A question often put to the specialist on fishes is “How long do fishes live?” This puts the specialists in an embarrassing position because he is often unable to give a direct answer to this simple question. But actually this question is not as simple as it seems. There are thousands of different kinds of fishes, and they vary a great deal in size and life span. Moreover, it is not easy to find out just how long a fish lives in its natural state. We can find out how old a fish is by studying its scales, but we cannot say how much more time it would live if we had not caught it. We may rear fishes and record their life span but we cannot be sure that this is the length of time they would have lived, had they been left alone. We may make marking to show how fast the fishes grow so that we can calculate the age of the largest on record, but unless this large fish dies of old age we are still not in a position to know its natural life span. Unlike human beings, fishes do not stop growing when they reach maturity. They continue to grow as long as they live, although the rate of growth slows down in mature fishes. People often ask the specialist on fishes regarding its _______. A.size B.life span C.age D.variety The specialist is embarrassed by the question because _______.A.he does not know the answer B.there is no answer to the question C.it is a silly and simple question for him D.there is no definite answer to this question We can know a fish’s age from its ______.A.weight B.size C.scales D.length Which of the following statements is NOT true?A.Different kinds of fishes have different life spans. B.It is hard for the specialist to know the length of time a fish lives in its natural state C.Mature fishes grow more quickly than young ones. D.The specialist makes marking to know the rate of growth of fishes so that they know the age of the largest ones. Human beings, unlike fishes, _______.A.stop growing when they reach maturity B.grow faster after maturing C.continue to grow as long as they live D.have a short life span