1 . Scientists have been experimenting with playing sounds to plants since at least the 1960s, during which time they have been exposed to everything from Beethoven to Michael Jackson. Over the years, evidence that this sort of thing can have an effect has been growing. One paper, published in 2018, claimed that an Asian shrub known as the telegraph plant grew substantially larger leaves when exposed to 56 days of Buddhist music — but not if it was exposed to Western pop music or silence. Another, published last year, found that marigolds and sage plants exposed to the noise of traffic from a busy motorway suffered growth difficulty.

Plants have been evolving (进化) alongside the insects that eat them for hundreds of millions of years. With that in mind, Heidi Appel, a botanist now at the University of Houston, and Reginald Cocroft, a biologist at the University of Missouri, wondered if plants might be sensitive to the sounds made by the animals with which they most often interact. They recorded the vibrations made by certain species of caterpillars (毛毛虫) as they chewed on leaves. These vibrations are not powerful enough to produce sound waves in the air. But they are able to travel across leaves and branches, and even to neighbouring plants if their leaves touch.

They then exposed tobacco plant — the plant biologist’s version of the laboratory mouse — to the recorded vibrations while no caterpillars were actually present. Later, they put real caterpillars on the plants to see if exposure had led them to prepare for an insect attack. The results were striking. Leaves that had been exposed had significantly higher levels of defensive chemicals, making them much harder for the caterpillars to eat. Leaves that had not been exposed to vibrations showed no such response. Other sorts of vibration — caused by the wind, for instance, or other insects that do not eat leaves — had no effect.

“Now speakers with the right audio files are more often being used to warn crops to act when insects are detected but not yet widespread,” says Dr. Cocroft. “Unlike chemical pesticides, sound waves leave no dangerous chemicals.”

1. What can we learn about plants from the first paragraph?

A．They may enjoy Western music.	B．They can’t stand Buddhist music.
C．They can react to different sounds.	D．They can make different sounds.

2. What’s the basis for Appel and Cocroft’s research?

A．Plants can make a cry for help.	B．Plants evolve alongside insects.
C．Plants are sensitive to the sounds.	D．Plants have been studied for years.

3. What can we infer about plants from Paragraph 3?

A．They can recongnize harmful vibrations.	B．They look like laboratory mice.
C．They can threaten the caterpillars.	D．They can release poisonous chemicals.

4. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A．Disadvantages of chemical pesticides.	B．Application of the experimental results.
C．Interaction between plants and insects.	D．Warning system of widespread insects.

2 . A new study reveals that trees can communicate and warn each other of danger. “For the first time, researchers have been able to visualize plant-to-plant communication,” said Masatsugu, senior author of the study.

The idea of talking trees started to take root in the 1980s. Two scientists found that damaged trees began producing chemicals that made their leaves unappetizing and indigestible to discourage insects. The trees then sent chemical signals to one another through the air. Over the past four decades, scientists have observed this cell-to-cell communication in more than 30 plant species.

Past research shows plants communicate with their surroundings by releasing chemicals known as volatile (易挥发的) organic compounds. One class of these compounds are released when a plant is injured: green leafy volatiles. These are released by, as the name suggests, pretty much every green plant with leaves, and are produced when a plant experiences physical damage. An example of these compounds is the smell released from fresh-cut grass.

In the new study, Masatsugu and his colleagues manually damaged leaves and placed insects on tomato plants to trigger the release of various green leafy volatiles. After testing many of them, the team found it seemed to increase calcium ions (钙离子) inside cells. The calcium signaling is like a switch to turn on the defense responses from the plants.

With this new understanding, researchers say plants could be immunized against threats and stressors before they even happen. For instance, exposing healthy plants to insect-ridden plants or the associated green leafy volatiles could boost their genetic defenses, so farmers use less pesticides. The revelation could also help make plants more resilient (有复原力的) during a drought, signaling the plants to conserve more water.

