Plant behaviour

文章大意

讲座介绍植物行为研究的新进展：过去人们认为植物是被动的，近二十年发现植物能复杂地感知环境。以加拿大海滩上的大叶海火箭草为例，它遇到邻近植物会多长根争养分，但若邻居是近亲则不争，说明植物能识别亲缘；鼠尾草和曼陀罗也可能有类似能力。

题目与答案

1. Changing ideas

   · Scientists once thought of plants as being 31_____ .

   · Now there is evidence that this is not true.

   答案：passive

   原文定位：And even by scientists, they were generally regarded as organisms which were essentially passive

2. Recent studies

   Great Lakes sea rocket

   · found on 32_____

   答案：beaches

   原文定位：This is a wild plant which grows on beaches

   同义替换：「found on」↔「grows on」

3. · when near other plants, it normally produces extra 33_____ to compete for nutrients.

   · however, it behaves differently if it is related to the other plants.

   答案：roots

   原文定位：Normally, when the sea rocket detects other plants growing nearby, it quickly grows additional roots

   同义替换：「produces extra」↔「grows additional」

4. Sagebrush and thomapple

   · recognition of surrounding plants by the type of 34_____ that they reflect.

   答案：light

   原文定位：It's been claimed that these plants can recognize the characteristics of their neighbors by sensing properties of the light that is reflected from them

   同义替换：「surrounding plants」↔「neighbors」

5. · identification is possible because all plants have a particular 35_____ .

   答案：signature

   原文定位：So each plant species has what you could call its own signature

   同义替换：「identification」↔「recognize」，「particular」↔「own」

6. Doddber plant

   · is unable to produce 36_____

   答案：sugar

   原文定位：This plant is different to most other species because it doesn't have the ability to make sugar by converting nutrients from the soil

   同义替换：「is unable to produce」↔「doesn't have the ability to make」

7. · needs to feed off another plant to survive.

   · affects farmers` crops, e.g. alhalfa, 37_____ and citrus.

   答案：potatoes

   原文定位：It's particularly damaging to alfalfa, as well as to potatoes and different varieties of citrus

   同义替换：「affects」↔「damaging to」

8. · identifies suitable “hosts” by detecting the 38_____ they give off.

   答案：chemicals

   原文定位：But now they found that the plant can identify a suitable host by sensing the chemicals that other plants release into the soil and air

   同义替换：「detecting」↔「sensing」，「give off」↔「release」

9. · move in a 39_____ to check the environment, then grows towards the most suitable host.

   答案：circle

   原文定位：when the dodder is trying to check out its environment, it rotates in a circle, and then, without touching any other plants, it heads directly towards its selected host

   同义替换：「move in」↔「rotates in」

10. Plant science

    use of modern 40_____ provides evidence of plant behaviour.

    答案：equipment

    原文定位：Many of the phenomena related to plant behavior that I've just described are now quite easy to observe using up-to-date equipment

    同义替换：「modern」↔「up-to-date」，「provides evidence of」↔「observe」