“If you talk to the plants, they will grow faster and the effect is even better
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“If you talk to the plants, they will grow faster and the effect is even better if you’re a woman.” Researchers at Royal Horticultural Society carried out an experient to find that the voice of a woman gardener makes plants grow faster.
The experiment lasted a month and by the end of the study scientists managed to discover that tomato plants grew up two inches taller when women gardeners talked to them instead of male.
Sarah Darwin was the one making the plants registered the best growth. Her voice was the most “inspiring” for plants than those of nine other gardeners when reading a passage from The Origin of Species. The great-great-granddaughter of the famous botanist(植物学家) Charles Darwin found that her plant grew about two inches taller than the plant of the best male gardener.
Colin Crosbie, Garden Superintendent at RHS, said that the finding cannot yet be explained. He assumes that women have a greater range of pitch（音高） and tone（音调） which might have a certain effect on the sound waves that reach the plant. “Sound waves are an environmental effect just like rain or light ,”said Mr Grosbie.
The study began in April at RHS Garden Wisley in Survey. Scientists started with open auditions(听力) for the people who were asked to record passages from John Wyndham"s The Day of the Triffids, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer"s Night Dream and Darwin"s The Origin of Species.
Afterwards researchers selected a number of different voices and played them to 10 tomato plants during a period of a month. Each plant had headphones（耳机） connected to it. Through the headphones the sound waves could hit the plants. It was discovered that plants that “listened” to female voices on average grew taller by an inch in comparison to plants that heard male voices.
Miss Darwin said, “I think it is an honor to have a voice that can make tomatoes grow, and especially fitting because for a number of years I have been studying wild tomatoes from the Galapagos Island at the Natural History Museum in London.”
小题1:What does the passage talk about?| A．Plants enjoy men’s voices than women’s. | | B．A botanical experiment in a museum. | | C．Voice’s influence on plant growing. | | D．Strange phenomenon（现象） at Royal Horticultural Society. |
小题2:What does the underlined sentence in paragraph 4 mean?| A．Plants need sound as well as rain and light. | | B．Sound is basic for the plant to grow. | | C．Sound has a good effect as rain or light does. | | D．Plants can’t live without sound, rain or light. |
小题3:Sarah Darwin is most likely a (an)_____.| A．botanist | B．gardener | C．astronomer | D．environmentalist |
小题4:What can we learn from the passage?| A．The experiment ended in May. | | B．Scientist can explain the findings clearly. | | C．Plants enjoy listening to the passages from masterpieces. | | D．The findings are of great importance to human beings. |
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答案
小题1:C
小题2:C
小题3:A
小题4:A |
解析
文章讲述了一个有趣的发现，声音能让植物的长得更好。
小题1:主旨大意题。通读全文可知文章是关于声音对植物生长的影响。
小题2:猜测词义题。本句话的句意就是声音和雨点光线对植物都有影响。
小题3:推理题。根据文章第三段内容可知Sarah Darwin是达尔文的后裔，恰好又是利用她的声音做实验，她最可能是一位植物学家。
小题4:推理题。根据第五段第一行The study began in April以及第二段第一行The experiment lasted a month可知A正确， |
举一反三
Kuss Middle School serves students in Fall River, Mass. , a former mill town that has struggled economically for decades. Students at Kuss have struggled, too, usually falling short of making the academic progress required under the No Child Left Behind law.
Then, last year, the school experimented with extending the school day. Teachers got paid at a higher hourly rate.
Students weren"t thrilled at first with leaving school at 4:15 p.m. instead of at 2:20 p.m. But the added hours gave them more time for physical education and let them select special interest classes. By the end of the year, student scores had risen by enough to enable Kuss to make the progress required under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
The only surprise is that more districts haven"t lengthened school schedules set decades ago to accommodate (适应) a farm economy rather the information economy of today.
School days
The USA ranks 36th of 40 industrialized nations in average weekly instructional time.
Selected countries:
1) Thailand--30.5 hours 2) Korea--30.3 hours 7) China--26.5 hours
14) France--24.6 hours 15 ) UK--24.6 hours
16) Mexico--24.2 hours 23 ) Japan--23.8 hours
26)Canada--23.6 hours 36)USA--22.2 hours 40)Brazil--19 hours
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New research suggests the time is ready for a change:
Matched against 39 other developed countries, the United States is near the bottom in the rankings of average weekly instructional time in school. Measured over 12 years, students in the top-scoring countries spend the equivalent of a full extra year in school.
US students perform poorly on math and science tests compared to their international peers, according to a US Education Department comparison released earlier this month. In math, American 15-year-old scored near the bottom among the study"s 30 developed countries.