1. What does the new research find?

A．Trees can inform other trees of potential threats.	B．Trees can make themselves attractive.
C．Trees will send signals first once damaged.	D．Trees will work together to trick insects.

2. What can be learnt about green leafy volatiles?

A．They defend insects.	B．They kill insects.
C．Some of them can be smelt.	D．Some of them can be seen.

3. How was the study carried out by Masatsugu?

A．By protecting trees from insects.	B．By classifying green leafy volatiles.
C．By increasing calcium ions inside cells.	D．By causing the release of certain chemicals.

4. What aspect of the new study does the last paragraph focus on?

A．Its target.

B．Its process.

C．Its application.

D．Its background.

3 . The world loves a cup of tea. It only takes a few grams to make a cup of tea and millions of tons of tea are consumed every year. Tea can be good for you because it contains some things that help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Tea also contains caffeine(咖啡因), which improves not only mental alertness but can also increase anxiety and cause other problems.

What would be agreeable is a tea plant that provides all the taste and goodness but with little or none of caffeine. Chen Liang and Jin Jiqiang in the Tea Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences think they have found just such a plant, growing wild in a remote area in southern China’s Fujian Province. Known locally as hongyacha, the discovered plant grows only between 700 meters and 1,000 meters above sea level around a handful of Chinese villages. As they report in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, not only is the tea plant naturally caffeine-free but it also contains a number of unique medicinal compounds that, the locals believe, offer considerable health benefits.

The researchers are now exploring methods to protect hongyacha in its natural habitat while further studies are carried out. It can take time—and sometimes it does not work—for new plant varieties to be bred for commercial use. A pair of naturally caffeine-free coffee plants were discovered in 2003, but little progress has been reported. Tea lovers will be watching hongyacha with interest. And others will wonder what else is out there.

1. What’s the disadvantage of drinking tea according to paragraph 1?

A．It can make people hard to sleep.	B．It can make people feel anxious.
C．It can get people addicted.	D．It can take people much time.

2. What can we learn about hongyacha in paragraph 2?

A．It is nothing but just medicine.	B．It can only survive in greenhouses.
C．It is a good pick for caffeine lovers.	D．It has a good taste and little caffeine.

3. What might the follow-up study focus on about hongyacha?

A．Its future location.	B．Its natural habitats.
C．Its future market.	D．Its production process.

4. Where is the text probably taken from?

A．A health magazine.	B．An advertising brochure.
C．A travel guidebook.	D．A newspaper.

4 . When gardeners grow varieties of plants in their beautiful gardens, they are happy to see beneficial insects like bees and butterflies surrounding the flowers. But as they take a closer look, they may find some plants are covered in black dots and filled with harmful insects or pests. Some gardeners may immediately reach for chemicals.     1     Although it may stop the insect problem, it will also threaten bees and butterflies which help the plants reproduce.

If you are wise gardeners, you should first take preventive measures to control the harmful insects.     2     Only when there are too many harmful insects, should pest control be considered. The first defense should always be the safest method available.

Prevention

As a rule, prevention is the best treatment. Inspect plants closely, including their leaves, before buying them from the store.     3    

When planting, space plants out to permit them to grow to their full size. Plants too close together can breed harmful organisms, like bacteria.

    4     They invite pests if permitted to remain on the ground. When you do see pests, wash them away. Use rubbing alcohol to remove some insects, or pick them off the plants.

Pesticides

If you decide a pesticide is necessary, choose it carefully and follow the directions and warnings on the product. Avoid using pesticides in extreme heat, on windy days, or when the plants are wet.     5     At the time, beneficial insects are inactive. You can consider removing flowers from the plants to lessen the risk that beneficial insects will come in contact with the pesticides.

A．But this is not wise.

B．In most cases, chemicals don’t help.

C．Treat the plants early in the morning or at night.

D．Also do remember the plants need nutrition and care.

E．Keep your garden free of fallen leaves, fruits and other wastes.

