1 . When dehydrated (脱水) or snipped with scissors (用剪刀剪断), plants make popping noises that are too high-frequency (高频率的) for humans to hear, a study suggests.

Researchers set up microphones near healthy and stressed tomato and tobacco plants, both in a soundproofed box and in a greenhouse setting. The stressed plants were either dehydrated or had their stems snipped. The team also recorded pots with only soil in them to check that soil, alone, didn’t make any sounds. (They found it didn’t.) On average, healthy plants let out less than one pop per hour, but the stressed plants let out about 11 to 35, depending on the plant species and stressor. Drought-stressed tomato plants were the noisiest, with some plants letting out more than 40 pops per hour.

The team fed these recordings into a machine-learning algorithm (算法) —an AI system used to identify patterns in data—and found that the trained algorithm had about a 70% success rate in differentiating the sounds made by different plants close to different stressors. They trained another AI system to differentiate between drought-stressed and healthy tomatoes in a greenhouse with more than 80% accuracy. Another model could tell what stage of dehydration a plant was in with about 80% accuracy.

In additional experiments, the team successfully recorded the cries of many other stressed plants, such as wheat, corn and pincushion cactuses.

Although the researchers gathered these recordings by setting microphones about 10cm away from the plants, they suggested that these sounds could potentially be heard by animals and insects with great hearing from 3 to 5 meters away. “These findings can change the way we think about the plant kingdom, which has been considered to be almost silent until now,” the study authors wrote.

In the future, humans could take advantage of recording devices and AI to monitor crops for these signs of dehydration or disease, the scientists suggest.

1. What did the researchers do in their study?

A．They referred to previous research.

B．They studied different diseases of plants.

C．They used AI to analyze the experimental recordings.

D．They adopted different ways to record the sounds of plants.

2. What do the study authors say about the research?

A．It changes people’s views on plants.

B．It reveals the challenges plants face.

C．It provides a cure for plant diseases.

D．It shows animals have better hearing than people.

3. What does the last paragraph mainly tell us about the study?

A．Its results.

B．Its process.

C．Its methods.

D．Its application.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．Stressed plants make popping sounds

B．The cries of plants were successfully recorded

C．AI systems can be used to detect diseased plants

D．Different kinds of plants make different popping sounds

2 . How to Care for Indoor Plants

If you’ve ever had an indoor plant that’s quickly withered (枯萎), you might believe that you don’t have a green thumb or you’re not cut out for growing plants.     1     The truth is that anyone can be a good plant owner, and it really isn't complicated, we promise. In this article, we'll walk you through everything you need to know to care for your indoor plants, from watering to sunlight requirements to fertilizer.

    2     If your soil is either too dry or overwatered, it can damage the plant’s roots and prevent the plant from growing. In some cases under or over watering your plant can also kill it. Plants with thick leaves require more water than plants with leathery leaves. There is no specific frequency that works for all indoor plants. Instead, what you must do is determine what kind of plant you have, and follow guidelines on how often to water it by doing research on its specific type.

Stick your finger in the soil to determine how wet it is below the surface. If you put your finger into the soil up to your joint, you can feel if your plant needs more water. If the soil feels damp, then you don’t need to water it.     3     If it feels dry then it’s likely you need to water it.

Use water that is at room temperature. 68F or 20C is the best temperature to keep the water that you’re using to water your plants.     4     After that, you are supposed to take some actions to make the plants grow comfortably.

Use a hand-held moisture (水分) meter to ensure water levels in your soil.     5     The mechanism explores the underlying soil to give you a reading on how hydrated (含水的) your soil is.

A．Keep potting soil moist, but not wet.

B．Indoor plants are not necessarily good for us.

C．Well, we’re here to tell you that’s not the case.

D．Test whether your finger is long enough to put into the soil.

E．You can use a thermometer to determine the temperature of the water.

F．Over-watering can lead to rotting of the root which you need to fix.

G．Moisture meters are the most accurate way to determine how hydrated your plants are.

3 . Hawk Salvage, located in the historic neighborhood on Grand Avenue, is the place to find one-of-a-kind things. The store features a collection of curious things of the past and, most recently, a huge selection of rare and unique houseplants.

Founded by Greg Hawk, who has traveled from coast to coast finding items for his store, Hawk Salvage is like a well-kept history museum, its walls and display cases were filled with ancient art and historical photos. Even the space is a slice of history — it served as an automotive garage in the1940s. The front of the shop is home to lots of greenery.

