Question
Gardens: Do plants think?"
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.
2022 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
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)
It changes it from a noun to an adjective.
It changes it from a verb to a noun.
It changes it from an adjective to a verb.
☐ It changes it from a noun to a verb
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.
2022 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
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)
It changes it from a noun to an adjective.
It changes it from a verb to a noun.
It changes it from an adjective to a verb.
☐ It changes it from a noun to a verb
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The correct answer is:
☐ It changes it from a noun to a verb.
The morpheme -ate is used to form verbs from nouns. In this case, "stimulus" (a noun) can become "stimulate" (a verb) with the addition of -ate.
☐ It changes it from a noun to a verb.
The morpheme -ate is used to form verbs from nouns. In this case, "stimulus" (a noun) can become "stimulate" (a verb) with the addition of -ate.