Farming was considered part of the countryside charm (魅力) in the past. But now, farms have come to the city and they can even be found high up on balconies (阳台).
According to a recent report from Chinese online shopping platform Alibaba, the sales of vegetable seeds in the first quarter, from January to March, on Tmall doubled compared with the same period last year. Sales of products such as nutrient soil (营养土) and gardening tools have increased since April of last year. Out of all the people buying farming tools and seeds, most were born after 1995.
Zhang Chao, 17, from Anhui province, is one young “urban farmer”. The senior high student said his love for planting began in primary school when he lived with his grandpa in the countryside. “Spending his whole life as a farmer, my grandpa likes to plant seasonal vegetables in our backyard garden when he was older,” Zhang said. “Following his steps, I also learned to grow my own vegetables.” Though farming needs hard work, Zhang said he still had a sense of achievement when he saw seeds gradually turn into seedlings and later plants.
“It has brought me good memories,” added Zhang.
Although Zhang recently moved to a place without a yard, he continues his hobby with a balcony garden. He has bought strawberry and tomato seeds. “Growing fruits and vegetables not only brings delicious food and ensures food security, but it also reminds me of the happy times with my grandpa.” said Zhang.
1. What does the underlined word “urban” probably mean?| A．countryside | B．city | C．mountain | D．sea |
| A．Most urban farmers were born before 1995. |
| B．There are a lot of farms in the city now. |
| C．Farming in the city also needs hard work. |
| D．Zhang Chao’s grandpa is also an urban farmer. |
| A．He saw seeds turn into seedlings and later plants. |
| B．He moved to a place with a balcony garden. |
| C．He lived with his grandpa in the countryside. |
| D．He learned to grow his own vegetables himself. |
| A．job | B．hobby | C．habit | D．plan |
相似题推荐
“Chinese style road crossing” has become a hot expression recently. Chinese people “cross roads without thinking about traffic lights, so long as（只要）they are part of a crowd”, said a post on Sina Weibo.
A CCTV news program showed that in only an hour, more than 600 people jumped red lights when crossing a road at a crossing in Shijiazhuang, Hebei.
Many people say that they jaywalk（乱闯马路）because the red light lasts too long. Such an opinion is supported by a research team at Tongji University. The team did research on people’s waiting times at different road crossings from 2008 to 2010. They found that Chinese people would wait for 70 to 90 seconds before they lost their patience. “People are likely to ignore the light when the waiting time is longer than they can stand,” said Ni Ying, a member of the research team.
However, a survey on Sina Weibo suggested that half of respondents（调查对象）believe that people jaywalk mainly because they disregard（忽视）rules.“I always obey traffic rules. Time is important but safety should come first,” wrote “Qixiaoe” on Weibo.
Many countries give out punishments to jaywalkers. In Singapore, the maximum(最大量) can be three months in prison. Some Chinese cities have started taking some actions, too. For example, the first three people in a jaywalking group will be fined 50 yuan in Shijiazhuang.
But calling on people to respect rules is more important. To completely solve the problem, everyone should realize the importance of obeying the traffic rules.
1. Which of the following is the “Chinese style road crossing”?
| A．To wait for the traffic light to turn green. |
| B．To cross a road slowly. |
| C．To cross roads without looking at traffic lights. |
| D．To follow the basic traffic lights. |
| A．A CCTV news program. |
| B．A research group at Tongji University |
| C．A post on Sina Weibo. |
| D．A daily newspaper. |
| A．Less than one minute. |
| B．About five minutes. |
| C．Less than one and a half minutes. |
| D．More than ten minutes. |
| A．Because there are too many people on the road. |
| B．Because the red light lasts too long. |
| C．Because people don’t pay much attention to rules. |
| D．Because people have less patience. |
| A．punish the jaywalkers |
| B．disregard the traffic rules |
| C．reduce the time of red lights |
| D．call on people to obey the traffic lights |
【推荐2】We call the Chinese New Year the Spring Festival. There is a name for each Chinese year. We may call it the year of the sheep, the year of the monkey or the year of the pig. And this year is the year of the tiger.
