ThebookingnotesoftheplayTheAge-优题课

Talking plants might sound like characters in a fairy tale. But recent scientific studies have shown that plants communicate with each other and with other living things in a surprising number of ways. To understand them, scientists say, we just have to learn their language. Farmers are especially interested in what plants have to say.
“Plants are able to communicate with all sorts of organisms (有机体). They can communicate with giant bacteria, with other plants and with insects. They do this chemically，” said Cahill, an Ecology Professor of the University of Alberta in Canada.
Plant scientists are just beginning to understand this chemical “language”. Cahill says studies have shown, for example, that plants can evaluate (评估) conditions in their immediate environment and take appropriate actions. Plants have an ability, for example, to signal pain or discomfort caused by anything from temperature extremes to an insect attack. Jack Schultz, a professor of chemical ecology at the University of Missouri, says when a plant senses that it's being eaten, it cannot walk away from trouble; on the contrary, it will release a chemical vapor(蒸汽) that alerts other plants nearby.
“Their language is a chemical language, and it involves chemicals that move through the air that are easy to be changeable, and most of all are smells that we are familiar with，” Schultz explained.
“All plants responded to the attack by changing their chemistry to defend themselves，” Schultz recalled. “But we were quite surprised to find that nearby plants also changed their chemistry to defend themselves, even though they were not part of the experiment.”
Studies have also shown that plants under attack release pleasant chemicals. Those chemicals attract friendly insects that attack the pests eating the plant.
In the end, plants' ability to communicate their needs—and our ability to understand them—could help farmers reduce the use of poisonous chemicals, cut operating costs and limit damage to the environment.
The recent scientific studies have shown that plants can ______.

A．communicate with other living things in a chemical way

B．hardly react to any sudden change in temperature

C．use a very special chemica1 language which is familiar to us

D．respond to the attack by giving off poisonous chemicals

When being eaten by an insect, the plant will ________.

A．walk away from trouble

B．change its chemistry to kill the insect

C．release a chemical vapor to “ask” other plants for help

D．give off nice chemicals to attract friendly insects killing the pest

The underlined word “alert” most probably means “______”．

A．warn	B．protect
C．threaten	D．allow

Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Communication between Plants

B．A Chemical “Language”

C．Plants Can Talk

D．How Plants Protect Themselves

Whether you're having problems with your homework or you’re preparing for your term paper, these student-focused websites can help you with anything you need. The key to getting the most out of these online resources is to know how they can best be used to your advantage.
♦ Facebook
Although Facebook can be one of your biggest time-wasters and distractions(干扰）when you are supposed to be getting work done, it can also be one of your most valuable resources. Most of your classmates will probably have a Facebook account, so anyone you need to connect with about a class you missed or about a problem is usually just a few clicks away.
♦ SparkNotes
With a free library of history timeline, philosophy study guides and library summaries, and essays, SparkNotes has covered just about any reading-related jam you find yourself in, just run a search for the book, play, or short summary of the material you are supposed to read.
♦ Amazon.com
Do you finish every term with many expensive textbooks you will never open again? Instead of letting the money spent go to waste, get back some of your cash by selling your books on Amazon.
♦Wikipedia
While Wikipedia isn't aimed specifically at students, it is difficult to think of another website that does more to reduce the pain of paper writing and researching. Wikipcdia gives you a quick way to find sources and get the details of almost any topic you need to research——-all without walking to the library.
The passage was mainly written to _____.

A．explain some websites for parents

B．compare some educational websites

C．introduce different parts of a website

D．offer some websites that may help students

While you are taking great pains to write a research report, _____can most probably be a help.

A．Facebook	B．SparkNotes
C．Amazon.coin	D．Wikipedia

Which of the following will you most probably refer to, if you need brief ideas for class discussion in reading?

A．Wikipedia.	B．Facebook.
C．SparkNotes.	D．Amazon.com.

A teenager realized her dream of becoming a professional model three years after a serious car accident.
Marita Davies was on her way home from a party when the crash happened. The car that Marita took as a passenger was going the wrong way and crashed into another car driven by a drunken driver named David Hudson, which left her with a broken leg and back. It took the firefighters more than two hours to free the teenager from the damaged car before she was taken to hospital. Marita was in a wheelchair for a year after being bed-ridden for nine months.
Marita feared her dream of a modeling career was over. She said, “I was extremely upset and shocked when I knew about my terrible injuries. I thought my dream of becoming a model was over. My leg and back were broken. The crash had broken my confidence and I became quiet and spent less time with other people. I was 16, and at that age all I wanted to do was to go out with my friends.”
But as her health took a turn for the better, Marita finally came out of the wheelchair and learned to walk. She decided she would still try to follow her dreams, and sent some photos off to some modeling agencies. She did a few unpaid jobs while studying at college. Soon, paid commercial modeling jobs started coming in. Marita was a bit doubtful at first, because the crash had left her with huge scars on her leg and back. She was worried that people wouldn’t want her to model for them, but this didn’t stop her.
Marita had done amazingly well to overcome everything that had been thrown at her in the three years. Finally, Marita became a professional model in 2013. She was signed up for advertising campaigns and appeared in TV ads.
When did the accident happen?