On October 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the store will host its first-ever community plant swap, where plant parents can bring their plants and trade them for new plants. Visitors can learn tips and tricks from other fellow plant lovers and enjoy live music, artist demonstrations, food trucks and more. It will be a plant party for the ages, Hawk says. To take part in the plant swap, guests must bring at least one live and healthy plant to trade for another plant of equal size.

Because his regular picking trips was put on hold, Hawk, who is also interested in gardening,   started propagating(繁殖)plants. “I started looking at houseplants and it just opened up this huge can of worms of all the cool things that are out there, and now I find myself with more plants than I want to take care of.” he says. Hosting an event where he could clear away some of his plants while reconnecting the community is a win-win situation, he adds.

Hawk says the event is open to everyone. His advice for new plant fans? “Be patient. Buy something simple to start with. Everything dies, so you’re going to kill plants — it’s part of the process,” he says. “I think the biggest tip that I would give is not to be afraid to experiment with your plants.”

1. What can visitors usually do in Hawk Salvage?

A．Trade their plants for others.	B．Get their cars or trucks repaired.
C．Buy some rare and unique things.	D．Draw beautiful pictures on its walls.

2. What is a requirement for the plant swap?

A．Owning a large garden.	B．Bringing some greenery.
C．Having planting experience.	D．Being good at hosting plant parties.

3. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．Why Hawk ended his regular picking trips.	B．Why Hawk decided to host the plant swap.
C．How Hawk took care of his plants in the past.	D．How Hawk started his journey as a plant-lover.

4. What does Hawk advise new plant fans to do?

A．They should learn by experience.	B．They should stay away from houseplants.
C．They should be careful when planting.	D．They should turn to experienced planters.

4 . When micro-plastics end up in farm fields, the pollution can damage plant growth. But two young researchers now report that combining fungi (真菌) with certain farm wastes can partly overcome that problem.

May Shin, 20, and Jiwon Choi, 18, met in a research design class at the Fryeburg Academy, a high school in Maine. May had desired to explore how micro-plastics might affect the ecosystem. Jiwon was crazy about plants and fungi. The young scientists cooperated to test how long-lived plastics might affect farm crops.

Scientists have shown certain fungi can aid root growth and a plant’s nutrient uptake. Those organisms are named arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Certain farm wastes, like straw, can provide nutrients to plants and help stabilize their roots. Such wastes are also known as mushroom substrate (基质) and people often grow mushrooms in them.

May and Jiwon planted over 2,000 scallion (大葱) seeds in pots of soil. Half the seeds got soil polluted with micro-plastics. The rest grew in plastic-free soil. The plants then were further divided into four groups. The young scientists added AMF to the soil in one group. Another group had a top layer of mushroom substrate. A third group got both treatments. The last group got none. For three weeks, the pair tracked how many scallions sprouted (发芽) in each group and measured the plants’ height once each week.

About twice as many scallions sprouted in clean soil compared to that containing plastic bits. But among plants surviving in the polluted soil, a combination of AMF and mushroom substrate helped them out. Those getting both treatments grew 5.4 centimeters per week. That was faster than either of the treatments alone or those getting none.

Jiwon and May then looked at the plant roots with a microscope. Where AMF had been added, it grew into those roots. That increased the scallion roots’ surface area, May said, which should promote their uptake of nutrients. So “I see this project as coming up with a sustainable solution for plant growth in polluted soils,” said May.

1. Why did May and Jiwon work together?

A．To see the effects of long-lived plastics on farm crops.

B．To find the relationship between plants and fungi.

C．To design a research on the growth of plants.

D．To explore the way that the ecosystem works.

2. What is the author’s purpose in writing paragraph 3?

A．To prove the existence of micro-plastics.	B．To compare fungi with farm wastes.
C．To tell the advantages of farm wastes.	D．To provide some related information.

3. What aspect of the study is the fourth paragraph mainly about?

A．Its purpose.

B．Its design.

C．Its findings.

D．Its reasons.

4. How can AMF and mushroom substrate make plants grow faster?

A．By keeping the plants more resistant to pollution.	B．By allowing the plants’ deep area more freedom.
C．By making nutrients more available to the plants.	D．By exposing the roots to a larger surface area.