F．Do not bring any plants home that show signs of disease or pests.

G．The process starts with the idea that having some pests is acceptable.

5 . When micro-plastics end up in farm fields, the pollution can damage plant growth. But two young researchers now report that combining fungi (真菌) with certain farm wastes can partly overcome that problem.

May Shin, 20, and Jiwon Choi, 18, met in a research design class at the Fryeburg Academy, a high school in Maine. May had desired to explore how micro-plastics might affect the ecosystem. Jiwon was crazy about plants and fungi. The young scientists cooperated to test how long-lived plastics might affect farm crops.

Scientists have shown certain fungi can aid root growth and a plant’s nutrient uptake. Those organisms are named arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Certain farm wastes, like straw, can provide nutrients to plants and help stabilize their roots. Such wastes are also known as mushroom substrate (基质) and people often grow mushrooms in them.

May and Jiwon planted over 2,000 scallion (大葱) seeds in pots of soil. Half the seeds got soil polluted with micro-plastics. The rest grew in plastic-free soil. The plants then were further divided into four groups. The young scientists added AMF to the soil in one group. Another group had a top layer of mushroom substrate. A third group got both treatments. The last group got none. For three weeks, the pair tracked how many scallions sprouted (发芽) in each group and measured the plants’ height once each week.

About twice as many scallions sprouted in clean soil compared to that containing plastic bits. But among plants surviving in the polluted soil, a combination of AMF and mushroom substrate helped them out. Those getting both treatments grew 5.4 centimeters per week. That was faster than either of the treatments alone or those getting none.

Jiwon and May then looked at the plant roots with a microscope. Where AMF had been added, it grew into those roots. That increased the scallion roots’ surface area, May said, which should promote their uptake of nutrients. So “I see this project as coming up with a sustainable solution for plant growth in polluted soils,” said May.

1. Why did May and Jiwon work together?

A．To see the effects of long-lived plastics on farm crops.

B．To find the relationship between plants and fungi.

C．To design a research on the growth of plants.

D．To explore the way that the ecosystem works.

2. What is the author’s purpose in writing paragraph 3?

A．To prove the existence of micro-plastics.	B．To compare fungi with farm wastes.
C．To tell the advantages of farm wastes.	D．To provide some related information.

3. What aspect of the study is the fourth paragraph mainly about?

A．Its purpose.

B．Its design.

C．Its findings.

D．Its reasons.

4. How can AMF and mushroom substrate make plants grow faster?

A．By keeping the plants more resistant to pollution.	B．By allowing the plants’ deep area more freedom.
C．By making nutrients more available to the plants.	D．By exposing the roots to a larger surface area.

6 . How to create an indoor garden

If you’re looking for a way to brighten up your home, consider creating an indoor garden.     1     We will share some basic tips on how to make yours look its best.

Know the type of plants you want

Deciding is probably the hardest part when it comes to creating an indoor garden because there are just so many plants to choose from. Start by thinking about what type of plants you want.

    2     Or maybe something that doesn’t need much attention or effort? Once you have an idea of the type of plant you want, you can start narrowing down your options.

Get the right potting soil and containers

Now that you know what type of plants you want, it’s time to get the right potting soil and containers. Make sure to get a potting mix that is specifically designed for indoor plants.     3     As for containers, you can really use anything as long as it has drainage holes.

Choose a bright location Once you have your plants and pots, it’s time to choose a location for your indoor garden.     4     This will help your plants grow and stay healthy. If you don’t have a spot that gets a lot of light, you can always use artificial lighting like grow lights.

    5    

In addition to watering, you’ll also need to add substance to your plants about once a month. This will help them grow and stay healthy. Just be sure to follow the instructions on the package. Don’t overdo it.

A．Give fertiliser monthly.

B．How exactly can we make one?

C．Follow the instruction correctly.

D．But don’t worry, we’re here to help.

E．This will help your plants grow strong.

F．Do you want something that will blossom?

