Question

【題目】 When we see babies or pets, we can't help gently touching them to show our love. And they give us happy feelings back. But a recent study shows that it’s different for plants.

A study, published in The Plant Journal, shows that plants don’t like to be touched. That’s because touching changes their genes(基因) and, even worse, can slow their growth. Professor Jim Whelan in Australia gave an explanation. The lightest touch from a human, animal, insect, or even plants touching each other in the wind, leads to a huge gene change in the plant.

In order to test the theory, the scientists did an experiment on plants. They grew a number of plants to the age of four weeks. Then they touched them with a paintbrush every 12 hours over a 36-hour period. They found that as the result of the touch, the mitochondria(線粒體) in the plants had been partly destroyed. The mitochondria are the “power-house” of the cell(細(xì)胞). The mitochondria produce energy for the cells in both animals and plants. If this “power-house” is weakened, the plants will lose a large amount of energy that should have supported their growth.

Whelan further explained, “If the touching is repeated, then plant growth is reduced by 30 percent.” Although the touching does have a strong influence on plants, usually the plants can still be alive. Touching changes the plants, but it’s not always a bad change. Continually touching or moving plants will make them grow shorter than other ones. However, in some ways, this change could be helpful. It may help plants fight threats to their health such as insects and bad weather.

The new research findings have led to a deeper understanding of the plants. And the research might help with the growth of plants.

根據(jù)材料內(nèi)容選出最佳答案。

【1】According to the article, what can get in the way of plants’ growth?

A.Love.B.Touch.C.Water.D.Weather.

【2】How do the mitochondria support the plants’ growth?

A.By providing energy for cells.B.By changing the plants’ genes.

C.By fighting against the insects.D.By reducing the amount of cells.

【3】Why did the scientists do the experiment?

A.To explain why pets love to be touched.

B.To find out why some plants grow more slowly.

C.To test if touching can change the genes of plants.

D.To show that plants’ and animals’ genes are different.

【4】What does the underlined word “threats” mean in Chinese?

A.因素B.改變C.威脅D.對手

【5】What can we learn from the text?

A.Touching can have a good influence on plants’ growth.

B.We’re not sure how to help plants grow by touching.

C.It’s necessary to avoid touching the plants all the time.

D.The changes of the plants by touching may be not bad.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】A

【3】C

【4】C

【5】D

【解析】

本文講述了發(fā)表在《植物雜志》上的一項(xiàng)研究表明，植物不喜歡被碰。觸摸確實(shí)對植物有很大的影響，但通常這些植物仍然是活著的。觸摸會(huì)改變植物，但并不總是壞事。不斷地接觸或移動(dòng)植物會(huì)使它們比其他植物長得短。然而，在某些方面，這種改變可能是有益的。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)“A study, published in The Plant Journal, shows that plants don’t like to be touched.”可知發(fā)表在《植物雜志》上的一項(xiàng)研究表明，植物不喜歡被碰，因此觸摸會(huì)阻礙植物的生長，故選B。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)“The mitochondria produce energy for the cells in both animals and plants.”可知線粒體為動(dòng)物和植物的細(xì)胞提供能量，故選A。

【3】推理判斷題。根據(jù)“The lightest touch from a human, animal, insect, or even plants touching each other in the wind, leads to a huge gene change in the plant.In order to test the theory, the scientists did an experiment on plants.”可知人類、動(dòng)物、昆蟲，甚至是植物在風(fēng)中最輕微的接觸，都會(huì)導(dǎo)致植物基因的巨大變化。為了驗(yàn)證這個(gè)理論，科學(xué)家們在植物上做了一個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)，可推測出目的是測試觸摸是否會(huì)改變植物的基因，故選C。

【4】詞義猜測題。根據(jù)“such as insects and bad weather.”可知昆蟲和惡劣天氣等，可推測出該單詞的意思是“威脅”，故選C。

【5】推理判斷題。根據(jù)“Although the touching does have a strong influence on plants, usually the plants can still be alive. Touching changes the plants, but it’s not always a bad change.”可知雖然觸摸確實(shí)對植物有很大的影響，但通常這些植物仍然是活著的。觸摸會(huì)改變植物，但并不總是壞事，故選D。