Q: Article: Have you ever wondered why the roots of the plants always know which way to grow--into the soil but not above it? Some British scientists have recently solved this mystery. It turns out that roots have special hairs that tie them into the soil and help them grow their way past obstacles, a team at the John Inners Center in Norwich reports in the February 29 issue of Journal Science. "The key is in the fuzzy coat of hairs on the roots of plants," says professor Liam Dolan. "We have found a growth control system that enables these hairs to find their way and to become longer when their path is clear." Root hairs explore the soil in much the same way a person would feel their way in the dark. If they come across an obstacle, they make their way around until they can continue growing in an opening. In the meantime, the plant is held in place as the hairs grip the soil. The hairs are guided by a clever chemical trick. A protein  at the tip of the root hairs called RHD2 helps them to take calcium  from the soil. Calcium makes the hairs grow, and produce more RHD2, and take more calcium. But when an obstacle blocks the hair's path, or the hair reaches the surface of the soil, the cycle is broken and growth starts in another direction. This system gives plants the flexibility to explore a complex environment and to live in even the most unpromising soils, says Dolan. In poor soils such as in parts of Australia and Africa, native plants have adapted by producing enormous numbers of root hairs. A better understanding of this adaptation will allow scientists to develop hairy rooted crops that can grow in unfriendly environments. According to Dolan, "Research in the John Inners Center is taking a breeding approach to increase hair length in wheat but it will be some time before new cultivars  are developed." Question: How does the circle work? Yes or no, is the answer "RHD2 takes calcium from the soil, which makes hairs grow, and produce RHD2 and take more calcium"?
A: No


Q: Article: There seems never to have been a civilization without toys, but when and how they developed is unknown. They probably came about just to give children something to do. In the ancient world, as is today, most boys played with some kinds of toys and most girls with another. In societies where social roles are rigidly  determined, boys pattern their play after the activities of their fathers and girls are being prepared, even in play, to step into the roles and responsibilities of the adult world. What is remarkable about the history of toys is not so much how they changed over the centuries but how much they have remained the same. The changes have been mostly in terms of craftsmanship, mechanics, and technology. It is the universality  of toys with regard to their development in all parts of the world and their persistence to the present that is amazing. In Egypt, America, China, Japan and among the Arctic people, generally the same kinds of toys appeared. Differences depended on local customs and way of life because toys imitate their surrounding. Nearly every civilization had dolls, little weapons, toy soldiers, tiny animals and vehicles. Because toys can be generally regarded as a kind of art form, they have not been subject to technological leaps that characterize(...) inventions for adult use. The progress from the wheel to the cart to the automobile is a direct line of ways up. The progress from a rattle  used by a baby in 3,000 BC to one used by an infant today, however, is not characterized by inventiveness. Each rattle is the product of the artistic tastes of the time and subject to the limitations of available materials. Question: One aspect of "the universality of toys" lies in the fact that  _  . Yes or no, is the answer "the basic characteristics of toys are the same all over the world"?
A: No


Q: Article: Grandma celebrated her fifty-third birthday just weeks before grandpa died of cancer in 1965. Although his passing was very difficult for her, I think their shared struggle to make his life longer taught grandma that good health was not to be taken for granted, and she made up her mind to live the rest of her own life as fully and as long as she could. One day, when she announced to attend lessons at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in Portland, Oregon, where she lived, we rolled our eyes in embarrassment and helplessly wished she would just stay home and bake cookies as normal grandmothers did. Many years filled with countless dance lessons passed before we learned to appreciate the wonder of having a dancing grandma. I suppose grandma's primary motivation for wanting to learn to dance was social. She had been a shy girl, always very tall and heavy, and had married into grandpa's quiet lifestyle before developing any elegance or confidence in her personal appearance. Dancing, on the other hand, filled her life with flash lights, wonderful parties, beautiful dresses, handsome young dance instructors, and the challenge of learning. Although the weekly dance lessons did not change her ample, two-hundred-pound figure, grandma surprised everyone with energetic performances on the dance floor, which soon gave her as much elegance and confidence as any Miss American competitor. Having taken weekly dance lessons for years, my grandma learned various dances easily and was soon participating in dancing matches all over the Northwest. When I was fourteen, grandma proudly invited me to watch her compete in one of these matches to be held in the grand ballroom of the Red Lion Inn. My attitude was still unenthusiastic at that point, but to make her happy, my mother and I attended the match. As if to prove me wrong, grandma made a wonderful showing in every event she entered. I thought she was truly the queen of the ball during the dance, and my thoughts were shared by the judges a short time later when she was awarded a gold... Question: What did grandma learn from grandpa's death? Yes or no, is the answer "Good health was not there for everyone."?
A: No


Q: Article: Sheep Smarter than Thought London--Sheep, like turkeys and ostriches, are not considered the most clever animals. British scientists said last Wednesday humans may have underestimated the woolly creature. They could be much smarter than we think. Researchers at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, southern England, have shown that the animals have a good memory system and are extremely good at recognizing faces--which they think is a sure sign of intelligence. Behavioral scientist Keith Kendrick and his friends trained 20 sheep to recognize and distinguish 25 pairs of sheep faces and used electrodes   to measure their brain activity , which showed they could remember 50 faces for up to two years . "If they can do that with faces, they have to have reasonable intelligence; otherwise, what is the point of having a system for remembering faces and not remembering anything else?" Kendrick said in an interview. So hours of seemingly mindless eating grass may not be so mindless after all. Kendrick believes sheep got their reputation as dumb (unable to speak, unintelligent) animals because they live in large groups and do not appear to have much individuality and are frightened of just about everything. "All animals, including humans, once they are frightened, don't tend to show signs of intelligent action," he explained. In research reported in the science journal Nature, Kendrick and his team showed that sheep, like humans, have a specialized system in the brain which allows them to distinguish between many different faces which look extremely similar. "The most important finding (of the study) is that they are able , both from a behavioral point of view and from looking at the way the brain is organized , to remember a large number of individuals for a very long time," said Kendrick. "It is a very strange system. They are showing similar abilities in many ways to humans." Question: From what Kendrick said in the interview we learn that  _  . Yes or no, is the answer "scientists have learned a little about sheep's intelligence"?
