1 . This is the time of year when many gardeners are harvesting tomatoes. Gardening expert Jessica Damiano recently reported about the many pictures of strangely shaped tomatoes sent to her from fans of her gardening advice.     1    . The good news, Damiano said, is that there is nothing wrong with the strangely shaped fruits.     2    . Their unusual appearance does not affect their taste or nutritional value.

    3     If you have ever cut open a tomato, you know they are divided into internal (内部的) parts, called locules (小室). Most tomatoes have about four or five locules; other kinds of the fruit, like cherry tomatoes, contain two or three. But when a plant experiences extreme (极端的) temperature, cell division in the developing fruit can go off track. Temperatures over 32℃ during the day and 27℃ overnight can lead the tomato to form an extra locule. But there is not enough room inside a tomato for the extra part, so it grows on the outside of the fruit.

Not every tomato on an affected plant will be deformed (改变形状), however. What are the possibilities? Under the right conditions (temperatures that are too hot or even too cold), this could affect one or two tomatoes per plant, depending on where they are in the development process and what the (weather) conditions are, said Timothy McDermott, a professor at Ohio State University. The possibility of one of your tomatoes developing a locule oddity (怪异) is about one in a thousand, McDermott said.     4     But, Damiano noted, heirloom (原种) kinds seem more likely to have this genetic mutation (基因变异) than hybrids.

And, when harvesting your crop, remember:     5    

A．select the good-looking ones.

B．Any tomato can grow an extra locule.

C．the funny-looking tomatoes taste just as good!

D．What causes the unusual appearance of tomatoes?

E．Unless otherwise diseased, they are perfectly good for eating.

F．She said people sometimes question if the tomatoes are okay to eat.

G．Provide shade for your plants when temperatures are predicted to remain above 32℃.

2 . My husband, Dave, who teaches Botany (植物学), always plants things. He has planted trees anywhere we have lived and is proud to see they are flourishing and providing shade and beauty for whoever lives there.

I also love planting, especially the harvest. But I hate weeding (除草). I remember one of our first gardens in Kansas when I was attacked by the hugest grasshoppers (蚱蜢) I had ever seen while weeding our little garden.

Now, our growing efforts at our new home are vegetables. We are enjoying the garden we have created. It’s large but manageable with daily care. We use methods to minimize weeds. We have the time to keep up with the watering and weeding. I find I don’t hate that anymore.

There is something satisfying about pulling grass, and violets that are growing where we don’t want them, and unnamed weeds that are affecting the growth of what we want. I find that my relationship with gardening is turning into a true romance that has a rosy future.

It’s all about time, environment and attitude. Being in my eighties, I have the time to be patient for results, to enjoy the hope for future harvest, and I have the knowledge that comes from experience. I find a lot to love about growing things and about growing older.

1. What does the author’s husband take pride in?

A．Teaching.	B．Weeding.
C．Planting trees.	D．Growing vegetables.

2. How did the author feel when seeing grasshoppers from the weeds?

A．Calm.

B．Excited.

C．Bored.

D．Frightened.

3. What can we infer from paragraph 4?

A．Weeds are growing wildly.	B．The author begins to enjoy weeding.
C．The author finds new ways to weed.	D．Weeds balance the garden.

4. What does the author say about growing old?

A．It is a time to start work.

B．It is a stage of showing pity for the lost past.

C．It lets people become patient and wise.

D．It makes learning knowledge difficult.

3 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What is the most important thing when planning a garden?

A．Growing what one loves.

B．Picking the right soil.

C．Choosing the location of the garden.

2. How many things do people need to plan before starting a garden?

A．5.

B．4.

C．3.

3. What is the advantage of growing from young plants?

A．They’re less expensive.

B．They grow more easily.

C．Their fruits will grow big enough.

4. What does the speaker suggest people do in the end?

A．Plant right before the growing season.

B．Ask an expert for the right soil.

C．Enjoy the process of planting.

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

It’s been nearly seven years since a group of volunteers grew flowers at What Cheer Flower Farm in Rhode Island, with a simple goal: get flowers into the hands of anyone in need. Best of all, each one of the tens of thousands of flowers that What Cheer grows and     1    (delivery) are completely free of charge.

