Question

 Plants have family values,too,it seems,with new research sug?gesting they can recognize close relatives in order to work together.

An ability to tell family from strangers is well known in animals,allowing them to cooperate and share resources,but plants may pos?sess similar social skills,scientists believe.

Susan Dudley and Amanda File of McMaster University in Ontario? Canada,report they have demonstrated for the first time that plants can recognize their kin.

This suggests that plants,though lacking recognition and memory,are capable of complex social interactions.

"Plants have this kind of hidden but complicated social life," Dudley said.

The study found plants from the same species of beachdwelling wild flower grew aggressively alongside unrelated neighbours but were less competitive when they shared soil with their families.

Sea rocket,a North American species,showed stronger and healthier root growth when planted in pots with strangers than when raised with relatives from the same ma?ternal (母系的) family,the study found.

This is an example of kin selection,a behaviour common in animals in which closely related individuals take a group approach to succeeding in their environment,the researchers said.

Kin selection also applies to competition,because if family members compete less with each other,the group will do better overall. "Everywhere you look,plants are growing right up next to other plants," Dudley said. "Usually it's a case of each plant for itself. But sometimes those plants are related,and there are bene?fits to not wasting resources on being competitive,and there is not really a cost to not being competitive as long as your neighbour is also not being competitive."

Learning and memory appear to be important for kin recognition in animals,but this isn't an option for plants,she noted.

Some researchers speculate (猜测) that plants communicate through their roots,identifying themselves using tiny chemical signatures specific to each plant's family.

5. What's the main idea of the passage?

   A. Studies find plants can recognize and communicate with relatives.

   B. Kin selection is important for plants.

   C. Animals can recognize and memorize their relatives.

   D. Competition asks plants to recognize their relatives.

6. Which of the following is NOT right about animals' social skills?

   A. Animals can recognize and memorize their relatives.

   B. Animals' social skills are to cooperate and share resources.

   C. Animals' social skills can recognize close relatives to work together.

   D. Animals' social skills are no use at all.

7. Plants' kin selection is to         .

   A. grow well

   B. compete with other kinds of plants

   C. strengthen the relationship among siblings

   D. find which one is the best

8. From the passage,we learn that         .

   A. sea rocket is a South American species

   B. sea rocket grows aggressively alongside unrelated neighbours

   C. sea rocket grows aggressively alongside its siblings

   D. sea rocket is a kind of bush without flowers

Answer 1

本文是一篇科普说明文。科学家经过研究发现：和动物一样，植物也有亲属选择的习性，同时排挤其他种类的植物。同时介绍了同系植物之间不竞争的原因、作用以及交流方式。

5. A主旨大意题。本文主要介绍了植物也可以辨别亲属，它们和亲属交流共生，而和其他植物生长在一起时则疯狂排挤竞争。

6. D细节理解题。从第二段可以判断出动物的社交能力非常有用，是为了合作，为了共享资源，而不是没用。

7. B细节理解题。从倒数第三段可知，植物具有亲属判断力还体现在与其他种类植物的竞争上。

8. B推理判断题。倒数第五段提到sea rocket和其他种类的植物长在一起时根系发达，具有侵略性，这是为了和其他植物竞争，夺取更多的资源。