A new study finds that plants communicate with one another to warn of danger.
We often consider plants as the furniture of the natural world. They don’t move; they don’t make sounds, they don’t seem to act on anything. But as is often the case, plants talk to each other all the time. And the language is chemical.
Over the years, scientists have reported that different types of plants, from trees to tomatoes, give out chemicals into the air to help neighboring plants. These chemical warnings can spread information about one plant’s disease or infestation(虫害), so other plants can protect themselves. But how plants receive and act on many of the information exactly is still mysterious.
In this week’s Science Magazine, researchers in Japan offered some explanations. They have found out one chemical message and traced it all the way from beginning to end.
The scientists looked at tomato plants infested by a common pest(害虫). To start out, they grew plants in two separate plastic spaces connected by a tube(管子). One plant was infested and placed upwind and the other was uninfested and placed downwind. The downwind plants were later exposed(暴露) to the pest. The results showed that plants near sick neighbors before were able to protect themselves better against the pest.
They found one chemical appeared more often in the exposed plants. The chemical is called HexVic. The scientists discovered where HexVic come from, and put it over healthy plants. Those plants were then able to produce HexVic. Researchers made sure that uninfested plants could fight off bugs and diseases. How do they know when to protect themselves? They are warned first by their friendly plant neighbors.
It is not a simple story, and it may be happening in more plant species than tomatoes. It may also be happening with more chemical signals that are still unknown to us. In a word, we know that plants not only communicate, but also look out for one another.The underlined “traced” in the fourth paragraph probably means _________ here.
A.reported | B.followed |
C.doubted | D.developed |
For scientists, which are the right steps to watch tomato plants infested by a pest?
① Place the infested plant upwind.
② Place the uninfested plant downwind.
③ Expose the downwind plants to the pest.
④ Grow plants in two separate plastic spaces connected by a tube.
A.③①②④ | B.①④③② |
C.④①②③ | D.④②①③ |
You can put the sentence “The researches also studied leaves from exposed plants and unexposed plants.” At the beginning of
A.Paragraph 3 | B.Paragraph 4 |
C.Paragraph 5 | D.Paragraph 6 |
Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?
A.Communicating Plants and Terrible Diseases |
B.Talking Plants and Friendly Warnings |
C.Protecting Plants and Clear Information |
D.Growing Plants and Mysterious Chemicals |
Peter always doesn’t know the way. His friends often laugh at him. They say he needs a map to find the bathroom in his own house. In his eyes, every street looks the same, and he doesn’t know which way to go. Sometimes he has to take a taxi home because he can’t remember the way to his house.
Peter watches a lot of films and reads a lot of books about animals. Each bird knows which way is south. Bats (蝙蝠) can fly at night and find their way with their ears. He feels embarrassed (困窘的) because all these animals have a good sense of direction. He tries to find his way with the help of stars in the sky. There is a star called the North Star, and he knows how to find it.
Of course, Peter’s friends are still laughing at him, because he can only see the North Star outside when it is sunny at night. He can’t tell the directions in the daytime or when he is inside or when it is cloudy.Sometimes Peter has to take a taxi home because __________.
A.he is tired after shopping |
B.he doesn’t know the way home |
C.he likes taking the taxi |
D.his friends want him to do that |
Bats find the way with their __________.
A.ears | B.mouths | C.noses | D.eyes |
How does Peter find his way in the evening?
A.Reading a map. |
B.With the help of Bats. |
C.With the help of stars in the sky. |
D.By himself. |
="What" does the phrase “sense of direction” mean in Chinese?
A.幽默感 | B.责任感 | C.幸福感 | D.方向感 |
Peter’s friends still laugh at him because he __________.
① can’t still find his way in the daytime
② can’t still find his way when he is inside
③ can’t still find his way when it is cloudy
④ can see the North Star outside
A.①③ | B.①② | C.①②③ | D.①②③④ |
Mr. Smith drives his car to meet his friends at the station. When he finds there is still quite some time to go before the train arrives, he wants to take a short sleep. He is going to sleep when a young lady comes and asks him the time. Mr. Smith opens his eyes and answers, “Half past eight.” With a “Thank you” the woman leaves. In a short time, this happens three more times, so Mr. Smith writes “I don’t know the time!” on a piece of paper and puts it on the window of his car. But only a few minutes later, an old man comes and wakes him up. “Hi, young man. I can tell you the time. It’s nine o’ clock.”Mr. Smith goes to the station ________.
A.drives his car | B.by his car |
C.in car | D.in a car |
After he arrives at the station, he wants to ________.
A.tell the time | B.have a short sleep |
C.ask the time | D.chat with others |
Mr. Smith wakes up _______ times.
A.three | B.four | C.five | D.one |
Mr. Smith writes a note on ________.
A.a piece of paper | B.the window of his car |
C.his car | D.the wall |
The old man wakes Mr. Smith up because _________.
A.the old man wants to know the time |
B.Mr. Smith doesn’t know the time |
C.the old man wants to tell him the time |
D.Mr. Smith’s friend arrives |
Hunter and Nina are husband and wife. They get up at about 4:50 in the morning. When many people are still sleeping in their warm beds, they are working. They work outside and clean something. They don’t work when it is raining. They also work on weekends
Her name is Sara. She sometimes goes to work in the morning, and sometimes goes to work at night When she is onduty. She works in a big building. There are many sick people in it. She wears a white hat and a white dress. She says, “I help doctors. I meet many people every day. I look after them. They need my help. That’s my job. It’s hard, but I like it."
