课标人教实验版高三 Module 9

Unit 4

Reading on P78

Co–Evolution

yucca 丝兰

yucca moth

The Traveller’s

Palm 棕榈树

The Madagascar black lemur

The Ophrys

Orchid 兰花

wasp

Warming up Discuss the question:

What’s the relationship betweenplants and animals?

Pre-reading

Before you read the text, glance quickly

through it and answer these questions.

1. What’s the topic of the text?

2. What three plants are featured?

3. What do the photos show you?

4. What three animal pollinators are

featured?

1. What’s the topic of the text?

2. What three plants are featured?

Co-evolution.

The yucca, the Traveller’s Palm, and

the Ophrys orchid.

3. What do the photos show you?

4. What three animal pollinators are

featured?

Yucca flowers, a Traveller’s Palm,

and an Ophrys orchid.

The yucca moth, the Madagascar

black lemur, a certain kind of wasp

(the male, not the female wasp).

First reading

Now read the text more carefully and

answer these questions.

1. Why can no other animals but the

yucca moth pollinate the yucca?

It’s only the yucca moth which is

the right size and shape to pollinate

the yucca.

2.Can you guess why the Traveller’s

Palm has that name?

The Traveller’s Palm has this name

because travellers used to drink

its nectar when they were thirsty.

3. What do you think “sweet tooth”

means?

If a person or an animal has a “swe

et tooth”, they like sweet food very muc

h.

4. Why do the male wasps try to mate

with the orchid flowers?

The male wasps try to mate with

the orchid flowers because they

look like and smell like female wasps.

5. Why do the female wasps visit the orchi

d flowers? Do they have a role in pollinati

on?

The female wasps visit the orchid

flowers to collect the chemical that the ma

le wasps were attracted to earlier. The fem

ale wasps do not have a role in pollinatio

n since the flowers are dying when they vi

sit them.

Second reading

Now read and think about the adva

ntages and disadvantages of the relati

onships between the plants and pollin

ations described in the text.

Check your understanding and co

mplete the table.

Plant/

pollinator

Advantages Disadvantages

Yucca

Moth

The yucca is certain to be pollinated.

The moth’s caterpillars have a certain supply of food

They are totally dependent on each other for survival.

Plant/

pollinator

Advantages

Disadvantages

Traveller’s

palm

Lemur

The palm’s flower can be opened by the lemur.

The lemur has a source of food.

There is a disadvantage for the palm only if there are no lemurs or other animals present strong enough to open the flowers.

Plant/

pollinator

Advantages Disadvantages

Orchid

Wasp

The orchid is certain to be pollinated.

They are totally dependent on each other for survival.

The female wasps collect a chemical from the orchid needed to attract the males to them.

Discussion

Discuss what you think would happen

to the animal pollinators of each of

the plants described if these plants

died out.

Suggested answers:

The yucca and the yucca moth:

If yucca plants died out, theYucca moth would also die out as the caterpillars need the yucca seeds for food.

The Traveller’s palm and theMadagascar black lemur:

If the Traveller’s palm died out, the Madagascar black lemur would not die out as it can find other sources of food.

The Ophrys orchid and the wasp:

If the Ophrys orchid died out, the wasp would also died out as the female wasp needs the chemicalproduced by the orchid to attract the male wasps.