The Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, in the UK, are home to thousands of fascinating plants, but none are as lonely as the Encephalartos woodii, an ancient cycad (苏铁门植物) species and, most likely, the last one of its kind.
It was in 1895 that botanist John Wood noticed this interesting looking palm tree on a steep slope in southern Africa. Spellbound by its multiple trunks and arched palm fronds (苏铁类植物的叶), Dr. Wood —who made his living collecting rare plants — had some stems removed and sent to London in a box. It ended up in the Palm House at the Royal Botanical Gardens, where it has been waiting for a mate for over a century. Despite numerous efforts to find it a mate, the Encephalartos woodii at Kew remains alone, unable to produce an offspring (后代) and reproduce its species. For this reason, many consider it the world’s loneliest plant.
Two hundred million years ago, when dinosaurs still roamed the world, cycads were everywhere. They made up around 20% of plants, acted as shelter for some dinosaur species and as food supply for others. They managed to somehow survive five ice ages, adapted to coexist with new species of plants, but as time passed, their numbers dwindled. Like all other cycads, Encephalartos woodii went from numbering millions of specimens, to thousands, and today, possibly just one, a male.
Some plants have both male and female organs, but not Encephalartos woodii. Without a female specimen to produce the seeds, it can never mate.
The Encephalartos woodii is technically not the last of its kind. It has been cloned several times, and its clones can be found in several botanical gardens around the world. It can even mate with some closely related species, but it can’t produce a true offspring. It just sits there, the last of its ancient species waiting for a female species to be found somewhere on Earth. "Surely this is the loneliest organism in the world," biologist Richard Fortey once wrote, "growing older, alone, and fated to have no successors. Nobody knows how long it will live. "
1. What can we learn about the Encephalartos woodii?| A．It has been the last of its species for centuries. |
| B．It once was a common being with male and female organs. |
| C．Scientists’ efforts to produce any young of it were in vain. |
| D．It used to play an important role in the survival of dinosaurs. |
| A．Weakened. | B．Declined. | C．Multiplied. | D．Rocketed. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Appreciative. | C．Sympathetic. | D．Tolerant. |
| A．The World’s Loneliest Plant | B．The Last Cycad on Earth |
| C．The Plant That Outlived Dinosaurs | D．The Ancient Cycad found by John Wood |
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About 10 percent of outbound（出境的）Chinese tourists get expensive marring charges（漫游费）by using 3G-powered smart phones. About 90 percent of Chinese travelers consider Wi-Fi indispensable when traveling abroad They often use phone apps to create travel routes and book hotels, which requires large data flows that can be expensive without Wi-Fi
But free Wi-Fi is not always available, even in regions with advanced telecnrnmunications，such as the United States and Europe. Portable Wi-Fi costs 15 -50 yuan a day，depending on the country. Ifs cheaper in South Korea,Japan and Thailand. The Wi-Fi services increase rapidly thanks to reasonable pricing and smooth surfing
Thus, a growing number of travel agencies begin to offer increasingly diverse Wi-Fi services. A travel website Ctrip leases Wi-Fi transmitters that offer unlimited data for about 20 yuan a day on average in more than 100 countries. It plans to make mobile Wi-Fi an important part of its business model. Another travel website Tumiu also launched a Wi-Fi phone service in 2013. More than 100, 000 people used the service in 2014.
More than 100 million Chinese went abroad last year, and the 10 percent who used Wi-Fi services spent an average of 150 youn, and it’s expected to grow largely. But the business may become out of date in five to eight years, for more locations am offering free Wi-Fi. 1n the meantime, it is reported that more for-profit models should be introduced and offer more services for outbound travelers in the future
