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 particular smell that neighboring plants can get. These chemicals come from the injured parts of the plant and seem to be an alarm.What the plants pump through the air is a mixture of chemicals known as volatile organic compounds,VOCs for short.

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?Apparently.Because we can watch the neighbours react.

Some plants pump out smelly chemicals to keep insects away.But others do double duty .They pump out perfumes designed to attract different insects who are natural enemies to the attackers.Once they 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 ,relatively speaking ,stay safer because they heard the alarm 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 effect, was talking to itself. Perhaps the neighbors just happened to “overhear” the cry. So information was exchanged, but it wasn’t a true, intentional back and forth.

Charles Darwin, over 150 years ago, imagined a world far busier, noisier and more intimate(亲密的) 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 author mean by “the tables are turned” in paragraph 3?

A. The attackers get 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.predict natural disasters B.protect themselves against insects

C.talk to one another intentionally D.help their neighbors when necessary

4.what can we infer from the last paragraph?

A.The word is changing faster than ever.

B.People have stronger senses than before

C.The world is more complex than it seems

D.People in Darwin’s time were more imaginative.

阅读下面的短文,从短文后各题所给的A、B、C和D四个选项中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

While high school does not generally encourage students to explore new aspects of life,college sets the stage for that exploration. I myself went through this process and found something that has changed my at college for the better:I discovered ASL-American Sign Language(美式手语).

I never felt an urge to any sign language before.My entire family is hearing,and so are all my friends.The language were enough in all my interactions(交往).Little did I know that I would discover my for ASL.

The began during my first week at college. I watched as the ASL Club their translation of a song. Both the hand movements and the very of communicating without speaking me. What I saw was completely unlike anything I had experienced in the .This newness just left me more.

After that, feeling the need to further, I decided to drop in on one of ASL club`s meetings. I only learned how to the alphabet that day. Yet instead of being discouraged by my progress,I was excited. I then made it a point to those meetings and learn all I could.

The following term, I an ASL class. The professor was deaf and any talking was . I soon realized that the silence was not unpleasant. , if there had been any talking, it would have us to learn less. Now, I appreciate the silence and the way of communication it opens.

1. A. searching B. planning C. natural D. formal

2. A. progress B. experience C. major D. opinion

3. A. choose B. read C. learn D. create

4. A. official B. foreign C. body D. spoken

5. A. love B. concern C. goal D. request

6. A. meeting B. trip C. story D. task

7. A. recorded B. performed C. recited D. discussed

8. A. idea B. amount C. dream D. reason

9. A. disturbed B. supported C. embarrassed D. attracted

10. A. end B. past C. course D. distance

11. A. showing B. acting C. saying D. wanting

12. A. exercise B. explore C. express D. explain

13. A. print B. write C. sign D. count

14. A. slow B. steady C. normal D. obvious

15. A. chair B. sponsor C. attend D. organize

16. A. missed B. passed C. gave up D. registered for

17. A. prohibited B. welcomed C. ignored D. repeated

18.A.Lastly B.Thus C.Instead D.However

19.A.required B.caused C.allowed D.expected

20.A.easy B.popular C.quick D.new

Lots of people find it hard to get up in the morning and put the blame on the alarm clock. In fact, the key to easy morning wake-up lies in resting your body clock 1. Here is how to make one.

2. In order to make a change, you need to decide why it's important. Do you want to get up in time to have breakfast with your family, get in some exercise, or just be better prepared for your day? Once you are clear about your reason, tell your family or roommates about the change you want to make.

? Rethink mornings. Now that you know why you want to wake up, consider re-arranging your morning activities. If you want time to have breakfast with your family, save some time the night before by setting out clothes, shoes, and bags. 3. That’s a quarter-hour more you could be sleeping if you bought a coffee maker with a timer.

? Keep your sleep/wake schedule on weekends. If you’re tired out by Friday night, sleeping in on Saturday could sound wonderful. But compensating on the weekends actually feeds into your sleepiness the following week, a recent study found. 4.

? Keep a record and evaluate it weekly. Keep track of your efforts and write down how you feel. After you’ve tried a new method for a week, take a look at your record. 5. If not, take another look at other methods you could try.

A. Get a sleep specialist.

B. Find the right motivation.

C. A better plan for sleep can help.

D. And consider setting a second alarm.

E. If the steps you take are working, keep it up.

F. Stick to your set bedtime and wake-up time, no matter the day.

G. Reconsider the 15 minutes you spend in line at the café to get coffee.

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