The skin with standing body hair 16 a goose’s skin after its feathers have been plucked—hence the name goose bumps.
答案：(D) resembles
語意「豎起體毛的皮膚『類似』鵝拔毛後的皮膚」，resembles（類似）符合這個比喻的由來（因此叫做goose bumps雞皮疙瘩）；imitates（模仿）、explains（解釋）、develops（發展）都不合。
本題大考中心未公布逐題答對率，以下不談數據，只談觀念。
四個選項都是動詞，而這一句在解釋 goose bumps 這個名字的由來，explains（解釋）看起來很合理。但真正在解釋的是作者，不是那張皮膚。
四個選項都是動詞，可見這一格考的是語意。先看主詞與受詞：The skin with standing body hair ___ a goose’s skin after its feathers have been plucked（豎著體毛的皮膚……拔了毛之後的鵝皮）。主詞是「豎毛的人皮」、受詞是「拔毛的鵝皮」，兩樣東西擺在一起比——要說的是它們長得像，填 resembles（像、與……相似）。再看破折號後面：hence the name goose bumps（因此才有雞皮疙瘩這個名字）。名字之所以這樣取，正是因為兩者外觀相似，這一句把答案講死了。
imitates（模仿）：模仿是有意識的行為，皮膚不會刻意去學鵝皮的樣子；resemble 講的是客觀上像，imitate 講的是主動去學。explains（解釋）：解釋的主體應該是人或說法，皮膚不會解釋東西。develops（發展、長出）：語意不通，人的皮膚不會長出一張鵝皮。
resemble sb／sth（與……相似）、bear a resemblance to（與……有相似之處）、imitate（模仿）、hence the name（因此得名）、stand erect（豎立）、pluck feathers（拔毛）。
Goose bumps are one of those fight-or-flight reactions of the sympathetic nervous system. When you experience cold or fear, a nerve reaction is sent to the muscles, which then contract involuntarily. This muscle contraction causes your body hair to stand erect. The skin with standing body hair 16 a goose's skin after its feathers have been plucked—hence the name goose bumps. But 17 is this helpful to us as a response to fear or cold?
Back in the days when our ancestors may have had a lot more body hair, this might have helped to keep them warm or scare an oncoming predator. These days, however, goose bumps are 18 to human beings.
Goose bumps, or the reflex that causes them, also occur in many other mammals. Many mammals fluff up their fur when 19 , to look bigger and thus more dangerous. For example, when a porcupine encounters a predator, its long sharp pointed hairs will stand up as a means of 20 . In animals with a thick hair coat, the rising of hair traps more air between the hairs, providing another layer of insulation to keep them warm.