1 . Can plants talk? Modern research has found something amazing: they do communicate with each other.

It has been known for some time that plants use chemicals to communicate with each other. This happens when a plant gets attacked by insects. The plant gives out chemicals from the leaves that are being eaten. This is like a warning, or a call for help： "I'm being attacked! " When another plant gets the chemicals, it starts to give out its own, different chemicals. Some of these chemicals drive insects away. Others attract the wasps（黄蜂；蜜蜂）！ The wasps kill the insects that are eating the plants. Scientists hope to learn more about this plant warning system, so that we can use it to grow more crops.

More surprisingly, plants also use sound to communicate. People can't hear these sounds ； but plants are making them. Some plants make noises with their roots. Corn and chili plants do this. Some trees make clicking noises when there is not enough water.

Most surprisingly of all, plants have an amazing system of communication that can link nearly every plant in a forest. Scientists call this system the “ wood wide web”. The wood wide web is linked underground by fungi（霉菌）.It links the roots of different plants to each other. It is in some ways similar to the Internet we use. Using the wood wide web, plants can share information and even food with each other. However, it may lead to bad effects. Plants may use it to steal food from each other,     or spread chemicals to attack other plants. Perhaps one day scientists will learn how to create a “firewall“ to help prevent these attacks within the wood wide web.

Scientists are learning more every day about the secret ways in which plants talk to each other. Maybe one day we will know enough about plant communication to be able to "talk” with them ourselves.

1. What will plants do when they are attacked by insects?

A．They will kill the insects by themselves.

B．They will control the wasps to kill the insects.

C．They will send out signals to ask for help.

D．They will produce chemicals as a warning or a call for help.

2. How is the wood wide web linked by fungi?

A．By making noises with their roots.

B．By connecting the roots of different plants to each other.

C．By sharing food and information with each other.

D．By spreading chemicals to each other.

3. What is the structure of the passage?

A．	B．
C．	D．

4. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．The Secret Language of Plants

B．The Study About the Plant Warning System

C．The Plants that Give Warnings

D．Why Scientists Do Research About Plants

2 . Directions: After reading the passages below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct.For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other words, use one word the best fits each blank.

Cactuses are a kind of juicy plants     1     leaves are reduced to spines(针刺).There are no different branches, leaves and stem area.Instead, the whole body     2     (cover) with spines which are reduced leaves.

Whole fleshy area of the plant is doing the work of photosynthesis(光合作用), in which green plants take in water and carbon dioxide(CO2) and produce their own food     3     the help of sunlight.Cactuses have spines on their stems, which can stop the water in it from     4     (evaporate使蒸发).It has a very good root system to take in water from the underground.It stores water in its body.

In some times of the year, cactuses have flowers and even fruits.However, their flowers usually last only for a few days to a few weeks.These days cactuses become very popular and are used widely    5     ornamental（装饰的）plants in houses and offices etc for their beauty.They are also main food of animals     6     (live) in deserts as cactuses contain water important for their survival.What’s more, they can also be made into delicious dishes or foods at table.     7     , cactuses have been spread almost everywhere all around the world.

These are more than 4000 different varieties of cactuses     8     (find) all over the world.They are quite different     9     their sizes, colors and shapes.The Asian biggest cactus garden lies in Panchkula, sector 5 in north India.It is a very big cactus garden and there are hundreds of varieties of cactuses over there.In some varieties, leaves are present but in very reduced form.The American biggest cactus garden lies in Mexico,     10     some species can grow up to 15-20 feet tall like big trees.

3 . In south Africa’s Limpopo province, a baobab tree (猴面包树) once grew so large and stood so strong that its human neighbors decided to build a pub inside the living tree’s thousand-year-old hollow trunk(树干). For 20 years, “The Big Baobab Pub” attracted tourists all over the world. But in August 2016, one of “the walls” broke. Eight months later, another huge piece broke, too. Now, five of the giant stems have collapsed and died, leaving only half of the tree standing.

Though it could sound like a result of human visitation, it's part of an alarming trend: many of the oldest, largest baobab trees in Africa have died within the last 12 years.

Stephan Woodbourne, an African scientist, said: “Of the oldest trees that we’ve looked at in Southern Africa, the three trees that are older than 2,000 years have all died in the past 10 years. Of the 11 trees that are 1,000 to 2,000 years old, six of them have died.”

A report published in the journal Nature Plants claims scores of the ancient baobab trees, some of which are up to 3,000 years old, are now dying because of rising global temperatures.

Researchers believe it is impossible that such a high number of old baobab trees die in such a short time due to natural causes. They think it may be associated with huge change of climate conditions that affect southern Africa in particular.

1. What has happened to The Big Baobab Pub?

A．The pub has largely been destroyed.

B．More tourists from the world visit it.

C．The pub has a long history of 2,000 years.

D．The Baobab Tree grows larger and stronger.

2. The paragraphs from 2 to 4 mainly tell us that ________.

A．all the oldest baobab trees have been dead

B．the oldest baobab trees will die out soon

C．ancient baobab trees are in the face of danger

D．Human’s visits lead to ancient baobab trees’ deaths

3. What is probably the main reason for the trees’ death?

A．Many pubs’ foundation.	B．Global climate changes.
C．Human visitation.	D．Natural causes.

4. What’s the best title of the passage?

A．Research on Baobab Tree.	B．Facts about Baobab Tree.
C．Baobab Tree in Africa.	D．Tree of Life is Dying.

4 . The Bridegroom's Oak, a 500­-year-old tree just outside of Eutin, in Germany, has its own postal address and receives around 40 letters every day. They're sent by love seekers from around the world, in the hope that someone will read them and write back.

With so many dating apps and services available nowadays, sending letters to a tree hardly sounds like the best way to find love. However, there's something charming about sending a letter and allowing fate (命运) to work its magic, so the Bridegroom's Oak remains popular even now.

In 1890, a local girl named Minna fell in love with a young chocolate maker named Wilhelm, but her father didn't allow her to see the boy. Instead of giving up on each other, the two started exchanging love letters secretly, by leaving them in a knothole (节孔) of an oak tree. After about one year, Minna's father found out about their continued relationship, but instead of punishing them, he gave them permission to marry. The two lovers got married on June 2, 1891, under the oak tree that helped keep their romance (罗曼史) alive.

The couple's story spread around Eutin, and soon, people unable to find love started writing romantic letters and leaving them in the tree's knothole. By 1927, it was already known as Bridegroom's Oak and was so popular that it had its own address and postal code, allowing people from all over Germany and even abroad to send in their letters.

Love seekers visiting the Bridegroom's Oak need respect only one simple rule. They can check all the letters in its knothole, and take with them the one they wish to reply to, but they have to put the others back for other people to find.

So far the Bridegroom's Oak has been responsible for at least 100 marriages and many other romantic relationships.

1. What's the Bridegroom's Oak popular for?

A．Its long life.

B．Its special function.

C．Its good position.

D．Its rare species.

2. What is Para.3 mainly about?

A．The best way to find love a century ago.

B．What sufferings the two lovers experienced.

C．How the two lovers kept their romance alive.

D．The love story behind the Bridegroom's Oak.

3. What can love seekers do with the letters in the Bridegroom's Oak?

A．Reply to all the letters in its knothole.

B．Read each letter in its knothole.

C．Put their name at the top of each letter.

D．Take as many letters away as they like.

4. What can be inferred from the text?

A．Writing to the Bridegroom's Oak does work.

B．Germany needs dating apps and services.

C．Germans hold a firm belief in fate.

D．Foreigners have little idea of the Bridegroom's Oak.