Most countries that boost the number of minutes spent on math instruction find pay offs in improved math scores, according to a study released this month by the Brookings Institution. Small in creases in the school day are more effective than a longer school year, the report concluded.
The most encouraging news about the benefits of extending the school day comes from Massachusetts, where an experiment with 10 schools, including Kuss, appears to be working. Those 10 schools lengthened their instructional days by 25% and boosted their state scores in math, English and science at all grades.
Perhaps the concept won"t work everywhere. Certainly, it won"t instantly be popular. But it"s obvious that a problem exists or that adding class time seems to help.
小题1:What is the main idea of the above passage?| A．Experiments with extended school hours produce academic gains. | | B．Kuss Middle School sets a good example for US education. | | C．Academic progress has achieved under the No Child Left Behind law. | | D．Information age calls for more instructional lime at all schools. |
小题2:A longer school day is suggested for the following reasons except that _________.| A．students from many developed countries spend more time at school | | B．American students do a bad job at science subjects | | C．teachers are paid at a higher rate with time added | | D．a longer school day works better than a longer school year |
小题3:Which statement is true of Kuss Middle School?| A．Kuss Middle School lies in where a farm economy is changing to an information one. | | B．Kuss Middle school has joined the federal "No Child Left Behind" progrann | | C．Neither teachers nor students are happy with the longer school day. | | D．Adding class time functions at Kuss Middle School. |
小题4:The writer has expressed ____________.| A．a positive attitude towards adding school time | | B．a negative attitude towards adding school time | | C．a changing attitude towards adding school time | | D．a right attitude towards adding school time |
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Most British parents give their teenagers pocket money．Teenagers get between￡7 and￡20 a week．They spend it on fast food，designed clothes，the cinema，concert，magazines and mobile phones．
1)Lazy parents?
37％of parents pay teenagers to clean the living room，66％of parents pay teenagers to take the rubbish out．
2)Lazy teens?
51％of teenagers don’t make their beds before they leave home．
Only 1 3％of teenagers wash the car for money．
Some parents even pay their teenagers to do their homework．
3)Equality?Not Yet!
Boys get more money than girls for most odd jobs．
For washing the dishes，boys get about￡4 and girls get about￡1．
4)And if you need some more money?
Teens get an extra￡250 a year out of their parents on top of pocket money!
About 50％of teens get gifts or money from their grandparents．
Go to Mum if you need extra money! She gives more than Dad．
5)Where you live makes a difference!
Parents in Scotland and the North of England give more pocket money．
6)Spending
51％of teenagers spend their money on clothes．
39％of teenagers buy cosmetics(装饰品)，jewellery and toiletries(洗漱用品)．
Less than 30％of teenagers save any money．
7)Earnings
Here are some children who tell us about their pocket money：
Emma：I get￡30 a month．I have to take the rubbish out and tidy my room．
James：I get￡10 a week．But I have to clean the car，hoover(用真空洗尘器清洗)the house and load and unload the dishwasher．I usually save the money．
Lain：I get￡7．50 a week．I have to be“good”but I don’t have to do any jobs for the money．
Richard；I get￡5 a week．But our neighbors go away a lot and they give me￡25 a week for looking after their cats．
小题1:This passage is mainly about ．| A．teenagers everywhere get pocket money | | B．how to spend pocket money | | C．some bits about pocket money in Britain | | D．how to get pocket money |
小题2:According to the passage，which statement is true?| A．Parents are lazy so they let children do housework． | | B．Teens are too lazy to do housework unless they are given pocket money． | | C．The pocket money boys and girls get is not equal． | | D．It is not right for children to ask for pocket money． |
小题3:We can infer from the passage that ．| A．boys earn more money at home than girls | | B．girls earn more money at home than boys | | C．only rich parents give children pocket money | | D．most children spend their pocket money |
小题4:Who most probably gets the most money for a whole year according to the passage?| A．Emma | B．J ames | C．Lain | D．Richard |
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Today, traditional opinions about men still exist. A man has to be strong, brave, sports loving and manly. Anything less would not be considered manly. Sports such as football, basketball and boxing all tend (往往是) to be men’s sports. However, the dance of ballet is considered feminine because it requires nice movements. This tradition is shown in the movie, Billy Elliot.
Billy Elliot is a movie that protests against this traditional view of men. Billy Elliot is an eleven-year-old boy that has a natural talent for ballet dancing, but his father will not allow it. Billy’s father wants him to take up boxing and become stronger, but Billy goes against his father’s wishes and takes up ballet dancing. This difference of opinion makes Billy sad. What’s more, his friends also laugh at him.