1. Why do Chinese travelers prefer hotels and restaurants with free Wi-Fi when traveling abroad?
| A．They want to have their phones updated. |
| B．They are fond of using phone apps to create their travel routes. |
| C．They prefer to experience the Wi-Fi service in different countries |
| D．They'd like to share what they have seen with their friends and family |
| A．Necessary. | B．Useless. |
| C．Expensive. | D．Amazing. |
| A．Travel websites will stop offering free Wi-Fi services to travelers. |
| B．Travel website Tuniu intended to compete with Ctrip and launched its Wi-Fi phone service |
| C．The portable Wi-Fi costs less when traveling in some Asian countries than in European countries |
| D．The demand for Wi-Fi transmitters is growing in pace with 3G-smartphones. |
| A．It will be useless when for-profit models me introduced |
| B．It will be used by more then 100 million Chinese next year |
| C．It will grow in the future but will be outdated in a couple of years |
| D．It will offer more non-profit services for outbound travelers. |
【推荐2】When Stephen Mills spotted a dusty old safe (保险箱) in a museum in Canada, he thought he’d try to crack the code (破解密码), “just like in the movies”. But when he began turning the dial, he wasn’t expecting a Hollywood ending.
For years, anyone who visited the Vermillion Heritage Museum in Alberta would have passed by a large, black metal box. Staff knew it had come from the long-gone Brunswick hotel and was donated to the museum in the 1990s, but its code and contents remained a mystery for decades — until Mills unexpectedly cracked the code.
Mills, who lived in Fort McMurray, Alberta, was visiting the museum with his family last month over a holiday weekend. As they wandered around the exhibits with the museum guide, Tom Kibblewhite, they spotted the safe.
Kibblewhite told the family what he told all other guests: the 900kg black box with a silver dial had remained closed for generations. For years, the safe has confused volunteers at the museum. The manufacturer was unable to provide advice on how to open its thick door.
A locksmith (锁匠) once suggested that years of inactivity might have slowed down the gears, making it inoperable. But Mills, who is a “mechanically-minded person”, asked whether he could give it a try. “Kibblewhite kept saying no one had opened it and that it was a mystery what was inside,” Mills said. “I thought this would be a great thing to do for a laugh for the kids. Maybe they can find some interesting historical things in it — like a time capsule.”
After pressing his ear against the cool metal, he began spinning the dial. With numbers ranging from zero to 60, he turned clockwise (顺时针方向地) three times to 20, counter-clockwise two times to 40, and then clockwise one time to 60. He was astonished to hear a click. “I jumped up and told everyone I’m buying a lottery ticket (彩票),” he said.
1. What does the underlined sentence in the first paragraph mean?| A．He didn’t think he would open the safe. |
| B．The museum trip was like a Hollywood film. |
| C．He didn’t want to turn the dial in the beginning. |
| D．It was unbelievable for him to win a lottery ticket in the end. |
| A．The dial on the safe was broken. |
| B．It was a donation from a rich businessman. |
| C．It was one of the most valuable exhibits in the museum. |
| D．It has been long closed since it was brought to the museum. |
| A．To tell people how fast time flies. |
| B．To remind visitors of the time limit. |
| C．To indicate the safe’s special meaning. |
| D．To explain the content of the safe. |
| A．Mills won a prize for cracking the code. |
| B．Mills had plenty of luck to break the code. |
| C．Mills knew what the code was in advance. |
| D．Mills tried a dozen times until he cracked the code. |
【推荐3】An elderly black man sits on a drum with his legs on two sides. Using his fingers and the edge of his hand, he taps repeatedly at the drumhead, producing strong drumbeat. A second drummer joins in playing with the same rhythm. A third black man plays a stringed instrument, the body of which is roughly fashioned from a calabash (葫芦). Another calabash has been made into a drum, and a woman beats at it with two short sticks. One voice, then other voices join in. A dance accompanies this musical give-and-take, a moving picture that appears, on the one hand, informal and spontaneous yet, on closer inspection, ritualized (程式化的) and precise. It is a dance of massive size. A dense crowd of dark bodies forms into circular groups—perhaps five or six hundred individuals moving in time to the beat of the music, some swaying gently, others aggressively stomping their feet. A number of women in the group begin chanting.
