1 . Many of the vegetables we grow in our gardens produce seeds (种子), which can grow into plants if collected and stored correctly. Late summer is the perfect time to start collecting them.
Make sure the seeds are from plants that you have planted well for many years. These are plants in their normal forms.
Hybridized (杂交) plants usually produce the vegetables sold in big food stores.They are created from two or more different kinds of plants to get the best qualities of each. Trying to grow seeds from these plants will not lead to happy results. This kind of plants will not have the expected results but instead carry the genes (基因) of just one of its parents.
Many plants become cross-pollinated (异花授粉) in the garden. Bees, flies, animals and wind spread pollen (花粉) from one plant to another. To ensure the seeds will grow into plants, give them space.
To avoid cross-pollination surprises, plant only one kind of each vegetable from which you can harvest seeds.
| A．When will the seeds come off the flower? |
| B．It is impossible to tell which parent that will be. |
| C．What should you do if you want to save tomato seeds? |
| D．Their seeds will produce plants as good as their parents. |
| E．Put seeds in a cool, dry place in a covered glass container. |
| F．Place different kinds of the same crop as far apart as possible. |
| G．In areas with cold winters, simply leave plants in the ground over winter. |
2 . The West Potomac Park in Washington, DC, lies just west of the National Mall. It is home to some of Washington’s most iconic (标志性) sites. But the park’s most famous attraction? Cherry blossoms.
Thousands of cherry trees bloom around the waters of the Tidal Basin (潮汐湖), which reflect the trees’ images. The basin was created in the late1800s to prevent the Potomac River from flooding. The original cherry trees were a gift from Japan. On March 26, 1912, more than 3, 000 cherry trees arrived in Washington. Most were planted around the Tidal Basin. But cherry trees were also planted near the Washington Monument and the White House.
Mike Litterst, a spokesperson for the U. S. National Park Service, which maintains the West Potomac Park, helps protect the cherry trees. “This wonderful gift is over 100 years old now and, if you will, the gift keeps on giving. You can enjoy its beauty every year”.
The cherry blossoms also serve as a symbol of the beginning of springtime. Every year, Washington celebrates the arrival of spring with a two - week Cherry Blossom Festival. More than 1.5 million people from around the world visit the nation’s capital during the festival. They all hope to see the cherry trees at their “peak (高峰) bloom”,which lasts several days each year. Experts begin making peak bloom predictions in February. Visitors make their travel plans to Washington based on these predictions. Last year, officials correctly predicted the peak bloom six weeks in advance. But this year, unpredictable weather in March in Washington has made guessing it difficult. “Peak bloom” dates have changed many times.
The cherry blossoms have also become a worldwide symbol of Washington itself. BoWen moved to Washington from China seven years ago. He comes to the Cherry Blossom Festival. “It’s so famous. Everywhere you can see Washington DC Cherry Blossom Festival, on like Twitter and Instagram.”
1. What do we learn about the West Potomac Park?| A．It is just next to the Tidal Basin. | B．There are some iconic sites around it. |
| C．It includes a man - made body of water. | D．All the cherry trees from Japan were there. |
| A．The old cherry trees are still in blossom. | B．Visitors can pick the flowers if they like. |
| C．Japan is still giving them the cherry trees. | D．Visitors want to have the cherry trees as a gift. |
| A．It usually lasts one week. | B．Its time is not the same every year. |
| C．It is held when cherry trees start to bloom. | D．Its celebration is held all over the country. |
| A．It can be enjoyed just online. | B．It is liked by the Chinese very much. |
| C．It is one of the most important ones. | D．It is widely known all over the world. |
3 . When we think of insects that native plants support, we often think of bees and butterflies, but they really support many other insects as well as birds and mammals (哺乳动物). The fact that our native plants and wildlife have developed together means that they rely on each other to survive.
The biggest threat to these insects is the loss of their home. In fact, the insect population has reduced by an alarming 45% since 1974! By bringing native plant species into our gardens, we create natural feeding and nesting sites important to their survival and ours. By creating living areas for our native insects, we help to support native birds and other native wildlife, and thus, increase the natural biodiversity of our ecosystem.
Native plantings also have a positive effect on the overall health of our environment. They are used in bio-filters (生物过滤), and rain gardens. With their deep roots systems, natives are able to hold the soil, take in nutrients, catch and release water, as well as filter pollutants out of the water.
Native plants are the best choice for these situations because they are adapted to our soil, rainfall and climate, and are able to bear brief periods of wet soil and long periods of dryness. In addition to helping clear pollutants from our waterways, native plants, especially long-lived trees, also help our air quality by removing CO2 at a higher rate than grasses due to their large root systems.
