这些细节表明双方关系亲密深厚，因此A选项“Close friends”正确。B选项“Real enemies”与文中描绘的温馨相处完全相反；C选项“Doctor and patient”在文中无依据，Dewayne虽曾住院，但Sugar并非医生；D选项“Teacher and student”未涉及任何教学互动，可排除。故选A。

2.2. What was Sugar like when Dewayne was away?

A Very worried.

B Very excited.

C Very relaxed.

D Very hungry.

解析：选A。A细节理解题。第三段明确说明当Dewayne住院时，Sugar“nervous”“stayed on the floor of his cage and hardly ate”，第四段再次提及主人离家时Sugar躺在地上不肯起来，德韦恩的妈妈描述它“grieving”，这些行为均指向焦虑、担忧的情绪状态。选项A“非常担忧”准确概括了Sugar的表现。选项B“非常兴奋”与原文行为相反；选项C“非常放松”不合逻辑；选项D“非常饥饿”虽然它之后补吃，但当时不吃东西是担忧所致，并非饥饿感驱动。故选A。

3.3. What does the underlined word “grieving” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A Feeling lonely.

B Feeling happy.

C Being playful.

D Feeling sad.

解析：选D。D词义猜测题。划线词所在句子为“He was grieving for me!”，前文描述德韦恩不在时躺在地上不肯起身、不吃东西，这些都是悲伤、沮丧的常见表现，且后面主人回来它又大吃特吃像是弥补错过的时间，进一步印证其情绪低落。选项D“感到悲伤”与上下文逻辑一致。选项A“感到孤独”虽有一定关联，但“grieve”的核心含义是因失去或分离而悲伤，比单纯“孤独”更贴近文中行为所传达的深切难过；选项B“感到开心”完全相反；选项C“爱嬉戏”也与躺地板不动的状态矛盾。故选D。

4.4. How long did Sugar the dove live?

A For about 20 years.

B For about 45 years.

C For about 50 years.

D For about 30 years.

解析：选B。B数字计算题。文章第一句说明鸽子平均寿命约20年，第一段结尾指出Sugar寿命是平均值的两倍多。更重要的是第一段明确出生日期为1981年6月23日，最后一段交代于2026年4月去世，2026 -1981＝45年，因此它活了约45岁。选项A的20年仅为平均寿命；选项C的50年是主人期望但未达到的年龄；选项D的30年与原文数据不符。故选B。

5.5. Which is the best title for the passage?

A Sugar’s Happy Daily Life.

B The Oldest Dove in the World.

C How to Raise a Healthy Dove.

D A Man’s Hospital Stay.

解析：选B。B主旨大意题。文章开头以寿命对比引出Sugar是圈养最长寿的鸽子，中间穿插其与主人的温情日常，结尾点明它作为“世界最年长鸽子”将留在人们记忆中。全文围绕“最长寿鸽子”这一核心事实展开，因此B项最贴合主旨。选项A“Sugar的快乐日常生活”仅为文中部分细节，不能概括全文寿命记录这一主线；选项C“如何养出健康的鸽子”文中未涉及饲养方法；选项D“一位男士的住院经历”只是服务于人鸽关系的次要情节，不能作为全文标题。故选B。