5 . It was the dead of winter when Dad told me that he found a delicate small bag in the snow on his way out of a doctor’s appointment. “It was filled with seeds, so I planted them in pots in the living room window that gets such great light.” Dad was excited to have a planting project in the winter. He missed tending his garden plot, which was the size of a small farm.

I now lived out of state, but Dad reported in his daily phone calls, “These plants seem to double in size overnight. It’s only been a few weeks, and they are almost touching the ceiling.” Since Dad had green fingers, I wasn’t surprised about that. I couldn’t imagine what plant would do so well. I knew photos would not come soon because Dad had to use up the film in his camera and then developed the pictures.

During one call, Dad said, “Today at work, one of my co-workers was wearing a T-shirt with a screen-printed picture of the same leaf as my mysterious houseplants. I told him that I had those same herbs, which were growing like weeds, and I had to get rid of them.” Dad continued, “He eagerly took them off my hands, and now I can see out the window again.”

This awakened my curiosity, and I decided to do some research. In those days, that meant going to the library’s reference section. I did some reading and photocopied some articles. I mailed them to my father.

Dad called, “I just couldn’t believe what I read in the papers you sent. Those pictures are exactly what my plants looked like. No wonder my co-worker was so willing to take them.”

We both laughed till we cried when we realized my father had just raised a harvest of precious Chinese herbs used to ease pain.

1. Why did Dad plant the seeds?

A．Because it was the doctor’s advice.

B．Because he had a small farm at home.

C．Because it satisfied his eagerness for gardening.

D．Because the seeds would bring him rich rewards.

2. What does the underlined word “that” mean in paragraph 2?

A．Dad’s gardening talents.

B．The herbs’ growing quickly.

C．Dad’s efforts to tend the seeds.

D．A planting project in the winter.

3. What can be inferred about the co-worker?

A．He had little interest in the plants.

B．He recognized the value of the plants.

C．He desired to learn from the author’s dad.

D．He wanted to show his knowledge about plants.

4. What is a suitable title for the text?

A．Seed catcher

B．Window scenery

C．Helpful co-worker

D．Innocent gardener

6 . Indoor plants might look as if they just sit around not doing much, but in many ways they are the unsung heroes of the home.     1    , but studies have shown that they can promote people’s wellbeing by improving their mood (心情), reducing stress and helping their memory. What’s more, indoor plants are easy to look after and are not very expensive.

What are indoor plants?

Indoor plants, also known as houseplants or pot plants, are plants that like to grow indoors. Many of these species (物种) are not ideally suited to growing outside in the UK, especially in the winter.     2    .

Why are indoor plants good for you?

Will Spoelstra, who works at the Royal Botanic Gardens, says, “    3    . I find during the winter months, plants around the house can really lift your mood.” Several studies have backed this up and found that indoor plants can improve creativity, focus and memory. There is also research showing that pot plants can clean the air around them by removing harmful gases, such as carbon dioxide. They also remove some harmful chemicals from paints or cooking.     4    .

Which plants can you grow?

Aloe vera, peace lilies and spider plants are some of the species that are easy to grow indoors. You can buy plants from supermarkets, garden centres or online. Younger plants are often cheaper than fully grown ones, and you get to care for them as they mature — which is part of the joy of owning plants. “    5    ,” Spoelstra says. “It can bring a new interest and focus into people’s lives and help to make the link between home and nature.”

A．All plants are different

B．Not only do they look beautiful

C．There are many benefits to growing plants indoors

D．Instead, they grow better inside, where it is warmer

E．Plants like peace lilies and devil’s ivy are among the best

F．Changing the pot of your plant from time to time will also help

G．Learning about the requirements of each plant can be very rewarding

7 . Both humans and animals possess the ability to cry out for help when endangered or threatened. Plants, as it turns out, can too.

“We found that plants usually emit (发出) sounds when they are under stress and that each plant and each type of stress is associated with a specific identifiable sound,” researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel wrote in their findings, published in the scientific journal Cell. “While undetectable to the human ear, the sounds emitted by plants can probably be heard by various animals, such as bats, mice, and insects.”

Stressors like dehydration (脱水) and damage to leaves gave rise to the plants’ high-pitched (尖声的) cries, which ranged from 20 to 250 kHz. The bigger the danger, the more frequent a plant’s signals. “Unstressed plants emitted less than one sound per hour, on average,” researcher Lilach Hadany said, “while the stressed plants — both dehydrated and injured — emitted dozens of sounds every hour.”

