Reading passages

 
 
38 
Scientists have known for years that plants could 
send out distress calls to wasps and other insect 
bodyguards, but they are just beginning to understand 
how 
sophisticated the messages can be. They hope to find 
out more about the signals and eventually use them 
to develop chemical -free pest control systems. 
208 -The passage states that ----- .
A) most of the agricultural crops produced in the 
USA are lost to pests 
B) caterpillars can help plants attacked by black 
wasps 
C) scientists have known all about plants' distress 
calls for years 
D) friendly insects can help plants against unfriendly 
ones 
E) researchers have only recently become aware of 
the distress calls of plants 
209 -According to the passage, further research 
into the plants' distress calls is necessary in order 
for scientists ---- .
A) to act promptly when plants need help 
B) to develop new chemicals to be used against pests 
C) to understand whether plants really have this 
ability 
D) to distinguish between useful and harmful insects 
E) to make use of them in the fight against pests 
210 -One can understand from the passage that 
"pest" means a ---- .
A) microscopic ambulance 
B) specific signal 
C) harmful insect 
D) type of researcher 
E) helpful insect 
Not so long ago, most companies were family affairs, 
owned by different members of the same family. 
Some still are, but now many companies have 
survived the founding families and grown into big 
organisations which own smaller, or subsidiary 
companies. These companies work in other countries 
to form multi -national groups, such as the big oil 
companies like Shell or Esso, and the big car 
manufacturers like Ford. The big multi -national 
companies each control more money than many 

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