閱讀前先看 Before you read
- 主題
- How plants exchange information
- 文章重點
- Plants are not as passive as they look: they exchange information with each other and with animals through airborne chemicals, fungal networks and slow electrical signals — though none of this means they think or feel.
- 難度
- 中等偏難 · Upper-Intermediate
- 建議時間
- 18 分鐘
重要單字
- volatile — easily evaporating into the air / 揮發性的
- mycorrhizal — relating to fungi-plant root partnerships / 菌根的
- symbiotic — involving close mutual benefit / 共生的
- altruistically — unselfishly, for others' benefit / 利他地
- propagate — to spread or travel forward / 傳播
- vascular — relating to the channels that carry fluids / 維管束的
30 秒快速理解 30-second summary
Plants share information through three channels: airborne VOCs that warn neighbours of caterpillar attack; underground mycorrhizal networks (the "wood wide web") that pass nutrients and warnings between trees; and slow electrical signals within a single plant's vascular tissue. None of this means plants think — but it does mean a still meadow is full of hidden exchange.
逐段練習 Read paragraph by paragraph
1
段落 1 — From "passive" to communicating
Plants are easy to dismiss as passive, since they neither move nor make sounds in any sense the human ear can hear. A growing body of research over the past forty years suggests, however, that plants exchange a great deal of information — both with each other and with the animals around them — through chemical, electrical and even microbial channels. None of this counts as language in the strict sense, but the parallels with animal signalling are striking enough that botanists now routinely speak of plant "communication".
本段重要單字 (3)
- dismiss — to wrongly write off as unimportant / 輕視
- microbial — relating to microorganisms / 微生物的
- parallels — similarities between two things / 相似之處
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
Why do botanists now speak of plant "communication"?
- Because plants have been shown to use language in the strict sense.
- Because the parallels with animal signalling are striking, even though it is not language.
- Because plants make audible sounds.
看答案 · Show answer
答案：B — Because the parallels with animal signalling are striking, even though it is not language.
The paragraph explicitly says it is "not language in the strict sense" but the "parallels with animal signalling are striking enough" that the term is used.
2
段落 2 — Airborne VOC warnings
The best-studied channel involves volatile organic compounds, or VOCs — gases released into the air from leaves under stress. When a tobacco plant is attacked by caterpillars, it emits a distinctive cocktail of VOCs that drifts to neighbouring plants. The neighbours, on detecting these molecules, increase their own production of bitter defensive chemicals before any caterpillar has reached them. The signalling plant is not acting altruistically; it is simply releasing the compounds as part of its own defence, and others happen to overhear. Even so, the effect on the wider community is real.
本段重要單字 (3)
- volatile — easily evaporating / 揮發性的
- altruistically — unselfishly / 利他地
- overhear — to hear something not directed at you / 偷聽到
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
Why do tobacco plants release VOCs?
- To deliberately help neighbouring plants survive.
- As part of their own defence; neighbours simply overhear.
- To attract more caterpillars to one place.
看答案 · Show answer
答案：B — As part of their own defence; neighbours simply overhear.
The passage rules out altruism: "it is simply releasing the compounds as part of its own defence, and others happen to overhear".
3
段落 3 — The underground "wood wide web"
A second channel runs underground. Most land plants form symbiotic associations with networks of fungal hyphae — the mycorrhizal network, sometimes nicknamed the "wood wide web". Researchers led by Suzanne Simard have shown that older trees can transfer carbon, water and small organic molecules through these networks to nearby seedlings of the same species, and that warning signals about pest attack can travel through the same fungal threads. The relationship benefits the fungus, which receives sugars in return, but it also stitches the forest into something closer to a community than a collection of individuals.
本段重要單字 (3)
- symbiotic — mutually beneficial / 共生的
- hyphae — thin thread-like fungal cells / 菌絲
- seedlings — very young plants / 幼苗
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
What does the fungus get from the mycorrhizal partnership?
- Nothing — the relationship benefits only the plant.
- Sugars from the plant in return for help.
- Warning signals about pest attack.
看答案 · Show answer
答案：B — Sugars from the plant in return for help.
The passage says "The relationship benefits the fungus, which receives sugars in return" — the exchange is mutual.
4
段落 4 — Slow electrical signals
A third, more controversial channel uses electrical signals carried within the plant itself. When a leaf is wounded, a slow voltage change propagates through the vascular tissue at roughly one millimetre per second, triggering the release of defensive chemicals in distant leaves. The mechanism resembles a nerve impulse in extreme slow motion, although plants of course have no neurons, and many botanists are uneasy with comparisons to animal nervous systems.
本段重要單字 (3)
- voltage — an electrical force or pressure / 電壓
- vascular — relating to fluid-carrying channels / 維管束的
- neurons — nerve cells / 神經細胞
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
How does the writer compare plant electrical signals to animal ones?
- Plants have neurons just like animals.
- The signals resemble nerve impulses in slow motion, but plants have no neurons.
- Plant signals travel faster than animal nerve impulses.
看答案 · Show answer
答案：B — The signals resemble nerve impulses in slow motion, but plants have no neurons.
The text says the mechanism "resembles a nerve impulse in extreme slow motion, although plants of course have no neurons" — a similarity in form, not substance.
5
段落 5 — What the systems do not show
None of these systems implies that plants think or feel in the way animals do. What they do show is that the apparent stillness of a meadow or a forest hides a continual exchange of information — chemical, fungal and electrical — that helps each plant respond to threats it has not yet directly encountered.
本段重要單字 (3)
- implies — suggests indirectly / 暗示
- continual — happening repeatedly / 持續不斷的
- encountered — met with, experienced / 遇到
Quick Check · 隨堂小測
What does the writer NOT claim about plants?
- They exchange information through several channels.
- They think and feel in the way animals do.
- They can respond to threats they have not yet directly met.
看答案 · Show answer
答案：B — They think and feel in the way animals do.
The paragraph opens by ruling out animal-like thought or feeling: "None of these systems implies that plants think or feel in the way animals do".
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