G．Look for a spot in your home that gets a lot of natural light.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Indoor plants are a beautiful way to    1    (bright) up your home, especially in the gray    2    (month) of winter. But there can be a dark side to houseplants if you have children or if children visit your home. It is important that you know which plants are poisonous to children.

Gardening expert Jessica Damiano    3    (recent) wrote about the issue for The Associated Press. She said she often pointed out houseplants in homes that should     4    (keep) out of children’s mouths. Last week, Damiano    5    (visit) her cousin’s home and saw a Dieffenbachia plant in the kitchen. Her cousin told her that her young son,    6    had just begun crawling, had shown interest in     7    leaves. Damiano had to explain to her cousin that eating a small amount of the plant’s stem could cause temporary     8    severe pain. The plant parts can cause throat and mouth swelling. The plant’s sap can cause nose, skin and eye pain. Damiano wrote that parents should teach their young children not to put non-food plant parts into their mouths. “Parents should also educate     9    (they),” she said. She urged parent store search whether the plants in their homes are safe to grow around children. She also suggested     10    (learn) the official botanical names of any houseplants so that they can be able to provide that information quickly to a poison control expert, if needed.

8 . How long will a leaf live? It’s an economic decision. The leaves of Monkey Puzzle trees have a lifespan of more than 20 years, while Picea trees growing in the Gongga Mountains in China can survive for millennia. In contrast, maple leaves survive for only one season, while blueberry leaves just three months. So what determines the lifespan of a tree leaf?

The answer to that seemingly simple question is reported today in a paper in Science Advances by an international team of researchers from China, the UK, Japan, Norway, USA, and Australia. “It’s all about the economic choices faced by plants,” says first author, Dr. Han Wang from Tsinghua University in Beijing. “We already knew that conifers (针叶树) and other evergreen trees make longer-living leaves the closer they are to the poles,” she says. “Deciduous trees (落叶树) do the opposite. Their longest-lasting leaves are found in the tropics. And we knew that long-lived leaves tend to be tougher and thicker, and more expensive to build.” “Now, we have identified the major environmental factors at play.” she says. “These leaf economic traits are fundamental to the carbon cycle and nutrient economy.”

The team tested the results using data from thousands of species from hundreds of ecosystems. “Each species is essentially trying on the best way to maximize carbon absorption,” says co-author Professor Ian Wright from Macquarie University and Western Sydney University. “Evergreen conifers growing in poor soil in areas with a long cold winter can only thrive if they make long-term investments in their tough leaves. However, deciduous trees like the maple, race to create new leaves and capture carbon in the summer sun before leaf-drop in autumn,” he says. “The economic decision for a maple tree is to invest in fast-growing, cheap but flimsy leaves.”

During evolution, plants have been subject to the profound changes in climate which have resulted in major changes in vegetation (植被). The human impact on climate and vegetation are adding to the forces shaping plant communities.

1. Where is this text probably taken from?

A．A SciTech website.	B．A news report.
C．A geography textbook.	D．A tourist brochure.

2. What can we infer from the text?

A．The blueberry grows near the poles.

B．Evergreen trees lives longer than deciduous.

C．The maple is slow to absorb the carbon.

D．Conifers are tougher and harder to plant.

3. Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “flimsy” in Paragraph 3?

A．Weak.

B．Light.

C．Soft.

D．Narrow.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．The Choices Plants Make

B．The Lifespan of Leaves

C．Human Impacts on Vegetation

D．Big Changes in Climate

9 . Huge crowds are forming on Monday at the US Botanic Garden in Washington, DC. Usually, it’s a place to see flowers that look pretty, smell fantastic and bloom (开花) annually. But today, the so-called “corpse plants” on show are the opposite in all aspects.

Native to the rain forests of Sumatra, Indonesia, the corpse plants don’t bloom on a regular cycle -- the length of time between blooms ranges from a few years to a few decades and they are ugly and smelly.

