题型:阅读理解 题类:模拟题 难易度:普通
江苏省南通市2020届高三英语基地学校第一次大联考试卷(含听力音频)
Sweet potato plants don't have spines or poisons to defend themselves. But some have evolved a clever way to let hungry herbivores (食草动物) know they aren't an all-you-can-eat buffet, a new study finds. When one leaf injured, it produces a chemical that warms the rest of the plant and its neighbors to make themselves inedible (不宜食用的)to bugs. Sweet potato breeders could potentially engineer plants to produce the chemical as an all-natural pest defense.
Plant ecologists led by Axel Mithofer of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, started to look into sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) defenses after they noticed something interesting about two varieties of the plant grown in Taiwan: The yellow-skinned, yellow-fleshed Tainong 57 is generally herbivore-resistant, but its darker orange cousin, Tainong 66, is plagued (造成麻烦) by insect pests.
To find out why, the team offered up Tainong 57 and 66 plants to hungry African cotton leafworm caterpillars (毛虫).Both plants released at least 40 airborne compounds as the caterpillars snacked on their leaves. But Tainong 57 produced a lot more of a chemical called DMNT, which has a very distinct smell, the team details this month in Scientific Reports. ("The smell is not nice," Mithofer says. "You wouldn't want it as a perfume.")
DMNT isn't a new compound; researchers have isolated (分离出) the smelly chemical from other plants such as corn and cabbage, and it is known to induce defense responses in some species.
To determine whether this was happening in sweet potatoes, scientists set up two experiments. First, they put two plants next to each other and wounded one so it produced DMNT. Then, they exposed healthy Tainong 57 plants to DMNT they had synthesized (合成).In both cases, the DMNT caused the exposed plants to produce more of a protein called sporamin in their leaves. (Tainong 66 did not have the same reaction.) When the caterpillar's snack on sporamin, "they immediately stop eating because they don't feel well," Mithofer says.
Sporamin is the main protein in sweet potato tubers (块茎),and is indigestible raw, which is why sweet potatoes must be cooked for humans to enjoy them. "If the caterpillars could cook it, they could eat it," Mithofer says. Theoretically, he says, sweet potato breeders could use genetic engineering to make different varieties of sweet potato produce as much DMNT as Tainong 57, and display the same defense responses.
Still, the research isn't ready for prime time, cautions plant ecologist Martin Heil. DMNT might work in the lab, but in the field, airborne chemicals can be "blown away in seconds," says Heil, who studies plant-insect interactions at the National Polytechnic Institute in Irapuato, Mexico.
Mithofer himself has no plans now to create genetically engineered sweet potato plants, because they would not be a viable (能活下去的) crop in Europe, where genetically modified crops are outlawed. So for now, Tainong 66 will have to put up with being a caterpillar salad bar.
Lots of people stress out about talking in front of the class or getting laughed at if they make a mistake in front of an audience. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} The “stress hormones" that your body produces at times like these can actually help you focus.
But when worry and stress about performing get to be too much, these hormones give people that “red alert(紧急状态)” feeling—the one that causes you to feel cold or sweaty, or get butterflies in your stomach. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}
Be prepared. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Rehearse(排练) as much as you can and practice in front of others at every opportunity. Most of all, think positively. Tell yourself “I'll be OK" or “I can do this" even if you are not 100% sure of it
Look after yourself. Before big performances it's easy to let taking care of yourself slip as you spend too much time on rehearsals and practice. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Exercise can also help you feel good, and along with sleep and nutrition, is an excellent way of keeping those stress hormones from getting out of control.
Find out what the experts do. You can find books, DVDs, and online information about how to give your best when you perform, depending on what type of performance you're preparing for {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Or ask the cast of your school play or your drama or music teacher how they beat stage fright. And if your parents or grandparents ever performed, they may have their own secrets to share.
A. Confidence helps beat stress hormones. B. The following tips can help you avoid that feeling. C. You're less likely to freeze up if you're well prepared. D. You can do this whether you're performing alone or as part of a group. E. Check out stories about Olympic gymnasts or your favorite star to get their tips. F. Feeling nervous before a performance is part of your body's way of helping you do your best. G. You'll look and feel your best if you get enough sleep and eat healthy meals before your performance. |
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