To catch these sounds, Hadany’s team surrounded tomato and tobacco plants with super-sensitive microphones. They then fed the data into an artificial intelligence program that could tell the difference between the species of plant and the types of sounds produced.

“Our findings suggest that the world around us is full of plant sounds, and that these sounds contain information,” Hadany wrote. She added that to translate that information, we just need the “right tools such as sensors that tell growers when plants need watering.” Doing so, researchers noted, may allow farmers to judge exactly when and where to water crops. Saving water, increasing harvests, and lowering stress for both plant and humankind.

1. What did researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel find?

A．Creatures tend to cry out for help when in danger.

B．Plants can give off sounds when they are stressed.

C．Plant sounds can be heard by both animals and humans.

D．Plants make the same sound whatever type of stress they have.

2. What does the author want to show in paragraph 3?

A．The influence of stress on plants.

B．The urgency of relieving stress of plants.

C．The possibility of plants emitting sounds.

D．The importance of conducting the research.

3. Why was an artificial intelligence program used in the research?

A．To help get rid of plant stress.

B．To identify the types of stress.

C．To collect sounds emitted by plants.

D．To analyze the collected sounds of plants.

4. What can we learn from Hadany’s words in the last paragraph?

A．The research is of practical value.

B．It’s difficult to understand plant sounds.

C．Further research is needed in the future.

D．It’s as easy as pie for farmers to grow crops.

8 . Seagrass meadows(海草床) are wonder plants growing beneath the sea. They feed and shelter sea life and are masterful at storing carbon. Thanks to the assistance of tiger sharks, a huge seagrass meadow in the Bahamas Banks was recently discovered, offering the world a tool to fight climate change.

Seagrass has usually been detected by Earth-orbiting satellites that identify darker patches in the blue water. In this study, tiger sharks were selected as research tools due to their highly consistent associations with seagrass ecosystems. They spend 70% of their time in seagrass meadows. The team equipped eight tiger sharks with satellite tags (电子跟踪器), seven sharks with camera tags, and used a 360-degree camera on a shark for the first time ever.

The data researchers collected was astonishing. The world’s largest seagrass ecosystem, measuring at least 66,900 square kilometers, has been discovered. This reflects a 41% increase from previous estimates of global seagrass. Seagrass can capture (捕获) huge quantities of carbon by photosynthesis (光合作用) and stores it on the seafloor. In terms of climate change, this is excellent news; seagrass is 35 times faster a removing carbon than tropical rainforests. When referred to global seagrass carbon stock estimates, the study indicates that seagrass in the Bahamas may contain 19.2% to 26.3% of all the carbon stored in seagrass meadows on Earth.

Yet seagrass meadows are rapidly disappearing, with over 92% of meadows in the UK gone, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Scientists are collecting seeds and trying to grow new seagrass meadows through restoration projects. This new discovery offers optimism and proves the importance of the ocean for healing.

The sharks led us to the seagrass ecosystem in the Bahamas, which we now know is likely the most significant blue carbon sink(蓝色碳汇) on the planet. What this discovery shows us is that ocean exploration and research are essential for a healthy future. The untapped potential of the ocean is limitless. These meadows can be protected and can be replicated (复制,仿制), offering hope for climate change around the globe.

1. Why were tiger sharks chosen as research tools?

A．They are more flexible than other sea animals.

B．They can quickly adjust themselves to the deep sea.

C．They have a strong connection with seagrass ecosystems.

D．They can be easily equipped with experimental devices.

2. What are the numbers in paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The decline of global seagrass meadows.

B．The impact of climate change on sea life.

C．The rapid increase in the amount of carbon on Earth.

D．The potential value of the world’s largest seagrass ecosystem.

3. What are scientists doing to protect seagrass?

A．Planting more seagrass meadows.

B．Developing new technology to collect seeds.

C．Mapping the distribution of seagrass meadows.

D．Encouraging people to join in restoration projects.

4. Which could be the best title for the text?

A．The New Way of Removing Carbon

B．The Significance of Ocean Exploration

C．A New Discovery: World’s Largest Seagrass Meadow

D．Tiger Sharks: Scientists’ Essential Helper to Study Climate

9 . Animals can adapt quickly to survive unfavorable environmental conditions. Evidence is mounting to show that plants can, too. A paper published in the journal Trends in Plant Science details how plants are rapidly adapting to the effects of climate change, and how they are passing down these adaptations to their offspring(后代).

