CHAPTER THREE Reading Page 41.
Simon like exciting films,but Debbie prefers nature films.
One day,she said,'Do you want to watch this video,Simon?
It's about strange living things.they can be very or huge!
Some have lots of bodyguards to protect them.
Some live for thousands of years.And some are killers and kidnappers!
Simon said,'It sounds really exciting!'
But he had a surprise when he watched it.
Here are some excerpts from it.Tgw Weird World of Plants.
This is the Venus Fly Trap.
It has two special leaves,and each leaf has several hairs in the middle.
If an insect touches one of these the leaves start to shut together.
The insect often tries to run away.
But the plant moves more quickly than the insect.
The victim is trapped in a little prison.
Soon it dies,and the plant gradually absorbs it.
Plants live the longest of all things on Earth.
A Bristlecone Pine in California is 4,700 years old.
and is still alive older than any written history.
Plants can be as small as one cell,like the millions of tiny plants in the seas.
One of the smallest is the Lichen plant which grows on stones.
It is probably the plant which grows the most slowly.
It can take a hundred years to grow a few centimetres.
But plants can also be as big as the Giant Redwood.
the world's most massive living thing.
One tree in California is 84 m high.
and probably over two thousand tonnes in weight.
No other type of tree grows higher than the Giant Redwood.
The Dead Horse Arum attracts flies by looking and smelling like dead meat.
Once they get inside the plant,it shuts a door.
and keeps them prisoner for a night.
During the night,it drops pollen on them.
It releases them the next morning covered in pollen.
so that they can go and carry the pollen to another Arum.
One type of Acacia tree in South America encourages ants to live in it.
The tree provides the ants with a home(in special branches).
and with food (little pieces of protein at the end of some leaves).
In return,the ants defend their tree as fiercely as they can.
They attack any other insect or animal which comes near.
and even remove other plants growing near it.
LISTENING,Understanding the sequence of events.
SPEAKING,A Talk time.
Helping our listeners to understand us.
When we talk to people,we must use our voices.
so thatour listeners can underst and us easily.
We should:speak loudly enough to be heard;pronounce words correctly;
stress words or syllables that we think are important;
let our voices rise or fall at the end of sentences,clauses or phrases.
which are often shown by punctuation marks;
pause at the end of sentences,clauses or phrases.
Exercise A1,
I have an announcement to make.
It's about this year's Science Exhibition.
Last week,I asked for volunteers to help with the arrangements.
Up to now,only one person has given me her name.
I need six more,so please let me have some more names,by Friday at the latest.
Exercise A2.
Ladies and gentlemen(p).
For the past year(p).
I've been experimenting with the blood of mice.
(p)and I've made a very interesting discovery.
Every day,of white cells in the blood rises and falls.
Even more interesting there is a rhythm to this rise and fall.
I believe this rhythm is present in ail living things,including ourselves.
more language input(Ⅲ),
Reading,
Learn to care for plants.
The Native Plant Gardens in Victoria British Columbia.
Canada contain a large collection of living examples ofplants that grow in the local area.
Most of the plants are collected from the wild.Some are from nurseries.
The gardeners look after the plants and the beds very carefully.
They cultivate the soil,and water the plants regularly.
They also check for diseases or pests once a week.
The name of each plant,the place it came fromits location in the gardens.
and its reference number are all recorded on cards and in computer files.
Records of the yearly growth cycles of many plants are also available.
The Native Plant Gardens offer an ideal setting for school pro grammesin plant identification,plant use and ecology.
Students often come here for outdoor studies.
and hands on gardening and research,
Listening.
Too shy!you are going hear a passage about a plant called mimosa.
fill in the blanks with the wrds you hear on fape.
Have you ever seen a mimosa plant?
Perhaps you have one right there in your home.
Mimosa is a small(1)__which grows to about(2)___cm in height.
It is a (3)___plant.
If you(4)___it,its leaves will(5)___up within a few seconds.
Scientists say that these leaves contain a special kind of cell.
the(7)___in the cells quickly moves into the spaces between the cell walls.
The cells then(8)___causing the leaves to(9)___.
If the plant is left alone.
the cells will soon fill with(10)__ and the leaveswill(11)___again.But remember:Don't be like the touchy mimosa yourself!
Many people like this(12)___plant.
It's(13)___watchingthe leaves(14)___and(15)___.
But remember:Don't be like the touchy mimosa yourself!