2014高考英语二轮复习之阅读理解专练11.docVIP

2014高考英语阅读理解二轮精英训练精品题（11）及答案 【2014高考英语湖北省荆州市一模试题】 A towering South American plant that is believed to kill animals with its spikes(尖刺) and use their rotting bodies as fertilizer is about to bloom(开花) in England. A rare Puya chilensis was planted at a greenhouse in Surrey, a county in the southeast of England about 15 years ago. However, despite its frightening description, the tall, spiked plant is considered a threatened species. The Royal Horticultural Society has been feeding the plant a diet of liquid fertilizer. “In its natural habitat in the Andes it uses its razor sharp spikes to snare and trap sheep and other animals, which slowly starve to death and rot at the base of the plant, providing it with a bag of fertilizer,” reads a description on the RHS website, which adds that the plant gives off a “gruesome scent.” But does the plant actually trap and eat sheep? Other sources have simply said it is “believed” that the plant traps small animals with its spikes. After the animals die of starvation, the plant is believed to then use their rotting bodies as fertilizer to feed itself. Im really pleased that weve finally persuaded our Puya chilensis into producing flower, horticulturalist Cara Smith said in a press release on the RHS site. Regardless of whether it actually traps sheep, the plant does have sharp spikes that can grow up to 12 feet high and 5 feet wide. However, it’s not all death and danger for this plant. Its flowery blooms reportedly provide nectar(花蜜) for bees and birds. The Puya chilensis blooms annually in its native land of Chile, but this is the first time it has done so after more than a decade of cultivation efforts from the RHS. We keep it well fed with liquid fertilizer as feeding it on its natural diet might prove a bit problematic,” Smith said. Its growing in the dry section of our glasshouse with its deadly spines well out of reach of both children and sheep alike. 59.?? From the passage we learn that in England the Puya chilensis _____.