阅读理解

　　The Venus flytrap is a kind of meat-eating plant．It grows in very few places, such as wetlands near the coast of North Carolina in America．

　　The Venus flytrap is not a large plant．It grows to be only about a foot tall．The plant has white flowers in the spring, but it is the plant's leaves that make it so interesting．The ends of the leaves have folding parts with stiff, tiny hairs(带小硬刺的可折叠部分)．These are the plant's “traps(捕捉器)”．

　　What does the Venus flytrap eat? As you might guess, the Venus flytrap eats flies(苍蝇)．It also eats spiders, ants, and crickets．The Venus flytrap makes most of its food with sun, air, and water, just like other plants．Living things just give it extra nutrition(营养)to grow well in wetlands．

　　How does this plant trap and eat living things? The Venus flytrap uses a sweet liquid(液体)to attract its food．When a fly lands on one of the plant's open traps, hairs on the surface make the trap closed．As soon as the trap closes, the fly is dinner!

　　If you want to have your own Venus flytrap at home, you have to buy the plant from a special place．You can't take a Venus flytrap from where it grows! There are laws about taking it out of the wild．

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阅读理解

　　Jeanne Calment took up skating at age 85, made her first movie appearance at age114．and held a concert in the neighborhood on her 121 st birthday．

　　When it comes to long life, Jeanne Calment is the world’s recordholder．She lived to the ripe old age of 122．So is 122 the upper limit(限制)to the human life span(寿命)?If scientists come up with some sort of pill or diet that would slow aging, could we possibly make it to 150－or beyond?

　　Researchers don't entirely agree on the answers．“Calment lived．to 122, SO it wouldn't sul33rise me if someone alive today reaches 130 or 135,”says Jerry Shay at the University of Texas．

　　Steve Austad at the University of Texas agrees．“People can live longer than we think．”he says．“Experts used to say that humans couldn’t live past 110．When Calment blew past that age, they raised the number to 1 20．So why can’t we go higher?”

　　The trouble with guessing how old people can live to be is that it’s all just guessing．“Anyone can make up a number．”says Rich Miller at the University, of guessing

　　　Michigan．“Usually the scientist who picks the highest number gets his name in Time magazine．”

　　Won’t new anti－aging techniques keep us alive for centuries?Any cure, says Miller, for aging would probably keep most of HS living until about 120．Researchers are working on treatments that make the life span of mice longer by 50 percent at most．

　　So, if the average(平均)human life span is about 80 years, says Miller,“adding another 50 percent would get you to 120．”

　　So what can we learn from this little disagreement among the researchers?That life span is flexible(有弹性的), but there is a limit, says George Martin of the University of Washington．“We can get flies to live 50 percent longer．”he says．“But a fly'snever going to live 150 years．”Of course, if you became a new species(物种), one that ages at a slower speed, that would be a different story, he adds．

　　Does Martin really believe that humans could evolve(进化)their way to longer life?“It’s pretty cool to think about．”He says with a smile．

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