Her name is Ann. She goes to work by bus every day. She works in a building. It opens at 8. a.m and closes at6.p.m.. There is a lot of good food, nice drinks and other things when she works. Children like to go there. She meets a lot of people every day. She often says, “Can I help you?” when she meets people. She says, “My work is not easy. I must stand all day and be friendly to everyone.
He is Jim’s father. He usually leaves home very early. He doesn’t work in a factory. He goes to work on foot or by bike. It is far from his home. He usually works in the day and has his lunch outside in the sun. His work is very hard.What is Sara?
A. a cook | B.a doctor |
C.a nurse | D.a teacher |
How does Jim’s father go to work?
A.by car | B.by train |
C.walk or ride a bike | D.by bus |
How long does Ann work a day?
A.8 hours | B.6 hours | C.9 hours | D.10 hours |
Which of the following statements is not right?
A. Hunter and Nina get up early in the morning. |
B. Maybe Sara works in a hospital. |
C. Children never go to Ann’s workplace. |
D. Jim’s father works very hard. |
What does this passage talk about?
A.How to work hard. | B.People’s jobs. |
C.When to go to work. | D.People’s daily life. |
Toby, an 11-year-old boy, is playing with a ball. The ball goes into the street and Toby runs for the ball. A car hit(碰撞) Toby.
An ambulance(救护车)takes Toby to the hospital in 30 minutes. The doctors at the hospital tell Toby’s parents, “Toby is in a coma.” Every day Toby’s parents visit him at the hospital. They sit next to Toby’s bed and talk to him. But Toby never talks to them. He just sleeps.
One day, Toby’s father says ,” Wake up, Toby. Wake up, come home and play with Rusty.” Rusty is Toby’s dog.
When Toby’s father says ’Rusty’, Toby moves his arm. “Rusty!” Toby’s father says again. Again, Toby moves his arm(手臂).
Toby’s parents have an idea. They tell the nurse, “We want to bring Toby’s dog to the hospital.” The nurse says “OK”.
The next day, Toby’s parents bring Rusty to the hospital. When they put the dog on Toby’s bed, Toby opens his eyes and hugs(拥抱)the dog.
Toby’s parents bring Rusty to the hospital every day. One day Rusty jumps onto Toby’s bed and scratches(抓)his arms. Toby says his first words “Bad dog!”.
After eight weeks, Toby is well. He leaves the hospital and goes home.Toby is in the street when a car hits him.
A.visiting his father | B.walking with his dog |
C.talking with his dog | D.running for a ball |
The words “Toby is in a coma.” may mean (意思是)_____________.
A.Toby can’t wake up or talk |
B.Toby must leave the hospital |
C.Toby needs to play sports |
D.Toby is very healthy |
wakes up Toby in the bed.
A.A doctor | B.A nurse |
C.His dog | D.His father |
From the story, we can learn that .
A.Toby can never talk at last |
B.Toby likes playing basketball |
C.Toby’s dog is bad |
D.Toby is in hospital for about eight weeks |
The best title(标题)for the story may be .
A.the parents’ love | B.Toby and Rusty |
C.a story of Rusty | D.Toby’s family |
Alan worked in an office in the city. He worked very hard and really looked forward to his holiday. He usually went to the seaside, but one year he saw an ad. in a newspaper “Enjoy country life. Spend a few weeks at William Farm. Good food, fresh air, horse riding, walking, fishing…”
“This sounds like a good idea.” he thought, I’ll spend a month at William Farm. I’ll go horse riding, walking and fishing. It’ll be different from the seaside.” Four days later, he returned home.
“What’s wrong with William Farm?” His friend Jack asked him. “Didn’t you enjoy country life?”
“Country life was fine,” Alan said. “But there was another problem.”
“Oh, what problem?”
“Well, the first day I was there, a sheep died, and we had roast(烤肉) mutton for dinner.”
“Fresh meat is the best.”
“I know, but on the second day a cow died, and we had roast beef for dinner.”
“Lucky you!”
“You don’t understand,” Alan said, “On the third day a pig died and we had roast pork for dinner.”
“A different roast every day.” Jack said.
“Let me finish.” Alan said, “On the fourth day a farmer died and I didn’t want to stay there for dinner.”Alan saw ________ in a news paper.
A.an ad. | B.a letter |
C.a story | D.a report |
Alan usually went to ________ on the vacation.
A.the mountains | B.the countryside |
C.the seaside | D.William Farm |
Alan spent _________ at William Farm.
A.four days | B.three months |
C.a month | D.a few weeks |
Alan had roast _______ for dinner on the third day.
A.mutton | B.pork | C.beef | D.fish |
From the passage we know that ________.
A.Alan left the farm because he missed his family |
B.Alan left the farm because he had four dinners at the farm |
C.Alan left the farm because he couldn’t go fishing at the farm |
D.Alan came back home because he was afraid of the fourth dinner |