The Pitcher Plant (Cambridge Connection English)
Comprehension
A. Answer the questions.
1. Give a brief description of the pitcher plant and where it grows.
= The plant is a creeping or climbing shrub which runs along the ground, or climbs up other shrubs and short trees. It seems to thrive best upon the mountaintops, and the summits of the mountains of Borneo are found gaily decked with it.
The pitcher plants are found mainly on the islands of Borneo, Java and Sumatra, and parts of Malaysia. They are also found in Sri Lanka, Madagascar and some other islands, but not in large numbers.
2. Which part of the plant is shaped like a pitcher? How is it formed?
= The leaf of the plant is shaped like a pitcher.
The leaf is the shape of any ordinary leaf until it reaches its point, where it is drawn out into a long stalk, at the end of which is the jug or pitcher, which, in fact, is formed out of the leaf itself.
3. What variation can be seen in the shape and size of the pitchers?
= There are thirty or forty different kinds of pitcher plants, varying a great deal in size. Some are long and slender, others are broad and shallow. Some are tiny jugs only an inch deep, while others are perhaps twenty inches deep. But the strange thing about all of them is that the ends of their leaves are shaped like pitchers or like jugs with lids.
4. To what does the writer compare the pitcher?
= The writer compares the pitcher with a jug.
5. Why does the plant need to attract insects?
= The plant needs to attract insects by the bright colours of the lid or the scent of the honey to let them get or slip into the pitcher.
B. Complete the description of the pitcher plant given below.
The pitcher's mouth is always open and a lid is placed over the mouth in a raised position. The underside of the lid and the mouth of the pitcher are brightly-coloured like flowers to attract insects. Below the mouth of the pitcher are downward-pointing hooks. The sides of the pitcher below the hooks are smooth and slippery. At the bottom of the pitcher is some quantity of water.
C. Now use your own words to write a description of how insects are trapped in the pitcher and drowned.
= Insects are attracted to the pitcher by the bright colours of the lid or the scent of the honey. They creep into the mouth and crawl between the hooks, and then they step upon the smooth and slippery inside of the jug. In another instant, they have slipped into the water at the bottom of the jug. However hard they try, they can not climb up the slippery sides of the pitcher or pass the row of sharp hooks, whose points are turned against them. They are caught.
D. Read the lines and answer the questions.
1. "The plant is a creeping or climbing shrub which runs along the ground, or climbs up other shrubs and short trees."
a. Which plant is referred to here?
= Pitcher plant is referred to here.
b. What type of plant is it?
= It is a creeping or climbing shrub.
c. Do you think this plant is a parasite (a plant that lives on another plant and gets its food from it)? Give reasons for your answer.
= I do not think this plant is a parasite. It does not live on another plant and gets its food from it. It does not prepare its food as well. It catches insects and gets its nutrients from them.
It is an insectivorous.
2. "Not only do these strange leaves look like jugs, but they are also used as jugs."
a. Why are the leaves strange?
= The leaves are strange because they are looked and formed like a jug.
b. How are these leaves used as jugs?
= Each of them contains a little supply of water, varying with the size of the jug from a few drops to as much as a litre. Thirsty travellers can sometimes quench their thirst from these natural jugs, when water is not found anywhere. Though the water itself is palatable, it is warm and always full of insects.
c. What is the purpose of these jugs?
= These jugs serves as a trap for flies and insects. One by one the little creatures alight upon the outside of the jug, and creep into the open mouth, and few or none of them ever return. They slip into the water at the bottom of the jug and are drowned.
3. "Thirsty travellers can quench their thirst from these natural jugs, when water is not found anywhere."
a. Why do you think the travellers are thirsty?
= I think the travellers are thirsty after travelling long distances in the scorching heat of the summer sun.
b. Where do you think they might find these plants?
= I think they might find these plants beside the path or in the nearby bushes.
c. Why is the term natural applied to these jugs? What is the opposite of natural?
= The term natural applied to these jugs because these plants grow naturally.
The opposite of natural is artificial or man-made.
E. Think and answer.
1. What do you think of the pitcher plant?
= Pitcher plant is one of the wonderful creatures of nature. They are specially designed and adapted to collect their nutrition from insects. They have very unique features to attract insects and capture them in the pitcher. They definitely play an important part in the ecosystem. They also execute a noble purpose by quenching the thirst of the travellers in the scorching heat of the sun.
2. Do you think nature is intelligent? Give reasons for your answer.
= Yes, nature is intelligent. It has created every possible solutions for each problems. Pitcher plants have the need of protein. Nature has made them such a way that they can catch insects and take protein from them. The pitchers are very technically designed and created to attract the insects by colour and scent.
Pitcher plant has a jug like structure. Nature has planned to store some water in it so that the thirsty travellers can quench their thirst.
The total process of capturing and absorption is very nicely designed which is the proof of nature's intelligence.