The scene could be Africa. In fact, it is nineteenth-century New Orleans. Scattered firsthand accounts provide us with fascinating details of the slave dances that took place in the open area then known as Congo Square and there are perhaps no more fascinating documents in the history of African American music. Benjamin Latrobe, the noted architect, witnessed one of these collective dances on February 21,1819, and not only left us a vivid written account of the event but made several sketches of the instruments used. These drawings confirm that the musicians of Congo square, about 1891, were playing percussion (打击乐器) and stringed instruments almost identical to those characteristic of real African music.
Later documents add to our knowledge of the public slave dances in New Orleans but still leave us with many open questions — some of which, in time, historical research may be able to explain, while others might never be answered. One thing, however, is clear. Although these days we tend to view the intersection of black and white musical currents as a theoretical, almost symbolic issue, these storied accounts of the Congo Square dances provide us with a real time and place, an actual transfer of totally African ritual to the native soil of the New World.
1. Which of the following best describes the musical scene in the beginning?| A．It’s slow and relaxing. | B．It’s lovely and childlike. |
| C．It’s strong and organized. | D．It’s delightful and encouraging. |
| A．To help its readers to read a music history book. |
| B．To show the value of the accounts in music history. |
| C．To familiarize its readers with a type of ancient music. |
| D．To praise an architect who was a dedicated music lover. |
| A．It’s more of a musical theory. | B．It’s more of a vivid life. |
| C．It’s more of a religious ceremony. | D．It’s more of a cultural symbol. |
| A．A place where foreigners held musical festivals. |
| B．A place where music historians wrote their books. |
| C．A place where slaves could have a break from hard labour. |
| D．A place where African music found its voice on the new land. |
【推荐1】There’s nothing better than a walk in the countryside for lifting our spirits. Connecting with nature has been proven to help our mental health. For some, the best tonic is to wander through a forest, but as we admire the trees that surround us, it’s worth knowing these trees are doing more than just being nice things to look at.
We’re already aware of the healing properties of trees - they produce oxygen and clean the air we breathe by absorbing about a quarter of all human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. Deforestation isn’t helping with this which is why so many people want to save them. But there’s more to these impressive forms of vegetation than we might think. Researchers have discovered evidence that proves they are actually intelligent.
It’s thought that trees talk and share resources right under our feet, using a network of fungi (真菌). Under the ground are tree roots, and fixed among them, along with bacteria, are thousands of superfine threads of fungi. And research has shown that they are all interconnected. They can help each other by sharing nutrients, and they can even warn of approaching threats. Scientists say it’s like the trees are talking to one another.
Ecologist Suzanne Simard has called this network the Wood Wide Web. She discovered that parent trees use this network to help their offspring (后代). Speaking to the BBC, she said: “We found that the parent trees would favour those seedlings that were of their own family VS the strangers” by sending them more nutrients. She also found that trees are smart enough to change their behaviour and have managed to adapt and survive in a changing environment.
So it seems trees really are the stars of our natural world, and with around three trillion of them on our planet, it’s time to show them some respect if we want them to flourish.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 3?| A．Trees share information by talking. |
| B．Trees share nutrients through their roots. |
| C．Trees are connected by a network of fungi. |
| D．Trees communicate with each other through bacteria. |
| A．parent trees mistake strangers for their offspring |
| B．parent trees offer nutrients to all the seedlings fairly |
| C．trees can adjust themselves to a changing environment |
| D．trees are so smart that they can change the environment |
| A．A health report. |
| B．A science fiction. |
| C．A travel brochure. |
| D．A popular science magazine. |
【推荐2】The Greenwood fire took its name from the nearby lake where lightning struck on Aug.15, causing a wildfire that burned for weeks. Fueled by drought and wind, its persistence dominated headlines for much of late summer and early fall in Minnesota. When the last flames were finally put out, the northern Minnesota fire had consumed nearly 27,000 acres, countless firefighting resources, and at its worst, the lives that some had built around nearby McDougal Lake. Vast areas of forest were left burned-out, with the black and bare remains of what were once massive pines.
