65．Which of the followings is NOT true?
A．The romance of sharing dessert on
Valentine’s Day is good for our health.
B．Major life events, like a death or
a divorce contribute to emotional eating.
C．We learn emotional eating when we
are children.
D．We may feel worse after emotional
eating.
C
Researchers
combing the rainforests of Brazil have uncovered four new species of fungi that
turns ants into zombies(僵尸). Although it is not the first time the first time the has been
seen affecting ants, the discovery of four distinct species highlights the
level of biodiversity in the Amazon.
The
study, led by Assistant Professor David Hughes of the University of Pennsylvania,
appears online in the journal PLoS One.
Ants
become infected when they come into contact with spores(孢子) released by the fungus. Within a
week the ant enters a “zombie-like” state. “This so-called zombie fungus
changes the behaviors of the ant, causing it to die in an exposed position,”
the study authors write. The fungus then grows outof the head of the ant,
releasing spores into the air, which rain down onto unsuspecting ants and the
forest floor.
In
2009, Hughes led a team of researchers studying “zombie-ants” in Indonesia.
They found the infected ants consistently attached to leaves 25 centimeters
(9.8 inches) above the ground in an environment with 95 percent humidity(湿度)-perfect conditions for the fungus to grow.
In
the current study, Hughes and colleagues found each species of fungus was
different in size and shape, and adapted to live only in one particular
species. Two of the species of fungus have also adapted to grow secondary
spores, doubling their chances of finding a new host.
Steve
Shattuck, an ecologist with CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences says there are records of
the fungus existing in Australia, but its range is limited to tropical(热带的) regions of Australia.
“It’s
hard to find. Exactly how common it is, who knows? But obviously if it was too
common it would kill all the ants and then go away,” says Shattuck.
And
despite the fungus’ ability at destroying a whole colony of ants, Shattuck says
its potential for use in pest control is very limited.
“What
the paper found was that the fungi were species specific,” he sys. “So unless
one of ants was your pest it doesn’t do you any good.”
It
also means the possibility that the fungi will turn our 2000 species of
Australian ant into a zombie army is highly remote.