A lot of families in England grow vegetables. A few people grow unusual or strange vegetables. But a great many people grow tomatoes. My neighbor grows the biggest, sweetest, happiest tomatoes in the world. "How do you do it?" I ask. "Why can't I grow tomatoes like yours?"
"I talk to them," my neighbor says. "I've been talking to my tomatoes for years." Up to now, I have always laughed at this.
This summer, some scientists carried out an interesting experiment(实验), and I have just read their report.
Three sets of tomato plants were grown. Nobody talked to the first set, but every day for a month, a recording(录音) of a man's voice was played to the second set, and a recording of a woman's voice was played to the third set. At the end of the month, the second set of plants had grown four centimeters taller than the first, and the third set of plants had grown five centimeters taller than the second. The plants liked the woman's voice best.
"We can't explain(解释) it," a scientist said, "But sound waves surely help the tomatoes to grow. Plant growers have always paid attention to(关注) light and water. Now we advise you to think of sound waves in the same way."
