GE B2 Unit 4-6 Review Use of English 1

Degus

You may be ¹_____ (FAMILIAR) with the degu, but this small sociable mammal is growing in ²_____ (POPULAR) as a ‘pocket’ pet. They are sometimes called ‘brush tail rats’ because of their ³_____ (APPEAR) , but they are completely unrelated to rats. As the natural inhabitants of desert-like parts of central Chile, they can live in the Andes mountains at a ⁴_____ (HIGH) of 3,500 metres above sea level, although this is quite ⁵_____ (USUAL). They live in groups as big as a hundred, so if you’re thinking of getting one as a pet consider buying two or more. There is no ⁶_____ (SHORT) of websites with advice on caring for this small rodent. So what do degus eat? You should feed them a ⁷_____ (MIX) of specially-made dry food that doesn’t have sugar in it and leafy vegetables. As their teeth are constantly growing, they are capable of chewing through plastic so buy a metal cage that is as big as is ⁸_____ (PRACTICE) possible. Degus dislike being picked up, but with the right sort of ⁹_____ (ENCOURAGE) , they will eat from your hand or allow you to stroke them. In the wild, they clean themselves in a ‘sand bath’ by rubbing sand into their fur. This is normal ¹⁰_____ (BEHAVE) so make sure there is a bowl of sand in your pet’s cage.