After saving enough money, his father sends Billy to a weekly boxing course; however, Billy doesn’t enjoy boxing because he always loses in matches and is often hurt. His ballet teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson thinks that men or women should not be judged by the activities they like to do, so she tells Billy’s father that although he wants his son to make a good living, he should let his son do what he loves to do because he has a talent for it. When his father finally realizes the truth, Billy is surprised. In the end, with the help of his father, brother and all the people around him, Billy goes to the Royal Ballet Academy in London and becomes a very successful ballet dancer.
小题1:The underlined word “feminine” in the first paragraph most probably means ______| A．of men | B．of children | C．of women | D．of students |
小题2:Why is Billy laughed at by other children?| A．He always loses in boxing matches. | B．He isn’t strong. | | C．He looks like a girl. | D．He loves ballet. |
小题3:What do we know about Billy?| A．His teacher encourages him to take up ballet dancing. | | B．He does well in ballet dancing and boxing. | | C．He does what his father wants him to do. | | D．He has never taken up any men’s sports. |
小题4:From Billy’s story, we can see that _______.| A．children should accept their parents’ opinions | | B．we should try to fight against traditional opinions | | C．men and women play different sports | | D．parents should let their children do what they are interested in |
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Recently Dr. Cleiman has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle. During the hours when you labor (work) through your work, you may say that you are “hot”. That is true, the time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak (顶峰). For some people the peak comes during the forenoon (上午前). For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why this is so.
Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what this energy cycle means and which cycle each member of the family has.
You cannot change your cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. “Habits can help,” Dr. Cleiman believes. If your energy cycle is low in the morning but you have an important job early in the day, rise before your usual hour, and then you will work better at your low point.
Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a lazy yawn(哈欠) and stretch(伸展). Sit on the edge of bed before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome searching for clean clothes by laying them out the night before.
小题1:Dr. Cleiman did not explain in the passage ___________.| A．how people can make their life fit their cycle | | B．whether everyone has a daily cycle or not | | C．why people have their energy cycle at different times | | D．what will happen in the family if the couple fail to realize which cycle each member has |
小题2:For what reason may husbands and wives quarrel with each other?| A．Either of them gets up late in the morning. | | B．Husbands and wives have different cycles of energy. | | C．Either of them wants to change the cycle of the other’s. | | D．They do not know which cycle they themselves have. |
小题3:According to the passage, ____________.| A．one works better at one’s peak energy point | | B．if you know your cycle you can change it to fit your life. | | C．whenever you feel hot, your energy cycle reaches the highest | | D．your energy cycle must be in the morning if you can get up early |
小题4:Which of the following can save your energy in the morning?| A．Getting up late. | | B．Jumping out of bed as quickly as possible. | | C．Looking for clean clothes. | | D．Sitting for a while before getting out of bed. |
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Why don’t birds get lost on their long migratory (迁居的) flights? Scientists have puzzled over this question for many years. Now they’re beginning to fill in the blanks.
Not long ago, experiments showed that birds rely on the sun to guide them during daylight hours. But what about birds that fly mainly by night? Tests with artificial stars have proved conclusively that certain night-flying birds are able to follow the stars in their long-distance flights.
One such bird, a warbler(鸣禽) , had spent its lifetime in a cage and had never flown under a natural sky. Yet it showed an inborn ability to use the stars for guidance. The bird’s cage was placed under an artificial star-filled sky at migration time. The bird tried to fly in the same direction as that taken by his outdoor cousins. Any change in the direction of the make-be-live stars caused a change in the direction of his flight. Scientists think that warblers, when flying in daylight, use the sun for guidance. But the stars are apparently their main means of navigation (导航). What do they do when the stars are hidden by clouds? Apparently, they find their way by such landmarks as mountain ranges, coast lines, and river courses. But when it’s too dark to see these, the warblers circle helplessly, unable to get their direction.
小题1:The reasons why birds don’t get lost on migratory flights__________.| A．have been known to scientists for many years | | B．are known by everyone | | C．have only recently been discovered | | D．will probably remain a mystery |
小题2:Warblers migrate__________.| A．from North America to South America | | B．using what is apparently an inborn navigational ability | | C．only once during their lifetime | | D．when they are freed from their cages |
小题3:When the stars are hidden by clouds, warblers find their way by__________ .| A．an artificial star | B．some landmarks | | C．their inborn ability | D．A and B |
小题4:This article is a good example of the way scientists__________ .| A．discover workable answers to universal questions by studying particular cases(特别案例) | | B．jump to conclusions | | C．find a law and then investigate（调查） | | D．are disappointed by the habits of animals |
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