Plants are facing more environmental stresses than ever. For example, climate change is making winters shorter in many locations, and plants are responding. “Many plants require a minimum period of cold in order to set up their environmental clock to define their flowering time,” says Martinelli, a plant geneticist at the University of Florence. “As cold seasons shorten, plants have adapted to require shorter periods of cold to delay flowering. These mechanisms allow plants to avoid flowering in periods when they have fewer opportunities to reproduce.”

Because plants don’t have neural(神经的) networks, their memory is based entirely on cellular(细胞的),molecular(分子的),and biochemical networks. These networks make up what the researchers call somatic memory(体细胞记忆). “It allows plants to recognize the occurrence of a previous environmental condition and to react accordingly,” says Martinelli.

These somatic memories can then be passed to the plants’ offspring via epigenetics(表现遗传). “Several examples demonstrate the existence of molecular mechanisms modulating plant memory to environmental stresses and affecting the adaptation of offspring to these stresses,” says Martinelli.

Going forward, Martinelli hopes to understand even more about the genes that are being passed down. “We are particularly interested in decoding the epigenetic alphabet without changes in DNA sequence(序列),”he says. “This is especially important when we consider the rapid climate change, we observe today that every living organism, including plants, needs to quickly adapt to survive.”

1. What adaptations have plants made to shortened cold seasons?

A．They have shortened their flowering time.

B．They have got more chances to reproduce.

C．They have avoided flowering in cold seasons.

D．They have adjusted their environmental clock.

2. What can we learn about somatic memory?

A．It is entirely based on neural networks.

B．It can help the plants’ offspring to survive.

C．It can help relieve environmental stresses.

D．It disturbs the plants’ biochemical networks.

3. What does the underlined word “modulating” mean in paragraph 4?

A．Adjusting.	B．Treasuring.
C．Recording.	D．Sharing.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．Plants are smart about flowering time

B．Plants can also adapt to climate change

C．Environmental stresses challenge plants

D．Mysteries of plant genes are to be unfolded

10 . A handful of healthy soil could contain great numbers of living organisms. However, poisonous pesticides (杀虫剂) are causing harm and destruction to them, according to a recent analysis.

For the analysis, researchers looked through nearly 400 published studies including over 2,800 experiments on how pesticides affect soil organisms. They found that pesticides harmed organisms critical to maintaining healthy soils, but these harms have never been considered in the safety reviews of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).Poisonous pesticides are driving factors in the sharp decline of many soil organisms, such as ground beetles. They have been identified as the most significant driver of soil biodiversity loss in the last ten years.

However, that research has always been ignored. The EPA, which is responsible for pesticide supervision(监管)in the country, openly acknowledges that somewhere between 50 and 100 percent of all agriculturally applied pesticides end up on the soil. Yet, to assess pesticides’ harms to soil species, the agency just uses a single test species, the European honeybee, to estimate risk to all soil organisms. It spends its entire life above ground in artificial boxes.

Worse still, as soil health gain popularity globally, pesticide companies have jumped up to green wash and promote their products. Every major company is now advertising its role in improving soil health, such as advocating planting cover crops. As general beliefs, these practices are indeed good for soil health and, if adopted responsibly, are a great step to take. But companies know that these practices are often accompanied by increased pesticide use. Chemicals and pesticides have to be applied more frequently to kill weeds before crops are planted.

The long-term environmental cost can no longer be overlooked. Soils are some of the most complex ecosystems on Earth, containing nearly a quarter of the planet’s biodiversity. Protecting them should be a priority, not an afterthought.

1. What does the underlined word “They” refer to in Paragraph 2?

A．Soil organisms.	B．Ground beetles.
C．Artificial boxes.	D．Poisonous pesticides.

2. What can we learn from Paragraph 3?

A．The honeybee is a typical species living in nature.

B．The assessment of pesticides’ harms is one-sided.

C．Less than half of applied pesticide go to the soil eventually.

D．The EPA attaches great importance to pesticide inspection.

3. Why do pesticide companies advocate planting cover crops?

A．To obey the EPA’s rules.

B．To increase their product sales.

C．To protect the environment.

D．To shoulder their social responsibility.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．Soil: essential to agriculture.

B．Pesticides: harmful to soil health.

C．Organisms: significant to harvest.

D．Pollution: destructive to biodiversity.