Did you know that earthworms help keep soil clean and healthy so we can grow food? These silent creatures (生物) are a vegetable farmer’s best friends.
Earthworms help keep soil clean by eating dead material. When plants and animals die, they fall on the ground. Earthworms eat tiny pieces of these dead things, which have lots of nutrients (营养物质).
An earthworm uses its digestive system (消化系统) to break down the nutrients. The worm uses some of what it eats to live and grow. The rest of the food is waste, which the earthworm gets rid of by leaving droppings, or castings.
These castings have nutrients from all the stuff the worm ate. The castings remain in the soil, making it rich and full of nutrients. Plants need these nutrients to live and grow.
Earthworms help plants in another way, too. Earthworms dig underground tunnels, which loosen (变松) the soil. When the soil becomes loose, it lets air into it. Loose soil also allows more water to enter. Plant roots need air and water.
Have you ever seen a plant that had bright green leaves and looked healthy? It probably looked that way because its roots were getting plenty of air and water. When a plant’s roots are healthy, the plant is healthy. This is true for most plants, including crops that we grow to eat.
Earthworms make a farmer’s job easier. Part of a farmer’s job is plowing, or breaking up, soil. The purpose of plowing is to loosen the soil so plant roots can get more air and water. In a way, earthworms act like little plows!
Some farmers try to increase the amount of earthworms in their gardens and fields by adding dead material. That’s why farmers buy mulch and grass clippings to spread on the ground.
Earthworms are wonderful creatures to have in a vegetable garden. Thank earthworms the next time you eat a meal with vegetables!
27. Plants get the nutrients mainly from ________.
A.the air | B.the sun | C.the soil | D.the water |
28. What can you learn from the passage?
A.Earthworms can help farmers loosen the soil. |
B.Earthworms can give the plants more water and air. |
C.Earthworms help make soil rich by breathing fresh air. |
D.Earthworms help keep soil clean by eating healthy plants. |
29. What’s the best title for the passage?
A.How Earthworms Live and Grow |
B.How Earthworms Dig Underground |
C.Tiny Creatures That Make Nutrients |
D.Tiny Creatures That Help Crops Grow |