1 . More and more people around the world are living in city areas and the need for high-quality fresh food is rising. At the same time, new homes, apartment buildings, shopping centers and roads are taking the place of rich land near cities. That makes growing crops in tall buildings an interesting solution.

In Dallas, Texas, a company called Green Habitat Hydroponics (GHH) sells vertical farming supplies. “You can control anything and everything you want to with hydroponics—the process of growing plants in sand, small stones or water with added nutrients but not soil,” Kris Maxwell, a sales employee at GHH said. “For example, certain plants need certain nutrients and PH levels. But don’t worry. You can change the hydroponics solutions by adding or taking away nutrients, or by changing the PH level, or even by controlling the amount of water in a solution, so that plants get all the nutrients and water requirements they need. There are even different solutions for certain stages in the plants’ growth.”

In this indoor environment, LED lights, which are environmentally friendly, replace the sun. Heaters, coolers, and special machines control the temperature and humidity. Up to 300 plants can grow in one container unit.

GHH also sells aeroponics systems. With this system, plants are placed in huge containers where only the roots are put in a solution. Nutrient rich wastes from fish, for example, are filtered and sent through the system.

The good thing about this method is that no fertilizers have to be used because the fish produce all of the necessary nutrients. Another advantage of vertical farming is that no pests will damage your crops.

What do you think? Does vertical farming have a bright future?

1. Which of the following may not be the reason for vertical farming?

A．Many people nowadays are flowing into cities.

B．The earth has to support more and more people.

C．People show greater interest in eating fresh food.

D．The fields for growing crops near cities are reducing day by day.

2. As for vertical farming, what can be used to take the place of the sunshine?

A．Heaters.	B．Coolers.
C．Light from a kind of bulb.	D．Air conditioning machines.

3. The underlined word “filtered” in the fourth paragraph can be replaced by “________”.

A．balanced

B．removed

C．destroyed

D．created

4. What is an advantage of aeroponics system used in vertical farming?

A．It can be easily operated.	B．People can get delicious food.
C．There is no need for chemical nutrients.	D．It may bring about a good harvest.