Besides all the amazing things native plants already do for our environment, having them in your garden will also help you save time and money. Because native plants aren’t as susceptible to pests and bacteria as non-natives are, so they don’t require the use of fungicides or pesticides. Putting in native plants is much easier than you think and extremely beneficial for not only your local environment but also for you. We encourage you to design a small area of your garden for native plants or reconsider whether you can add a few native plants to your existing garden. A little work can go a long way in supporting our local wildlife and ecosystem!
1. What is most likely to put native insects in danger?| A．Native birds are increasing. | B．Their homes are gradually lost. |
| C．Foreign wildlife is introduced. | D．The climate disasters appear frequently. |
| A．Benefits of native plants. | B．Choices for native plants. |
| C．Relationships among native plants. | D．Advantages of long-lived plants. |
| A．Easily affected by. | B．Greatly harmful to. |
| C．Constantly dotted with. | D．Potentially beneficial to. |
| A．How you can clear your garden |
| B．How you can protect native wildlife |
| C．Why you need a garden with various plants |
| D．Why you should plant natives in your garden |
4 . We often try to save every drop of water in gardening. Yet this summer, over half of the world is experiencing “abnormally dry” weather, which means millions of people are living under drought conditions.
Choosing water-saving plants
If you are gardening under water restrictions, decide which plants need water least. Older trees, especially fruit, nut, and even evergreens, can suffer during drought, while newly planted trees require regular watering until their roots become established.
Watering effectively
Most plants require an average of 2 to 4 centimeters of water each week under normal conditions. That need could increase, however, during periods of extreme heat, when the soil dries out more quickly.
Consider using recycled household water, also called gray water, to water plants. Unsalted water left over from boiling eggs or vegetables provides extra nutrients. Dish and bath water that is not too oily will not harm plants.
| A．Using fresh clean water. |
| B．Choosing recycled water. |
| C．And melons have deep roots. |
| D．Try to water your plants all at once. |
| E．Do not water your plants once weekly. |
| F．And many of the people have plants to worry about. |
| G．And water from washing fruits and vegetables can be used around the garden. |
5 . Much of gardening is learned by trial and error — for many, mostly error. But the good news is that we can learn from others’ mistakes as well as our own.
Failing to test the soil
Proper soil pH value is vital for successful gardening. That’s because nutrition is available to plants only at proper pH levels, which vary for each type of plant. For example, blueberry plants will likely turn yellow and produce less if the pH level is higher than 5.5.
Watering incorrectly
Most garden plants require 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week. But leaving the work to a sprinkler (喷头) puts your plants at risk.
A plant labeled as needing “full sun” will likely disappoint you if it is planted in the shade. And no matter how much you hope otherwise, “water tolerant” will never mean “likes wet soil”. Selecting plants suited to your growing conditions will result in a better-looking and healthier garden that requires less care.
Protecting the roots improperly
Proper covering keeps water and helps keep soil temperatures even. So it’s an important part of gardening. Improper covering, however, can kill your plants. Apply 2 to 3 inches of covering around plants. Never pile up against them.
| A．Applying proper nutrition to the soil |
| B．Planting wrong plants at wrong places |
| C．Here are some well-tested tips on good gardening |
| D．Instead, snake a watering tube over the soil surface |
| E．Otherwise, it will lock in too much water and heat which might kill them |
| F．Fortunately, test tools are relatively cheap and available at gardening stores |
| G．Here are some of the common gardening mistakes -and how to avoid them |
6 . The longleaf pine (长叶松) tree has deep connections with the history and life of the eastern part of America. Forests of these trees once covered two-thirds of the southeastern United States. About 95 percent of those forests were lost in the past 100 years. Many of the forests were cut for their wood, but now they are returning, with the help of government programs that build ties with private landowners.
The wood of the tree is very strong. Most buildings built in the southern U.S. from the 1800s contained longleaf pine wood. Today, although buildings made with longleaf pine are no longer wanted, yet people are reusing the wood because it is still good and resists (抵抗) water and insect damage.
The longleaf pine also takes in CO2 in the air. It stores the material in its wood. So, the tree is valuable to the environment as a way to store carbon.
At the same time, the pine forests are places for animals to live. The U.S. government has several programs to protect and increase longleaf pine forests. One is the Safe Harbor Program. It uses voluntary agreements with private landowners to help animals at risk. One such agreement protects the red-cockaded woodpecker and also lets landowners use their land, as long as the birds and other connected animals can safely live on it.
Now, farmers and landowners in the southeastern U.S. are growing new longleaf pine trees. Instead of cutting the trees to use as building materials, they are finding ways to make money from the forest of living trees. One way to get money is by selling the leaves of the trees as a ground cover. Farmers can gather the pine leaves by hand or with the help of a machine. Pine leaves can be used instead of wood pieces or skins as a ground cover. It lasts a long time, is light in weight and stays in place because the needles (针) connect to each other.
