Island+Plant+Life

Island Plant Life Islands are geographical formations that are completely surrounded by water, yet many islands are covered with a rich assortment of plant life. It may <range type="comment" id="564678489_9">seem </range id="564678489_9">surprising that so much plant life <range type="comment" id="564678489_10">exists </range id="564678489_10">on many islands, yet <range type="comment" id="564678489_11">there are</range id="564678489_11"> surprisingly <range type="comment" id="564678489_12">simple explanations</range id="564678489_12"> as to how the <range type="comment" id="564678489_13">vegetation </range id="564678489_13"><range type="comment" id="564678489_14">has been able to</range id="564678489_14"> <range type="comment" id="564678489_15">establish </range id="564678489_15">itself there. Some islands were <range type="comment" id="564678489_16">formerly </range id="564678489_16"><range type="comment" id="564678489_17">attached </range id="564678489_17">to larger <range type="comment" id="564678489_18">bodies </range id="564678489_18">of <range type="comment" id="564678489_19">land</range id="564678489_19">, <range type="comment" id="564678489_20">while </range id="564678489_20">others<range type="comment" id="564678489_21"> were created on their own</range id="564678489_21">. Islands that were created when <range type="comment" id="564678489_22">flooding </range id="564678489_22">or <range type="comment" id="564678489_23">rising </range id="564678489_23"><range type="comment" id="564678489_24">water levels</range id="564678489_24"> <range type="comment" id="564678489_25">cut them off </range id="564678489_25">from their <range type="comment" id="564678489_26">neighbors </range id="564678489_26">often <range type="comment" id="564678489_27">still </range id="564678489_27">have the plant life that they had before they were cut off.<range type="comment" id="564678489_28"> In cases</range id="564678489_28"> where islands formed out of the ocean, they may have plant life from <range type="comment" id="564678489_29">neighboring </range id="564678489_29">lands <range type="comment" id="564678489_30">even though</range id="564678489_30"> they were never <range type="comment" id="564678489_31">actually </range id="564678489_31"><range type="comment" id="564678489_32">attached </range id="564678489_32">to the <range type="comment" id="564678489_33">neighboring lands</range id="564678489_33">. <range type="comment" id="564678489_34">Winds </range id="564678489_34"><range type="comment" id="564678489_35">carry </range id="564678489_35">many <range type="comment" id="564678489_36">seeds </range id="564678489_36">to islands; some plants produce extremely<range type="comment" id="564678489_37"> light seeds</range id="564678489_37"> that can <range type="comment" id="564678489_38">float </range id="564678489_38">thousands of feet <range type="comment" id="564678489_39">above </range id="564678489_39">the Earth and then <range type="comment" id="564678489_40">drift down</range id="564678489_40"> to islands where they can <range type="comment" id="564678489_41">sprout </range id="564678489_41">and develop. Birds also <range type="comment" id="564678489_42">carry seeds</range id="564678489_42"> to islands; <range type="comment" id="564678489_43">as </range id="564678489_43">birds move over open <range type="comment" id="564678489_44">stretches </range id="564678489_44">of water, they can serve as the transportation system to <range type="comment" id="564678489_45">spread </range id="564678489_45">seeds from <range type="comment" id="564678489_46">place </range id="564678489_46">to <range type="comment" id="564678489_47">place</range id="564678489_47">.

This passage discusses the ways that plant life is able to develop on islands. · · ·

Answer Choices (choose 3 to complete the chart): (1) Some seeds are able to float great distances in the air. (2) Some plant life existed before islands were cut off from larger bodies of land. (3) Some islands have many different varieties of plants. (4) Birds sometimes carry seeds to islands. (5) Some islands were created when rising water cut them off from larger bodies of land. (6) Some plant seeds are carried to islands by the wind.

Answer key：（ 2 ）、（ 4 ）、（ 6 ）