“Last night it started out like a good French cheese, stinky but delightful. Then it moved on to a lazy boy’s socks. At last, it was junior high school gym followed by full-on rotten fish. Finally, it moved all the way to a rotting meat smell that was so thick and heavy that I experienced a sore throat, burning eyes and had a bitter taste in my mouth.” said John Clements, one of the garden employees,

“It smells bad to us, but it smells great to flies. It makes them think there’s rotten meat somewhere to lay their eggs, and that helps the corpse plant to get pollinated (授粉),” says Rob Raguso, a professor at Cornell University. “Since it takes a lot of energy for the plant to produce the smell, it puts it on reserve during the day, and will put it out in full strength from 9 pm to 3 am when the air is still and the smell can travel more easily.”

The smell comes from a number of chemicals that smell differently on their own, and that together draw flies to the plant’s cup-like flower. One of these, timethylamine, smells like rotting fish. Another, isovaleric acid, is responsible for the terrible smell of sweaty gym socks.

“It also heats up. The flower actually reaches human body temperature, making it all the more convincing to flesh-loving insects,”adds Rob Raguso.

1. What does John Clements mainly talk about?

A．Lazy boys’ socks.	B．Delightful French cheese.
C．The smell of a flower.	D．The taste of corpse plants.

2. When should visitors go to the US Botanic Garden to experience the strongest smell?

A．At noon

B．At dusk.

C．In the afternoon.

D．After midnight.

3. Why does the temperature of corpse plants’ flowers go up?

A．To reserve energy.	B．To attract pollinators.
C．To heat the environment	D．To send the smell further.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．What Makes Corpse Plants Smell So Bad?

B．How Do Corpse Plants Appeal to Insects?

C．When Do Corpse Plants Bloom in Full Strength?

D．Why Can Flies Find Corpse Plants in the Darkness?

10 . When I was a kid, a sycamore (枫树) grew in front of my home. At the age of 10, I was just tall enough to reach its lowest branch and lift myself into its embrace. Sometimes two or three of my friends would join me in the sycamore, or in the maple down the street, or Mrs. DiMarco’s old peach tree, some of whose stout horizontal branches allowed us to sit shoulder to shoulder, eating sweet fruit.

In my small town there are some kinds of trees, their branches spreading wide, open for business. But I have not yet seen a climber. Perhaps computer games have replaced tree climbing, or maybe the activity went the way of monkey bars, which came to be viewed as too risky and have largely disappeared from playgrounds.

It is a sad loss. I have always believed that, since low-hanging branches provide no benefit to the tree, they must be meant for the child. Robert Frost understood this when he wrote:

When I see baches (桦树) bend to left and right,

Across the lines of straighter darker trees,

I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.

My only disagreement with Frost is his inference that tree climbing is a gender-specific task. Both boys and girls make a joyful climb.

The campus of the university where I teach has all sorts of trees. During a recent walk, I found myself bending under the branch of an immense spruce (云杉). I grabbed the thing, and a moment later was sitting on a branch. Then the memories came flooding back. The old sycamore, the friends, and finally, the reluctance to return to earth when the parental call to supper came.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t hear the student calling to me from below. He asked what I was doing. I didn’t waste time on explanations. “Come on up,” I said “The air’s fine.” But he only laughed and waved me off. He didn’t know what he was missing.

1. What does the underlined word “stout” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Slim.

B．Bent.

C．Smooth.

D．Strong.

2. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．Why kids don’t climb trees.

B．Why monkey bars are dangerous.

C．Why there is no business under trees.

D．Why kids are addicted to computer games.

3. What does the author want to prove by mentioning Robert’s poem?

A．Some branches of trees are useless.

B．Trees are intended for kids to climb.

C．Trees are a source of inspiration for poets.

D．Climbing trees is a unique right of boys.

4. What did the author think the student had missed?

A．The explanations to his question.

B．The fresh air above the tree.

C．The pleasure of climbing trees.

D．The sense of safety on earth.