Before New Year’s Day, people are busy shopping and cleaning their houses. On New Year’s Eve, there is a big family dinner. After dinner, all the family stay up late to welcome the New Year. On the first day of the New Year, people put on their new clothes and go to visit their friends and relatives. They say “Good luck” and some other greetings to each other. People usually have a very good time during the festival.
1. In the passage, the underlined word “relatives” means ________ in Chinese.| A．表弟 | B．邻居 | C．亲 戚 | D．同 学 |
| A．They put on new clothes and go to the park. |
| B．They visit their friends and talk about the New Year. |
| C．They are busy shopping and cleaning their houses. |
| D．They have a big dinner and stay up late to welcome the New Year. |
| A．Merry Christmas | B．Good luck | C．Happy New Year | D．Both B and C |
| A．Good Time | B．The Spring Festival | C．Big Dinner | D．The Year of the Tiger |
【推荐3】AI has changed our lives in some ways. Here are several useful AI inventions.
Forpheus The ping-pong robot can play in an easy way with a beginner and a difficult way with a better player. What’s more, it not only encourages players with words like “Good job!”, but also gives some good advice to improve their skills. |
Chat GPT Developed by US company—OpenAI, Chat GPT is a helpful tool. You can ask it to write stories and e-mails, translate languages and answer all kinds of questions. The use of Char GPT has raised hot discussions in the education. Now anyone can use Chat GPT without paying money, so that the company can collect people’s ideas on how to improve the chatbot (聊天机器人). |
Facial Recognition (人脸识别) It is used a lot in the world, such as ACS. ACS won’t let a stranger in without the house owner’s agreement. Paying by facial recognition is common now. People can also use facial recognition to unlock their smart mobile phones. The police in Hangzhou even caught a criminal (罪犯) at a concert with its help. |
Hua Zhibing China’s first student made by AI, appeared at Tsinghua University and at once became an online star. Now, Hua is one year old and is the “youngest Chinese university student”. Now she can do lots of things—she is a poet, a painter, a news writer and more. Scientists hope that she can learn skills such as computer programming, drawing, creating web pages when she finishes university. “We hope she can keep learning and think like humans. We would also like her to understand people’s feelings as well as intellectual (智力的) needs.” |
1. What will Forpheus do while playing?
| A．It will guess the player’s thought. |
| B．It will give suggestions to the players. |
| C．It will be angry if the player is a beginner. |
| D．It will say “What a shame!” to the players. |
| A．Because it is able to teach machines. |
| B．Because it needs to improve itself. |
| C．Because it can help students pass exams. |
| D．Because it can write stories and e-mails. |
| A．In the wallet. | B．On the face. |
| C．Outside the door. | D．On the concert. |
| A．humorous | B．brave | C．talented | D．honest |
| A．To give some information about four inventions in ancient China. |
| B．To tell us the history of AI inventions. |
| C．To introduce some kinds of AI inventions. |
| D．To help students get into a better university. |
【推荐1】Do you love sunflowers? This article will tell you how to plant your sunflower seeds and care for them. Start it with the best temperature: 18—33℃.
Part 1 Germinating (使发芽) Sunflower Seeds1.Choose one kind you like.
2.Put the seeds in a plastic bag. Cover the seeds with wet paper towels. Put them in plastic bags. Once the seeds germinate, plant them.
Part 2 ____________.
1.Choose a sunny place. Sunflowers grow best with six to eight hours of sunlight a day.
2.Plant the seeds in holes. Plant seeds 2.5 cm deep and 15 cm apart. Cover the seeds with soil after planting.
Part 3 Caring for Sunflower Plants
1. Water the plants once a week.
2. Fertilize (施肥) a little or not at all. If you are growing sunflowers for your own enjoyment, there is no need to fertilize.
3. Harvest (收获) the seeds. Sunflowers usually take 2.5 to 4 months to mature (成熟) and produce new seeds.
Tips:
◆Protect the young plants from pests (害虫). Cover the ground with nets.
