题型:阅读选择 题类:常考题 难易度:普通
北京市101中学2019-2020学年八年级下学期英语6月月考英语试卷
Human, Don't Come Too Close
When we see babies or pets, we can't help gently touching them to show our love. And they give us happy feelings back. But a recent study shows that it's different for plants.
A study, published inThe Plant Journal, shows that plants don't "like" to be touched. That's because touching changes their genes (基因) and, even worse, can slow their growth.
Professor Jim Whelan of the La Trobe Institute in Australia gave an explanation. "The lightest touch from a human, animal, insect, or even plants touching each other in the wind, leads to a huge gene change in the plant,"Science Daily reported.
Frequent touching from humans may change plants' genes and slow their growth. |
In order to test the theory, the scientists did an experiment on plants. They grew a number of plants to the age of four weeks. Then they touched them with a paintbrush every 12 hours over a 36-hour period.
They found that as a response to the touch, the mitochondria (线粒体) in the plants had been partly destroyed. The mitochondria, as Science Alert noted, are the "powerhouse of the cell (细胞)". The mitochondria produce energy for the rest of the cell in both animals and plants.
If this "powerhouse" is weakened, the plants will lose a large amount of energy that should have supported their growth. Whelan further explained to Science Daily, "If the touching is repeated, then plant growth is reduced by up to 30 percent."
Although the process does have a strong effect on plants, usually the plants survive. Touching changes the plants, but it's not necessarily a bad change.
According to Science Alert, frequent touching or moving plants will make them grow shorter than other ones. The researchers believe this change, in some way, could be helpful. It may help plants fight threats to their health such as insects and bad weather.
The new research findings have led to a deeper understanding of the plants' response to touching. And the research might "open up new ways to reduce sensitivity (敏感性) and improve growth in the future", Science Alert reported.
Morris Old Folks' Home
is looking for volunteers!
Do you feel good helping someone? Do you have time every Friday from 3 p. m. to 5 p. m.? If you answered"yes" to the two questions above, we welcome you to join our volunteer team to help the elderly at Morris Old Folks' Home! |
You may help out by doing any of the following:
★ chatting with the elderly
★ reading story books to the elderly
★ weeding the garden
★ organizing monthly birthday celebrations
★ checking and recording the donations(捐赠物) that we receive
Note: Volunteers must be at least twelve years old and must attend a one-hour briefing session(情况介绍会) before they can begin their journey as a Morris Old Folks' Home volunteer.
If you are interested, emailusatMorrisoldfolks@gmail.com .
To find out more, you can call us or come down to our Old Folks' Home every Friday to have a look at what it is exactly that our kind-hearted volunteers do!
Besides receiving smiles of thankfulness from the elderly, volunteers will receive a freeT-shirt and water bottle from Lifehouse Pte Ltd.
Join us as a volunteer today!
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