Reading Comprehension

Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions below.

Each year, millions of women have ultrasounds performed during their pregnancy. This procedure is often a cautionary measure to see if there are any visible congenital disabilities. It also provides an opportunity for soon-to-be parents to find out the sex of their child. In the animal world, ultrasounds allow researchers to study the growth of creatures both big and small. National Geographic Channel, which gave us the first In the Womb about humans, is back with In the Womb: Animals.

Using the latest in ultrasound inventions, In the Womb: Animals serves a dual purpose. First, it allows viewers to watch the month-by-month development of three animals. Three- and Four-D technology is used to show each stage of growth for elephant, dog, and dolphin foetus. This extraordinary footage has never been captured on film before and shows in detail how these creatures develop.

Second, while watching these animals grow, we can understand their species’ evolutionary development over thousands of years. In addition, this mind-blowing footage shows how at 40 days, the dog foetus opens its mouth and pants. Twenty-three days later, it has all of the senses necessary to survive outside the womb.

With a pregnancy that lasts ten months, women have it relatively easy. Elephants, on the other hand, are pregnant for 22 months. In the womb, each week is crucial to the development of the foetus. At 18 weeks, it begins to exercise and strengthen its legs and trunk. At birth, the baby elephant outweighs a human baby by at least a staggering 117 kilograms.

In the Womb: Animals follows in the footsteps of its predecessor In the Womb. Both shows deliver beautiful babies that generations present and future will cherish.