But, despite the destruction left behind, Mother Nature is set to a comeback. When organic matter is burned from the forest floor, seeds dropped by plants and trees begin to take hold, with the sprouting species emerging first. The trees above have died, which sends a chemical signal to the root system that is actually more expansive than just under that tree, and that chemical response encourages those root systems to re-grow. Ten years ago, a fire ripped through 93,000 acres of Minnesota forest in and around the BWCA. Today, that burnt area's rebirth is well underway.
"Here in the Pagami Creek wildfire scar, we have Jack Pine, Red Pine, Black Spruce, Aspen and paper birch-those are our main species, those are the ones that are growing quickly. It's 10 years on, and these trees are 10 to 15 feet tall in many areas," said Kyle Stover from the U.S. Forest Service.
A wildfire kills most things in its path, but despite the flames and intense temperatures, rarely is everything reduced to ashes -and that plays a key role in a forest's regeneration. Just one year after the fire, the survivors dominate the forest, and grasses replace the burnt ground. Wildflowers are abundant bushes and small trees have started to grow, and Jack Pine returned. So, it's an amazing ecological system of creating new forest life when it appears that all is lost, one that has evolved throughout the ages, where fire has always played a vital role.
1. What can we learn about the Greenwood fire?| A．It was a natural occurrence | B．It was caused by drought. |
| C．it gained half-year fame. | D．It took many people's lives. |
| A．Seeding growth is held up. | B．Burnt organic matter hardly functions. |
| C．Root systems spread further and wider | D．Chemicals in the soil are in greater demand. |
| A．They are flammable | B．They are fire-resistant |
| C．They are fire-adapted. | D．They are overgrown. |
| A．A fire. | B．A life | C．A time. | D．A system |
【推荐3】To the human ears a field of flowers is silent, save the noise of birds and insects. To certain animal ears, however, a field of flowers is full of conversation.
It has long been known that plants communicate when stressed. You need only observe a houseplant to realize that a plant wilts (枯萎) when it needs water, or turns yellow at the edges when it has been watered too much. Some plants may also emit a bitter taste to deter insects from capitalizing on their stressed state; while others may emit organic compounds to alarm other plants in the area.
Now, a new study, conducted by researchers at Tel Aviv University. shows that not only do plants express themselves in the above ways when stressed, they also emit sounds.
According to the study, plants emit sounds at frequencies between 40 to 80 kilohertz- beyond the range of human ears—but within the range of some animals. “While imperceptible to the human ears, the sounds emitted by plants can probably be heard by such animals as bats, mice, and insects, "explained Dr. Lilach Hadany, a Professor at Tel Aviv University and a co-author of the study.
One of the primary breakthroughs of Hadany's study is that the researchers have managed to understand and classify the sounds that plants generate for the first time. Plants that are not stressed produce about one noise per hour, but plants that are stressed, dehydrated, or injured many hundreds of sounds per hour, and each of these sounds seems to be specific to the type of stress the plant is under.
This type of information could be vital for agriculture. Knowing what sounds their plants are making could help farmers determine whether their crops are in danger or drought or disease and allow them to make the necessary changes to let their plants to thrive.
Amazingly enough, the researchers are not actually sure how the plants make sounds, though it may have something to do with cavitation (空穴现象), which is when the water tension in the plants becomes too high and the water turns to gas, making an ultrasonic popping noise.
Whatever the case, this is still a game-changer for plant science, and potentially for the future of agriculture. One day soon your plants may be-able to tell you if they are hungry, thirsty, or just feeling lonely.
1. What does the underlined word “deter” mean in paragraph 2?| A．Identify. | B．Ignore. | C．Prevent. | D．Preserve. |
| A．The sounds emitted by plants always remain the same. |
| B．All animals are not able to hear the sounds produced by plants. |
| C．Previous experiments suggested similar findings to the new study. |
| D．Researchers have made sense of how plants exactly make sounds. |
| A．The new study’s benefits to farmers. |
| B．The new study’s limitations in agriculture. |
| C．The new study’s impact on further studies. |
| D．The new study’s insight into relevant research. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Skeptical. | C．Ambiguous. | D．Favorable. |