What Cheer was founded by two gardeners     2    often gave away flowers from their own gardens and wanted the idea to grow. What Cheer     3     (regular)brings joy to people at local hospitals, wishing them a quick     4    (recover). “Seeing the     5    (satisfy)smiles on people’s faces who weren’t expecting it is great,” says Stephen Hogan Jr. from the farm.

What Cheer’s flower beds lie in an industrial neighborhood that once     6    (house)a knife factory. In May, the nonprofit was awarded     7    $500, 000 prize from the Environmental Protection Agency for its continued efforts     8    (bring)life to the once polluted land.

“Not only do we give this space back to the neighborhood,” says Achen, “but we are also an eco-friendly spot with the ability to help local insect and bird     9    (population), and that’ll only make people’s lives better.” What cheer indeed can cheer people     10    !What’s good about a flower is that it doesn’t need anything else. Your only job when someone gives you flowers is to enjoy them.

5 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Scientists in Florida have     1     (successful) grown plants in moon soil collected during NASA’s Apollo missions (任务) in the 1960s and 1970s.

    2     NASA-supported study at the University of Florida used soil collected by astronauts    3     (grow) Thale Cress 2 (拟南芥). To compare results, plants were also grown in Earth soil    4     was made to be similar to moon soil. The researchers     5     (add) water and then seeds to the soil, as well as daily nutrients (营养物). After just two days, their growth started.

According to Professor Anna-Lisa Paul, all the plants looked the same     6     the sixth day. After the sixth day,     7    , it was clear that the plants growing in moon soil were not as healthy as those growing in Earth soil.

DNA testing showed that those Thale Cress 2     8     (plant) in the moon soil were under stress. It was also found that the plants grew in different ways in soil from different parts of the moon. The soil collected during the Apollo 11 mission had been on the moon’s surface several billion years     9     (long) than the other soil, and the plants grown in it were the weakest.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson believes this research will help future space missions and that resources on the moon and Mars     10     (need) to develop food for astronauts living and working in space.

6 . Grapes are popular fresh fruit, and people also love to make them into wine, jam, juice, various candied fruit, jelly, vinegar, grape seed extract and grape seed oil. Grapes are very useful, and many countries have good growing conditions to grow them.     1     The following are some fascinating facts about one of the most common fruits.

Grapes are used to make synthetic leather.

In order to find more environmentally friendly synthetic leather, Vegea, an Italian company founded in 2018, has developed a product that can be completely recycled from the grape waste left over from winemaking.     2    , including vegan-friendly shoes, bags, and boxing gloves.

    3    

Grapes and their derivatives (raisins, wine, and grape juice)are poisonous to dogs: They can cause kidney (肾脏) failure, which can cause their final death.

The grapes you eat are different from the ones used for making wine.

    4     The seeds and thicker skins on wine grapes add more flavor and color to the wine, while their greater sweetness speeds up fermentation (发酵) process. Table grapes are usually larger and more palatable: juicy with firmer flesh and a less strong taste, with thinner skins and fewer seeds.

China leads the way in table grape production and consumption.

Thanks to its favorable climate and growing conditions, China has been growing grapes for more than 2000 years. Consumption is expected to increase from 11. 8 million metric tons in 2021-2022 to 12. 4 million metric tons in 2022-2023, making China the world’s largest consumer.

    5     The country’s table grape production in 2022-2023 is expected to reach 12. 6 million tons—more than half of the world’s grape production-making it the world’s top grape producer as well.

Grapes were probably the first fruit domesticated by humans.

In 2023, researchers published genetic evidence that grape vines (藤) were domesticated around 11, 000 years ago. As the scientists pointed out, “The grapevine was probably the first fruit crop domesticated by humans …It was one of the first globally traded goods.”

A．Grapes can be deadly to your pet.

B．Grapes can be unfriendly to your animals.

C．China doesn’t just consume a lot of grapes.

D．Therefore, grapes are one of the world’s most economically important crops.

E．The quality requirements of the ones you eat (table grapes) differ greatly from those required for wine production.

F．Grape leather is being used to produce a variety of products.

G．Grape leather is very useful.

7 . High-resolution (高分辨率) satellite imagery has been used to map every single tree in Africa, showing a technique that could help improve the monitoring of deforestation (森林砍伐) across the world. Florian Reiner at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and his colleagues used images from sate lies to map canopy (树冠) across the entire African continent.