1. Which of the following has helped bring back the longleaf pine trees?| A．The government’s efforts. | B．The much money it brings. |
| C．People’s wish to return to the old lifestyle. | D．The great need for their wood. |
| A．Welcome. | B．Cheap. | C．Unpopular. | D．Unclean. |
| A．Providing longleaf pine wood. | B．Protecting animals in danger. |
| C．Enlarging the wood’s market. | D．Collecting longleaf pine needles. |
| A．The Return of Longleaf Pines Gives Home to Animals |
| B．Farmers Benefit from Living longleaf Pine Trees |
| C．New Uses of Longleaf Pine Trees Create Forests |
| D．Longleaf Pine Trees Give More than Just Wood |
7 . Seen any unseasonably early daffodils（水仙花）showing their faces yet? UK spring flowers are opening nearly a month earlier than they did before the mid-1980s, due to climate change.
That is the conclusion of a study of nearly 420,000 observations of the first flowering date of 406 plants from a UK citizen science project called Nature's Calendar. It has records dating back to 1753 from gardeners and naturalists, as well as bodies such as the UK's Royal Meteorological Society.
UIf Buntgen at the University of Cambridge and his team found that plants were opening their flowers 26 days earlier on average in the years after 1986 than they did before. They picked that year as it was the mid-point in the data set-where they had about the same number of observations before and after-because there were many more recent records than earlier ones.
The analysis included records of all plants, whatever time of year they flower, but most of them(like the daffodils) bloom in spring. “It is likely that the influence of climate change will be greater for spring-flowering plants, where the usual beginning of warmer temperatures that would cause flowering starts earlier,” says a spokesperson for the UK's Royal Horticultural Society.
There was a bigger advance in the dates of the first blooms for smaller plants, with those less than 20 centimeters high flowering an average of 32 days earlier in the years after 1986 than they had historically.
In any year, flower opening times were closely connected with the average temperature of the months from January to April. “If it's warmer, it's an earlier beginning. If it's cooler, it's a later one,” says Buntgen. The average maximum temperature across those four months rose by 1.1℃, comparing the period from 1950 to 1986 with the years after 1986.
“The change could hurt insects, birds and other wildlife that has evolved to sync with（同步）the flowering of certain plants,” says Buntgen.
1. What can we know about the study?| A．It dated back to 1753. |
| B．It was based on a large amount of data. |
| C．It was conducted by gardeners and naturalists. |
| D．It only covered records of plants blooming in spring. |
| A．It was in the middle of the data set. |
| B．It was a memorable day for Ulf Buntgen. |
| C．It was the first year to record flowering date. |
| D．It was in 1986 that spring flowers bloom earlier. |
| A．The influences of flowers’ early blooming. |
| B．Measures to be taken to stop climate change. |
| C．Further study to find the reason for flowers’ early blooming. |
| D．How creatures adapt to the change of flowers’ early blooming. |
| A．In a guidebook. |
| B．In a science fiction. |
| C．In a geography textbook. |
| D．In a science magazine. |
8 . If the grass looks greener after the skies have cleared, your eyes aren’t cheating you. “There are several reasons rain helps lawns green up,” said Jennifer Knoepp, a soil research scientist with the USDA Forest Service in Otto, North Carolina.
After it rains, there’s typically more water available in the soil for plants. When plants take up that water, they are also taking up nitrogen (氮) from the organic matter that’s in the soil. “As plants grow, their small roots die and new roots grow,” Knoepp said. When that happens, soil microbes (微生物) cause the dead roots to rot. This process is similar to adding fertilizers to your lawn, but only this action takes place underground and naturally, without your awareness. As rain runs into the soil, it activates the microbes to give off more nitrogen. The grass benefits from the freshly fallen rain because the water allows the roots to take up this “new” nitrogen as well as the nitrogen that the microbes have previously produced. At the same time, “the grass is very active with photosynthesis (光合作用)” when the sun returns, Knoepp explained.
Even though rain increases the nitrogen that’s available to your lawn in several ways, you can’t count on nitrogen from rain to meet all the fertilizer needs of your grass or your vegetable garden. Commercial fertilizers are still needed for a balanced fertilizer program, but Knoepp urges caution in applying them. While nitrogen is vital for good plant growth, be sure to follow package directions. Too much of a good thing can be harmful not only to plants but to nearby ponds, lakes, streams and rivers. After all, it’s not green streams but green lawns that homeowners want to see when the clouds depart and the sun returns.
