1 . 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?