◆Support plants over 90 cm with sticks.
1. Which of the following can be put in ________?
| A．Planting Sunflower Seeds | B．Choosing Good Seeds |
| C．Watering Sunflower Plants | D．Checking the Temperature |
| A．January | B．May | C．July | D．November |
| A．What to prepare to plant sunflower seeds. |
| B．How to plant and care for sunflower seeds. |
| C．When to plant sunflower seeds. |
| D．Where to plant sunflower seeds. |
| Do you love sunflowers? This text will walk you through how to plant your sunflower seeds (种子) and care for them. Start it with the best temperatures: 18～33℃. |
| Part 1 Germinating (使发芽) Sunflower Seeds 1. Choose one kind you like. 2. Put the seeds in a plastic bag. Cover the seeds with wet paper towels (纸巾). Put them in plastic bags.
Part 2 ▲ 1. Choose a sunny place. Sunflowers grow best with six to eight hours of sunlight a day. 2. Plant the seeds in holes. Plant seeds 2.5 cm deep and 15 cm apart. Cover the seeds with soil (土壤) after planting. Part 3 Caring for Sunflower Plants 1. Water plants weekly. Water plants once a week. 2. Fertilize (施肥) a little or not at all. If you are growing sunflowers for fun, there is no need to fertilize. 3. Harvest (收获) the seeds. Sunflowers usually take 2.5 months to 4 months to mature (成熟) and new seeds can be harvested later. |
| Tips: Protect the young plants from pests (害虫). Cover the ground with nets. Support plants over 90 cm with sticks. |
1. Which of the following can be put in ________?
| A．Planting Sunflower Seeds | B．Choosing Sunflower Seeds |
| C．Watering Sunflower Plants | D．Checking the Temperature |
| A．January. | B．May. | C．July. | D．November. |
| A．A notice board. | B．A travel guide. |
| C．A planting diary. | D．A gardening magazine. |
【推荐3】The idea of growing food in a desert would make most people laugh but this is quickly becoming a reality. There are currently two desert farms in the world where quality vegetables are being planted cheaply and easily.
Sundrop Farms, based in South Australia, uses experimental greenhouses to grow tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. The biggest challenge of growing food in a desert, obviously, is the lack of available water. The researchers at Sundrop Farms have gotten around this problem by using the sun to desalinate（淡化）sea water. It can also be used to control the temperature of the greenhouses.
Without depending on limited resources such as land and fresh water, Sundrop Farms has made farming a practice. This can increase the world’s food supplies. Another benefit of this kind of farming is that it can be done anywhere, thus reducing the costs of transporting food to distant locations. Yet another benefit is that it reduces the need for pesticides（杀虫剂）.
Another experimental desert farm is the Sahara Forest Project, which began in Qatar in December 2012. Greenhouses in the farm are cooled by saltwater. Solar power and other technologies are used together to help make vegetation（植被）grow in the desert environment. As deserts have expanded over recent years around the world due to global warming, this project could solve the problem.
The result form the Qatar project were better than expected and in June of 2014, Jordan agreed to host another one. This will be much bigger than the Qatar project and the project members will have even more opportunities to test their experiments on a much larger scale. It is not clear yet that desert farming represents the future of farming but these projects have shown some success in the field.
1. What does “this problem” in paragraph 2 refer to?| A．Sea water is hard to purify. |
| B．The desert is short of water. |
| C．The temperature is high in the desert. |
| D．Desert farms aren’t fit to plant vegetables. |
| A．It needs more pesticides. | B．It saves delivery costs. |
| C．It has a location limit. | D．It solves food waste problems. |
| A．It lives up to expectations. |
| B．It can help produce more food. |
| C．It is started to prevent global warming. |
| D．It uses technology to produce saltwater. |
| A．It still has problems to solve. |
| B．It represents the future of farming. |
| C．Its early success has aroused interest in it. |
| D．Its aim is to create more job opportunities. |