1. What makes the grass look greener after the rain?| A．The cleanup of the rain. | B．Slower photosynthesis. |
| C．The appearance of new roots. | D．Increased absorption of nitrogen. |
| A．The production of nitrogen. | B．The process of plants’ growth. |
| C．The effects of photosynthesis. | D．The method of natural fertilizing. |
| A．Be careful not to overuse fertilizers. | B．Keep a commercial fertilizer program. |
| C．Collect as much rainwater as possible. | D．Take advantage of nitrogen from rain only. |
| A．Skeptical and critical. | B．Cautious and confident. |
| C．Objective and humorous. | D．Scientific and conservative. |
9 . Ashtyn Perry dug into the ground in Sequoia(红杉)Crest，California. In 2020, a wildfire burned through the mountain community and destroyed dozens of its massive trees. Ashtyn, who is 13 years old, planted a bright green seedling. “It’s really cool to know that it could be a big tree in the future,” Ashtyn said. Ashtyn said she’d like to return once a year to see how it’s growing. She hopes it can become a giant.
Her efforts are part of a project to plant seeds from some of the largest and oldest trees on the planet. The goal is to see if the genes that allowed the parent tree to survive for so long will protect the growth of new trees.
Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, which is an organization that preserves the genes of very old trees, leads the project. The group hopes to save the giant sequoias. Once considered nearly fireproof, the trees are at risk of being wiped out by intense wildfires.
Climate change is partly to blame for the problems sequoias face. Climate change is leading to more intense fires. Another factor contributing to the problem is a century of policies that prevent natural fires from burning. Allowing natural wildfires to burn actually prevents bigger future fires, Brigham said. But now when fires burn, they blaze through vegetation (植被) built up through years of fire suppression (抑制), making the fires more intense.
Last year’s destruction to the sequoias brought Brigham to tears. “They’re so big and so old and so individual and unusual that even people who don’t love trees, love them, ” Brigham said. To save the trees this year, crews wrapped trunks of the largest trees in a fire-resistant foil around the trees. But more needs to be done, Brigham said. This includes thinning the vegetation around the trees and replanting.
1. What do baby sequoias represent for Ashtyn?| A．Hope. | B．Wealth. | C．Progress. | D．Friendship. |
| A．The growing course of small trees. |
| B．The risk of intense wildfires for trees. |
| C．The best genes to help ancient trees survive. |
| D．The possibility of living through natural disasters. |
| A．Natural fires should be left alone. |
| B．Tree trunks should be wrapped tightly. |
| C．Climate change is the cause of wildfires. |
| D．The vegetation around the trees needs protection. |
| A．Tree genes help small trees grow well | B．Wildfires destroy oldest trees more |
| C．People are eager to protect ancient trees | D．Sequoias will disappear on the earth |
10 . Greenhouse gas emissions would rise if all farms in England and Wales went organic. Though the emissions of each farm would go down, much more food would have to be imported, as the amount they would produce would decrease greatly.
“The key message from my perspective is that you can't really have your cake and eat it,” says Laurence Smith, now at the Royal Agricultural University in the UK, who was part of the team that ran the numbers. Smith is a supporter of organic farming and says “there are a lot of merits of the organic approach”, but his analysis shows that organic farming has downsides too.
Farming and changes in land use, such as cutting down forests, are responsible for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. That means reducing farming emissions and the land needed for farming is required to limit further global warming.
Smith and his colleagues found that emissions per unit of food are, on average, 20 per cent lower for organic crops and 4 per cent lower for organic animal products. However, organic harvests per hectare (公顷) are also lower on average. For wheat and barley, for instance, harvests are just half of those of conventional farms. This means 1.5 times as much land would be needed to grow the same amount of these foods.
The estimated increase in emissions varies greatly, depending on where the extra farmland comes from. If only half comes from turning grassland into farms, the increase could be as low as 20 per cent. If grassland that would otherwise have been reforested is turned into farmland, emissions could nearly double.
This doesn't necessarily mean people should stop eating organic produce, says Smith. People might choose organic food for other reasons, such as to reduce their pesticide exposure (though contrary to popular belief, organic farmers do use pesticides) or for the sake of wildlife.
Going 100 per cent organic could also harm global biodiversity. The extra land used for farming would mean the land available for wildlife would be smaller and more fragmented (碎片化的).
Smith says the best option may be to use some organic and conventional farming methods at the same time.
1. Why may greenhouse gas emissions increase if a country goes organic?| A．Organic farms take longer to build. |
| B．The agricultural output will increase greatly. |
| C．The emissions of each farm unit will increase. |
| D．Greater demand for imported food will be created. |
| A．Changes. | B．Challenges. | C．Advantages. | D．Differences. |
| A．Organic harvests per unit are greater than traditional harvests. |
| B．Organic farming needs more farmland to feed a country. |
| C．Global warming could be brought under control. |
| D．Land was not used in a responsible way. |
| A．Stopping using pesticides. |
| B．Eating less organic produce. |
| C．Going back to traditional farming. |
| D．Adopting mixed farming methods. |
