A) Organic matter in rainwater is absorbed directly by the roots
B) Nearby trees share resources underground through a shared mycorrhizal network
C) They absorb carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into sugar
D) They take in sugars from the ground through lichens
During the thirty-second waiting period, only Stella seriously used elimination to find the right answer.
First, she ruled out A. If rainwater could provide the necessary carbon, sunlight would not be so important to plants.
Then she ruled out C. That described photosynthesis itself. Without even sunlight, how could a sapling turn carbon dioxide into sugar?
The children were extremely excited, shouting to one another, "Which one? Which one?" Voices calling out A, B, C, and D came from all around. The host deliberately kept the atmosphere heated and began loudly counting down with fifteen seconds remaining.
Stella's gaze bounced repeatedly between B and D. With five or six seconds left, she pressed B.
—Though she was unfamiliar with both options, she had seen lichens. They looked somewhat like grass but were not grass, so they were unlikely to be connected to tree roots.
The screen displayed the correct answer: B.
"Yeah!" Stella punched the air. "Got it right!"
She looked at the three beside her. "How about you?"
The three turned to look at her at once and gave the same answer in calm but uneven voices.
"Got it right." "Yeah, right." "I picked B."
Stella looked at the three of them suspiciously, then back at the screen—this had not been an obvious giveaway question, had it?
Just then, the host operated the computer, and the screen displayed the answer distribution. Of the forty-six participants, only nine had chosen the correct option.
"Alright! Congratulations to these nine students!" The host clapped enthusiastically. "Now then,