1 . Now, a study proves that gardens are more than just a pretty place. The study, by researchers at Illinois State University, demonstrates that such constructed gardens can have a measurable and positive impact on water quality.

Floating gardens are essentially platforms built and wrapped in coconut husks (椰子壳), and filled in with native plantings. As plants grow, they extend their roots into the water. On the North Branch of the Chicago River, non-profit Urban Rivers and its partners are developing a mile-long floating eco-park called the Wild Mile. The re-development of this former industrial canal is Urban Rivers’ important project. As part of the park, floating gardens, attached to shore, are being fixed.

The primary aim of the floating gardens is beautification. But the Illinois State team, from the University’s Department of Geology, Geography, and the Environment, saw an ideal setup for a controlled experiment. “We joined it because it’s the perfect opportunity to see if there’s an influence on water quality,” explains lead author Abigail Heath.

The study is novel: previous studies have explored floating gardens’ influence on water quality over time, primarily in wastewater treatment ponds, but not over space, in moving water. The project also matches well with Urban Rivers’ broader goals. “The city is interested in bettering water quality,” says Phil Nicodemus, Urban Rivers’ Director of Research. “Happily, Illinois State took part in it later.”

Could this small human-made park improve water quality? An average of data collected over the course of the study shows middle but definitive improvement. For example, nitrogen (氮) dropped from 4.69 milligrams per liter in surface water to 4.43 milligrams per liter, a drop of about 1 percent.

“Despite how small this garden was, there was measurable improvement in water quality from upstream to downstream,” notes Heath. She and her colleagues see this as a model for how large floating gardens should be to help improve water in similar settings. “Even this tiny garden makes a difference,” she says.

1. What can be inferred from the second paragraph?

A．The floating gardens are environmentally friendly.

B．The floating gardens are fixed everywhere in the eco-park.

C．The floating gardens can help fix the former parks.

D．The Urban Rivers were once industrial canals.

2. What is the main reason to build the floating gardens?

A．To reduce waste water.	B．To attract more visitors to the park.
C．To make the surroundings brilliant.	D．To help researchers do the experiment.

3. What does the underlined word “it” refer to in Paragraph 4?

A．The floating garden.	B．The project.
C．The treatment of ponds.	D．The quality of water.

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

A．Floating Gardens: More than Pretty

B．The Best Way to Better Water Quality

C．A Practical Method of Improving Parks

D．Floating Gardens Beautify the City

2 . Fig trees are native to Europe around the Mediterranean Sea, Asia and Arica, but they can grow in much cooler climates.

Once big enough, fig trees can accept temperatures even a few degrees below freezing. Some kinds of fig trees do better in such environments than others.

Depending on the weather and pruning (修剪), a fig can grow into a bush or a tee. Bushes with several stems (茎) growing from the ground do best if covered for the winter.     1    Either way, wait until the trees have dropped most of their leaves.

One popular method for burying trees for their protection involves digging a narrow, shallow area.     2    The space should be about 30 centimeters deep, 60 centimeters wide and as long as the height of the tree. To prepare the tree, gather its branches and tie them together with soft rope.

Next, push a shovel (铲子) into the soil about a half-meter from the trunk (树干) on the side opposite the hole. Lift that side of the tree’s root ball out of the ground. Then, gently push the tree toward the hole.    3    

Pack soil around the exposed side of the roots, and around the length of the tree. Load soil over the tree. Make it at least 30 centimeters deep. You will need more soil than you removed from digging.

    4    In this case, you should work upwards from the bottom and put cloth around the tree. Then put heavy brown paper around the cloth and tie it into place. Remove some soil from around the base of the tree. Place a large piece of cardboard into the space.     5    Tie the cardboard into place.

A．And in this area the tree can be laid.

B．All kinds of the trees could use protection.

C．You can also cover, or wrap, the tree instead.

D．And bend it around the bottom part of the tree.

E．When it is lying fat, cover the tree with plastic.

F．Trees with a single trunk can be buried or covered.

G．Remove the cover on the tee on a cloudy day in early spring.

3 . Ever since humanity began to farm our own food, we've faced the unpredictable rain that is both friend and enemy. It comes and goes without much warning, and a field of leafy greens one year can dry up and blow away the next. Food security and fortunes depend on sufficient rain, and nowhere more so than in Africa, where 96% of farmland depends on rain instead of the irrigation common in more-developed places. It has consequences: South Africa's ongoing drought — the worst in three decades — will cost it at least a quarter of its corn harvest this year.

Biologist Jill Farrant of the University of Cap Town in South Africa says that nature has plenty of answers for people who want to grow crops in places with unpredictable rainfall. She is hard at work finding a way to take qualities from rare wild plants that are adapted to extreme dry weather and use them in food crops." The type of farming I am aiming for is literally so that people can survive as it's going to get drier and drier," Farrant says.

Extreme conditions produce extremely tough plants and a few fierce plants are highly adaptable to the everchanging conditions. Farrant calls one of them resurrection plants (复苏植物). During months without water under a harsh sun, they fade and contract until they look like a pile of dead green leaves but rainfall can revive them in the matter of hours. That is to say, when they detect and extend dry period, they produce sugars and certain stress-associated proteins and other materials in their tissues to enter a glass-like state that is “the most stable state that a plant can maintain”.

Last year, after Chinese team published a draft genome (基因组)of rock violet, one of the best studied resurrection plants, Farrant and colleagues published a detailed study of another candidate. One or both of these models will help researchers test their ideas-so far mostly done in the lab-on test plots.

1. Which can be responsible for the reduction in corn crop in South Africa?

A．Facing unpredictable rain.

B．Lacking advanced irrigation.

C．The food security.

D．The ongoing drought.

2. Why does Jill Farrar conduct the relevant study?

A．To maintain the most stable state of tough plants.

B．To grow crops in places with unpredictable rainfall.

C．To apply the special quality of wild plants to human farming.

D．To survive extreme dry weather and ever-changing conditions.

3. What does the underlined word “contract” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．shrink

B．die

C．withdraw

D．rest

4. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．The research is still on trial.

B．Chinese team worked harder.

C．One of the candidates has been put into use.

D．The results contribute to resurrection plants.