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 |
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
“If you want to see a thing well, reach out and touch it！”
That may seem a strange thing to say．But touching things can help you to see them better．Your eyes can tell you that a glass ball is round．But by holding it in your hands, you can feel how smooth and cool the ball is．You can feel how heavy the glass is．When you feel all these about the ball, you really see it．With your skin, you can feel better．For example, your fingers can tell the difference between two coins in your pocket．You can feel a little drop of water on the back of your hand, too．
All children soon learn what “Don't touch！” means．They hear it often．Yet most of us keep on touching things as we grow up．In shops, we touch things as we might buy food, clothes and so on．To see something well, we have to touch it．
There are ways of learning to see well by feeling．One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that is touching your skin．Feel the shoes on your feet, the clothes on your body, the air on your skin．At first, it is not easy to feel these things．You are too used to them!
Most museums are just for looking．But today some museums have some things to touch．Their signs say, “Do touch！” There you can feel everything on show．If we want to see better, reach out and touch．Then you will really see!By touching things, ______．
| A．you will have a strange feeling |
| B．you will learn how to use your hand |
| C．you can learn more about them |
| D．you can tell what colours they are |
When people buy things in shops, they often ______．
| A．try them on first |
| B．keep their right hands on them |
| C．ask about them |
| D．feel and touch them |
Why does the writer say “At first, it is not easy to feel these things”？Because______．
| A．the things are used by people, too |
| B．people feel the things too often |
| C．people know how to use the things |
| D．the things are easy to feel |
______ museums today have things for you to touch．
| A．No |
| B．Some |
| C．Most |
| D．All |
Which of the following is true?
| A．Touching is more important than seeing． |
| B．Our feet, fingers, hands, and skin can help us buy food． |
| C．People have to learn to see by feeling as they grow up． |
| D．Visitors can feel the things on show in some museums． |
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
Do you know why different animals or pests（害虫）have their special colours? Colours in them seem to be used mainly to protect themselves．
Some birds like eating locusts, but birds cannot easily catch them．Why? It is because locusts change their colours together with the change of the colours of crops．When crops are green, locusts look green．But as the harvest time comes, locusts change to the same brown colour as crops have．Some other pests with different colours from plants are easily found and eaten by others．So they have to hide themselves for lives and appear only at night．
If you study the animal life, you’ll find the main use of colouring is protecting themselves．Bears, lions and other animals move quietly through forests．They cannot be seen by hunters．This is because they have the colours much like the tree．
Have you ever noticed an even more strange act? A kind of fish in the sea can send out a kind of very black liquid when it faces danger．While the liquid spreads over, the enemies cannot find it．And it immediately swims away．So it has lived up to now though it isn’t strong at all．From the passage we can learn that locusts _______．
| A．are small animals |
| B．are easily found by birds |
| C．are dangerous to their enemies |
| D．change their colours to protect themselves |
Bears and lions can keep safe because they_______．
| A．have the colours much like the trees |
| B．move quickly |
| C．like brown and grey colours |
| D．live in forests |
Why can the fish mentioned in the last paragraph live up to now?
| A．Because it is very strong． |
| B．Because the liquid it sends out can help it get away from its enemies． |
| C．Because the liquid it sends out can kill its enemies． |
| D．Because it swims faster than any other fish． |
Which is the best title for this passage?
| A．The Change of Colours for Animals and Pests |
| B．Colours of Different Animals and Pests |
| C．The Main Use of Colours for Animals and Pests |
| D．Some Animals and Pests |
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
It is said that people born under different star signs have different characteristics．Here are four people born under different star signs．
Who is from England and likes orange best?
| A．Tom． |
| B．Jack． |
| C．Mary． |
| D．Lucy． |
What’s Mary’s star sign?
| A．Taurus |
| B．Gemini． |
| C．Cancer． |
| D．Virgo． |
What’s the meaning of the underlined word “tightfisted” in Chinese?
| A．富裕的 |
| B．吝啬的 |
| C．奢侈的 |
| D．豁达的 |
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
What is colour? Why do some of the things around us look red, some green, others blue?
Colours are really made by reflected (反射) light．We see colour because most of the things reflect light．Something is red, for it reflects most of the red light．In the same way, if something is green, it reflects most of the green light．If something reflects all light, it is white．If it doesn’t reflect any light, it is black．
Some of the light is reflected and some is taken in (吸收) and turned into heat．The darker the colour is, the less light is reflected, the more light is taken in．So dark-coloured clothes are warmer in the sun than light-coloured clothes．When something reflects light, we can _______ ．
| A．see its colour |
| B．see its heat |
| C．not see its colour |
| D．see no thing |
The dark-coloured clothes are warm because _________ is taken in．
| A．more light |
| B．less light |
| C．more colour |
| D．less colour |
In summer ________ make people feel cool．
| A．dark-coloured clothes |
| B．red-coloured clothes |
| C．green-coloured clothes |
| D．light-coloured clothes |
Every place offers the possible dangers for getting hurt, even staying at work. We may face dangers like walking into desks or chairs, receiving unexpected cuts from a paper knife and so on. Industrial jobs have similar and more dangers like getting body parts hurt by machines or falling from a height.
No one wants to get hurt. Some accidents are avoidable(可避免的). Most accidents happen because of common things seen every day—an open desk drawer, a chair pulled out too far, water on the floor and so on. We slowly get used to these things we see every day and never think about what they could possibly become in the future.
Think about the following to prevent dangers to yourself and others:
【1.If there is something you see and know may become a danger for yourself or others, do something about it. Close a desk drawer, clean up or put a sign over the water, turn off the power before leaving, and so on.
2.Get extra persons’ help and support on a task that is too hard for a single person.
3.Study the situation and think what could possibly happen and change if necessary. Do it before something happens and you won’t have to say some day, “ I should have… How sorry I feel…”
To use an old phrase “ Safety is everyone’s duty.” Looking down on it could lead to being hurt. Keep the rule in mind every day “ Everyone wants to go home in the same condition they came to work in –or better.”