by James Wong
Meet the plant that is making scientists rethink how we understand intelligence. A growing body of research suggests that far from being merely a passive, green backdrop to the natural world, plants actively engage in complex behaviour. They are capable of communicating with allies, attacking rivals and even feeding their young. But could we also add “learning” and “memory” to the list?
Researchers in Australia recently sought to investigate this hypothesis by attempting to “train” a group of touch-me-not plants (Mimosa pudica). The ferny leaves of this exotic, South American houseplant have the curious property of “playing dead”: they instantly collapse to resemble a withered branch when they are touched. Botanists believe this evolved as a defence against herbivore attack.
The scientists devised a mechanical device that would drop mimosa plants 15cm on to a foam base, providing just enough shock to trigger leaf collapse, but without damaging the plants. By doing this hundreds of times a day, the researchers were quickly able to “teach” plants to begin to ignore this stimulus, keeping their leaves open throughout.
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Question
Use the article “Gardens: do plants think?” by James Wong to answer the question.
How does the morpheme -ate change the part of speech of stimulus?
(1 point)
Responses
It changes it from an adjective to a verb.
It changes it from an adjective to a verb.
It changes it from a verb to a noun.
It changes it from a verb to a noun.
It changes it from a noun to a verb.
It changes it from a noun to a verb.
It changes it from a noun to an adjective.
1 answer
The correct response is:
It changes it from a noun to a verb.
The morpheme "-ate" is often used as a suffix to form verbs from nouns, indicating a process or action related to the original noun. In this case, "stimulus" (a noun) can lead to the verb "stimulate" when the suffix is applied.
