Question

(1) Although they can fly through the air at speeds up to 55 miles per hour, puffins also use their wings as paddles to swim through the water. (2) The webbing in their feet helps them steer, much like the rudder on a boat. (3) Underwater, puffins hunt for sand eels, herring, and other small fish. (4) Atlantic puffins are water birds that spend most of their lives at sea. (5) On average, they will swim underwater for 30 seconds or so before surfacing again. (6) If they need to, though, they can stay submerged for as long as a minute. Which sentence best introduces the passage? A. sentence 4 B. sentence 3 C. sentence 2 D. sentence 6

Answer 1

The best sentence to introduce the passage about puffins' swimming and flying abilities is sentence 4, which provides a broad overview of puffins as sea-dependent water birds. The correct answer is (4) Atlantic puffins are water birds that spend most of their lives at sea.

Step-by-step explanation:

The best sentence to introduce the passage about puffins would be sentence 4, "Atlantic puffins are water birds that spend most of their lives at sea." This sentence provides a general overview of the subject matter and sets the scene for the more detailed information that follows about the puffins' abilities and behavior, both in the air and in the water. It also covers the central idea about puffins being water birds closely associated with the sea, which aligns with the subsequent details about their swimming and hunting habits.