An adult giraffe's head is about six feet above its heart. This means that to 【C1】______ e

nough blood up to the brain the circulatory 【C2】______ must be strong enough to keep the blood at very high pressure.

Biologists have known for some time that giraffes solve this problem by having 【C3】______ high blood pressure, about 【C4】______ that of human beings. But an international team of biologists began to 【C5】______ about this. If giraffes have such high blood pressure, they should have a 【C6】______ problem with swelling in their legs and feet. Why don't giraffes have swollen feet？

Giraffes should have 【C7】______ problem, too. Every time they bend heads 【C8】______ to drink, the blood should 【C9】______ to their heads and have a hard time 【C10】______ back up (when the head is down) to the heart. How come giraffes don't black out when they drink？

The answer to the 【C11】______ feet problem, the researchers found, is that giraffes have 【C12】______ the researchers call a "natural anti-gravity suit". It 【C13】______ out that the skin and other 【C14】______ in their legs and feet are 【C15】______ stiffer and tougher than those of other 【C16】______ . As a result, the blood vessels in the leg cannot swell.

Therefore, the blood has nowhere to go but back to the heart. What about blood rushing to the head 【C17】______ the giraffe bends down to drink？ The researchers found that the giraffe's jugular vein, which 【C18】______ blood from the head back to the heart, has lots of one-way valves in it. In the giraffe's neck, there are lots of muscles that flex and relax repeatedly as the animal moves its head and sucks 【C19】______ drinking water. By squeezing the valved jugular vein, they 【C20】______ blood moving back to the heart even while the animal is drinking.

【C1】

A．bring

B．produce

C．transfer

D．pump