Dodder is an unusual and unwanted plant that attacks other plants. Except for its flowers, the plant looks like spaghetti noodles. Its almost leafless, thread–like stems hang down atop other plants that dodder needs to stay alive. Dodder does not produce its own food. Instead, it steals it from other plants. It feeds by sucking juices from the plant it is wrapped around, often making its host very weak or even killing it. Dodder can find other plants by their smell. When a dodder seedling starts growing, it follows the scent of plants it prefers, like tomato plants, potato plants, or other farm crops.

   Unlike most plants that usually grow in the direction of light or warmth, a dodder plant will grow in the direction of, for example, tomato odor––if a tomato happens to be growing nearby. However, a young dodder plant must find a host plant quickly. If it cannot catch a whiff of a potential host within a few days, it will dry up and disappear— even if there is plenty of water around. Once it finds a host, the young dodder plant will attach itself to it and start growing faster. At that point, the dodder plant will drop its root.

   Dodder is thus a difficult weed to manage and a real headache for farmers. When it does get out of hand, dodder can greatly reduce a farmer’s harvest or even destroy crops completely. Before sowing their produce, farmers in warm parts of the world often check to make sure no unwanted dodder seeds have intermingled with their crop seeds. This is a good way to stop dodder plants from sneaking their way into a crop field.

The expression get out of hand is closest in meaning to .........

Câu hỏi liên quan

• The word “reluctant” in line 13 can best be replaced by ________.

• The final product of the process of drying liquids that uses the first method will be ______.

• In the second paragraph, the pronoun "them" refers to which of the following?

ZUNIA12

• The word which in the second paragraph refers to _______.

• From the expression “on record” in line 19, it can be inferred that the tsunami that accompanied the Krakatoa volcano ___________ .

• Co-education was negatively responded to in .................

• It can be inferred from the passage that the author is ___________.

• What is the main point the writer is trying to make in the last paragraph?

• The word "succeeding" is closest to ______.

• What does the passage mainly discuss?

• By discovering and better understanding your own learning styles, you can improve ..............

• The passage mentions which of the following as a reason for the importance of Lake Vostok to scientists?

• How many different forms of communication are mentioned here?

• What does the word “it” refer to?

• When she published her first book, Carson was closest to the age of .........

• When the concept of universal primary education was introduced, education ................

• The word “gloomy” in the passage is closest in meaning to ...............

• The word “splendors” in the passage could be best replaced by which of the following?

• In the last paragraph, what does the author imply is a major function of hypotheses?

• The topic of the passage is ________.