Question

【題目】 There are many gardening tips. Some suggest playing music for your house plants, having conversations with them, or even giving them a gentle touch now and then. Most of these practices are probably more for the benefit of the gardener than the garden, and generally harmless enough but except the last one. Your plants really dislike it when you touch them.

A new study out of the La Trobe Institute for Agriculture and Food has found that most plants are extremely sensitive to touch, and even a light touch can significantly stunt(阻礙) their growth. “The lightest touch from a human, animal, insect, or even plants touching each other in the wind, can cause a huge gene response in the plant,” Jim Whelan, who led the new study, said. “Within 30 minutes of being touched, 10% of the plant’s genome(基因組) is changed. This involves a huge expenditure(消耗) of energy which is taken away from plant growth. If the touching is repeated, then plant growth is reduced by up to 30%.”

Whelan and his team are still trying to find out why plants respond, at the genetic level, so strongly. They do have some theories, however. We know that when an insect lands on a plant, genes are activated(激活) preparing the plant to defend itself against being eaten ,” said Dr. Yan Wang, co-author of the study.

Until more research is done, it’s just a guess at this point. Still, the findings might already lead to new methods for how agriculturalists deal with their crops, to best promote healthier growth.

It’s worth noticing that while the study found that plants often respond to just a single touch in negative ways, it’s really repeated touching that causes lasting stunted growth. That’s because the plants are looking for patterns in the touching, to tell harmful touch from random touch. So it doesn’t matter if you accidently brush up against a bush during a walk through the woods.

【1】How is the passage mainly developed?

A.By comparing

B.By giving examples

C.By listing numbers

D.By showing results of studies

【2】Why can touching stunt a plant growing according to the study?

A.It leads to the plant’s energy expenditure.

B.It makes the plant sensitive to threats.

C.It causes a genetic disorder in the plant.

D.It prevents the plant absorbing nutrients.

【3】What’s the importance of the study by Whelan and his team?

A.It gives us more useful gardening tips.

B.It helps find ways to ensure plants’ healthy growth.

C.It contributes to the further study on genes.

D.It uses data to warn people not to touch plants.

【4】What is the passage mainly about?

A.Something is done to help plants grow.

B.Plants’ genome can be changed easily.

C.Plants don’t really like to be touched.

D.What we do every day may destroy plants.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】A

【3】B

【4】C

【解析】

本文是說明文�？茖W(xué)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)大多數(shù)植物對觸碰是非常敏感的。反復(fù)的觸碰會阻礙植物的持續(xù)生長。

【1】

推理判斷題。文章第一段提出觀點“Your plants really dislike it when you touch them.”植物不喜歡被觸碰。第二段首句提到“A new study …has found that…；第三段首句提到“Whelan and his team are still trying to find out…”，第四段首句提到“Until more research is done, it’s just a guess…”，第五段首句提到“while the study found that…”。根據(jù)文章每一段的首句可知，文章是通過展示Jim Whelan和他的研究團(tuán)隊對這個問題的研究結(jié)果來展開的。故選D項。

【2】

細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第二段中Jim Whelan和他的研究團(tuán)隊的發(fā)現(xiàn)“‘Within 30 minutes of being touched, 10% of the plant’s genome(基因組) is changed. This involves a huge expenditure(消耗) of energy which is taken away from plant growth.’（被觸碰30分鐘內(nèi)，10%的植物的基因組就會改變。這消耗了巨大的能量，而這些能量是從植物生長中奪走的。）”可知，觸摸會阻礙植物的生長是因為它會導(dǎo)致植物的能量消耗。故選A項。

【3】

細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第四段中“the findings might already lead to new methods for how agriculturalists deal with their crops, to best promote healthier growth.”可知，Whelan和他的團(tuán)隊的研究重要性在于他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)幫助農(nóng)業(yè)學(xué)家找到如何對待他們的作物的新方法，以便促進(jìn)植物更健康的生長。故選B項。

【4】

主旨大意題。通讀全文，文章第一段提出觀點“Your plants really dislike it when you touch them.”植物不喜歡被觸碰。第二段說明Jim Whelan和他的研究團(tuán)隊的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)“A new study …has found that most plants are extremely sensitive to touch, and even a light touch can significantly stunt(阻礙) their growth.”大多數(shù)植物是觸摸是非常敏感的，甚至一個輕觸可以阻礙他們的生長。下文是說明關(guān)于該研究的更進(jìn)一步的細(xì)節(jié)。因此文章是說明關(guān)于“植物不喜歡被觸碰”這一研究的情況。故選C項。