When a leafy plant is under attack, it doesn’t sit quietly. Back in 1983, two scientists, Jack Schultz and Ian Baldwin, reported that young maple trees getting bitten by insects send out a special smell that neighboring plants can get. These chemicals come from the injured parts of the plant and seem to be a warning. What the plants pump through the air is a mixture of chemicals known as volatile organic compounds(VOCs).

Scientists have found that all kinds of plants give out VOCs when being attacked. It’s a plant’s way of crying out. But is anyone listening? Obviously. Because we can watch the neighbors’ react.

Some plants pump out smelly chemicals to keep insects away. But others do double duty. They pump out perfumes to attract different insects who are their natural enemies. Once the insects arrive, the tables are turned. The attacker who was lunching now becomes lunch.

In study after study, it appears that these chemical conversations help the neighbors. The damage is usually more serious on the first plant, but the neighbors stay safer because they heard the warning and knew what to do.

Does this mean that plants talk to each other? Scientists don’t know. Maybe the first plant just made a cry of pain or was sending a message to its own branches, and so, in fact, was talking to itself. Perhaps the neighbors just happened to hear the cry by accident and so wrong information was exchanged.

Charles Darwin, over 150 years ago, imagined a world far busier, noisier and more intimate than the world we can see and hear, our senses are weak. There’s a whole lot going on.

1.What does a plant do when it is under attack?

A.It makes noises. B.It gets help from other plants.

C.It stands quietly. D.It sends out certain chemicals.

2.What does “the tables are turned” mean in Paragraph 3?

A.The attackers are attacked. B.The insects gather under the table.

C.The plants get ready to fight back. D.The perfumes attract natural enemies.

3.Scientists find from their studies that plants can__________.

A.talk to one another B.predict natural disasters

C.protect themselves against insects D.help their neighbors when necessary

4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A.The world is changing faster than ever. B.People have stronger senses than before.

C.The world is more colorful than it seems. D.People in Darwin’s time were full of imagination.

Thanks to an online activity and a stranger with a strong sense of romance and a strong will, an old box full of 70-year-old love letters was returned to its very first owner.

Twenty years ago, a woman named Cherry Vallance got the letters from her neighbor who found them in the top floor of his house and wanted to throw them away. Luckily, they ended up in Cherry’s house where they were once again forgotten until her daughter, Kim Rowe, discovered them again.

The letters were from 1948 and 1949 and were about the first romance between Norma Hall in Kent, England and Bob Beasley, a soldier fighting overseas. That was the only information she had, but Kim heard a lot of moving stories about people and things being found through Facebook years later. She posted the story online.

The Internet found Norma Beasley living in Lincoln, England. She was so surprised to find that her loved love letters still lived in the world, and that they were in the same old box.

The moment makes people smile and also full of tears, though. Norma says she hasn’t looked at the letters yet. Bob passed away late last year, and she is still not ready to face the letters alone.

1.The love letters have a history of ________.

A.70 years B.20 years C.50 years D.only one year

2.________decided to find the owner of the love letters.

A.Cherry Vallance B.Kim Rowe C.Norma Hall D.Bob Beasley

3.From the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4, we know that ________.

A.the letters were dirty B.the old box was very strong

C.the letters were kept well D.the old box wasn’t very pretty

4.What happened to Bob Beasley?

A.He moved to a new house. B.He had left the world.

C.He lost his way home. D.He went to another country.

5.According to the passage, which of the following sentences is NOT TRUE?

A.Norma Hall isn’t Kim Rowe’s grandmother.

B.Norma Beasley is the owner of the love letters.

C.Norma Hall got married to Bob Beasley.

D.Norma Hall has lived in Lincoln since 1948.

I keep a two-dollar bill in my wallet that was given by my mother when I was six years old. Mother gave it to me ______ luck would follow me everywhere. She looked at me and said, “I want you to carry this two-dollar bill for extra good luck.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I replied. “I will keep it close to me always.”

My mother passed away when I was seven years old. I remembered I took out my two-dollar bill and held it in my hand for the longest time, knowing that she would be ______ over me the rest of life.

On my first ______, I was thirty years old. As I sat in the ______, I noticed there were five women ahead of me. All of them were ______ and well dressed, which made me more nervous.

“What makes you feel you are fit for this job?” Mrs. Martin, the office manager asked me.

“I really need this job and there is ______ I can’t do. I know I am not as ______ as your other applicants(申请人) for the job, but please give me a chance. I learn quickly and can be a very capable(有能力的) member of your team.”

That evening I received a(n) ______ from Mrs. Martin.“Gina,” she said, “you were not the most suitable applicant, but you have so much confidence in yourself ______ we decided to give you a chance to prove yourself.” “Thank you, Mrs. Martin. You will not regret this decision.” I said excitedly and hung up the phone.

I got my ______ and took out my two-dollar bill. “Thanks, Mom. I am sure to make it,” I said out loud so that she could hear me.

1.A.even if B.because of C.even though D.so that

2.A.watching B.protecting C.teaching D.caring

3.A.business B.interview C.journey D.vacation

4.A.waiting room B.dining room C.sitting room D.living room

5.A.older B.cleverer C.younger D.earlier

6.A.everything B.something C.nothing D.anything

7.A.polite B.important C.suitable D.attractive

8.A.e-mail B.call C.letter D.telegram

9.A.as B.that C.what D.which

10.A.pocket B.wallet C.bag D.case

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