A．In 2008.	B．In 2009.
C．In 2010.	D．In 2011.

Who should be to blame for the accident?

A．Marita Davies.

B．David Hudson.

C．The driver of the car that Marita took.

D．Both of the drivers involved in the accident.

How did Marita feel when modeling jobs became available to her?

A．Lucky.	B．Satisfied.
C．Surprised.	D．Unconfident.

The passage is intended to ______.

A．prove modeling is a promising career.

B．warn people not to drive after drinking

C．suggest having a dream is a good thing

D．praise Marita’s spirits to overcome difficulties

You cannot find a better way to enjoy Scottish traditions than going fishing and tasting a little bit of whisky(威士忌)at a quiet place like the Inverlochy Castle. When Queen Victoria visited the castle in 1873, she wrote in her diary, “I never saw a lovelier spot ,” And she didn’t even go fishing.
Scotland is not easily defined. In certain moments, this quiet land of lakes and grasses and mountains changes before your very eyes. When evening gently sweeps the hillside into orange light ,the rivers, teeming with fish, can turn into streams of gold . As you settle down with just a fishing pole and a basket on the bank of River Orchy, near the Inverlochy castle , any frustration will float away as gently as the circling water. It’s just you and purple , pink ,white flowers, seeking a perfect harmony . If you are a new comer to fishing, learning the basics from a fishing guide may leave you with a lifetime’s fun. For many, fishing is more than a sport, it is an art.
Scotland offers interesting place where you can rest after a long day’s fishing. Set against a wild mountain and hidden behind woodland , the beautiful Inverlochy Castle Hotel below the Nevis is a perfect place to see the beauty of Scotland’s mountains . Ben Nevis is the highest of all British mountains , and reaching its 1342-metre top is a challenge . But it’s not just what goes up that matters; what comes down is unique . More than 900 metres high, on the mountain’s north face, lies an all-important source of pure water. Its name comes form the Gaelic (盖尔特) language “usqueb” or “water of life”, and it is the single most important ingredient(原料) in Scotland’s best-known drink: whisky.
Queen Victoria’s story wants to tell us that _____.

A．the Queen is rich in tour experience

B．tasting whisky is better than going fishing

C．the Castle is a good place to go in Scotland

D．1873 is a special year for the Queen

How is Paragraph 2 mainly written?

A．By making comparisons.

B．By following time order.

C．By analyzing causes.

D．By giving descriptions.

What makes Ben Nevis special ?

A．The water from the mountain.

B．The beauty of its surroundings.

C．The Inverlochy Castle Hotel.

D．The challenge up to its top.

What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To introduce Scottish traditions to tourists.

B．To show the attractions of Scotland to readers.

C．To explore geographical characteristics of Scotland.

D．To describe the pleasures of life in Scotland.

Are some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experience? Strangely enough, the answer to these questions is yes. To some extent our intelligence is given to us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus the limits of person’s intelligence are fixed at birth, but whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view, now held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways.
It is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent something we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be intelligence. Thus if we take two unrelated people at random from population, it is likely that their degree of intelligence will be completely different. If on the other hand we take two identical twins, they will very probably be as intelligent as each other. Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth.
Imagine now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring. We would soon find differences in intelligence developing, and this indicates that environment as well as birth plays a part. This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all are likely to have similar degrees of intelligence.
Which of these sentences best describes the writer’s point in Paragraph 1?

A．To some extent, intelligence is given at birth.

B．Intelligence is developed by the environment.

C．Some people are born clever and others born stupid.

D．Intelligence is fixed at birth, but is developed by the environment.

It is suggested in this passage that ________ .

A．close relation usually have similar intelligence

B．unrelated people are not likely to have different intelligence

C．the closer the blood relationship between people, the more different they are likely to be in intelligence

D．people who live in close contact with each other are not likely to have similar degrees of intelligence

The phrase “ at random” (Line 3, Para.2) means ________ .

A．purposely	B．rationally
C．aimlessly	D．independently

The best title for this article would be ________ .

A．What Does Intelligence Mean?

B．On Intelligence

C．We are Born with Intelligence

D．Environment Plays a Part in Developing Intelligence