Modern sate lies usually catch tree canopies at a resolution of 30 meters — fine for measuring the size of forests, but less good at mapping individual trees. The satellite data Reiner and his colleagues used had a resolution of 3 meters, enabling the study to map all trees, including those not part of a forest.

The results suggest that 30 percent of all trees in Africa aren’t in a forest and instead are across farmland, savannah and urban areas. “Many countries in Africa lack thick forests, but have a lot of trees.” says Reiner. “These trees are extremely important to the local ecosystems, the people and the economy. By tracking every single tree, researchers can start to monitor how these trees are coping with climate change or whether they are sensitive to deforestation.” It could also improve the monitoring of reforestation efforts, which are growing in popularity as a way of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

“At a local level, being able to consistently monitor when and where trees are disappearing or reappearing can lead to more actionable insights,” says John Francis at the Alan Turing Institute in London.

“The study is a proof of concept rather than a map ready for immediate commercial use,” says Reiner. “It’s research work. It’s showing what could be done,” he says. But he is already working with colleagues to scale up the tracking approach to cover the entire global canopy: “We’re hoping that this will be seen as a way forward in monitoring tree resources.”

1. Why is high-resolution satellite imagery used to map every single tree?

A．To know the exact height of the tree.

B．To have a clear picture of the canopy.

C．To help monitor the deforestation.

D．To improve the satellite technology.

2. What is John Francis’ attitude towards the map?

A．Doubtful.

B．Disapproving.

C．Indifferent.

D．Favorable.

3. What do Reiner and his colleagues expect to do?

A．Protect the trees only in Africa.

B．Put the map into commercial use.

C．Track the entire global canopy.

D．Improve the imagery technology.

4. What is probably the best title?

A．Ways to Measure the Size of Forests in Africa

B．Coping with Climate Change by Tracking Every Single Tree

C．A Map from the Satellite Ready for Immediate Commercial Use

D．High-resolution Satellite Imagery Used in Monitoring Deforestation

8 . At first, the grains of rice that Ingo Potrykus held in his fingers did not seem at all _________, but inside, these grains were not white, as ordinary rice is, but a very pale yellow — thanks to beta-carotene (胡萝卜素), a building block for vitamin A.

For more than a decade Potrykus had _________ creating a golden rice that could improve the lives of millions of the poorest people in the world, strengthening their eyesight and their _________ disease.

_________ imagining golden rice was one thing and creating one quite another. Year after year, Potrykus and his colleagues ran into one _________ after another until success finally came in the spring of 1999.

At that point, he tackled an even greater challenge. The golden grains _________ pieces of DNA borrowed from bacteria and flowers. It was what some would call Frankenfood, a product of genetic engineering. As such, it _________ a web of hopes and fears.

The debate began the moment genetically engineered crops (GM crops) were first sold in the 1990s, and it has _________ ever since. First to start major protests against biotechnology were European environmentalists and consumer-advocacy groups. They were soon followed by their U.S. counterparts (相对应的人事物).

The hostility is _________. Most of the GM crops __________ so far have been developed to produce a plant that is not harmed by chemicals used to kill weeds (杂草) in the fields. These genetically engineered crops are often sold by the same large, multinational corporations that __________ the weed-killing chemicals that farmers spray on their fields. Consumers have become suspicious (怀疑的).

The benefits did seem small __________ golden rice was developed. It is the first strong example of a GM crop that may __________ not just the farmers who grow it but also the consumers who eat it. In this case, those include at least a million children who die every year because they are weakened by vitamin-A deficiency (缺乏) and an additional 350,000 who go blind.

Many people __________ poverty and hunger look at golden rice and see it as evidence that GM crops can be made to serve the greater public good. They see a critical role for GM crops in feeding the world’s ever-increasing population. As former U.S. President Jimmy Carter put it, “Responsible biotechnology is not the enemy; __________ is.”

1.

A．typical

B．special

C．local

D．white

2.

A．dreamed of

B．come in handy

C．been reminded of

D．broken up

3.

A．attempt at

B．effort to

C．resistance to

D．majority of

4.

A．But

B．And

C．While

D．Since

5.

A．surprise

B．obstacle

C．norm

D．opposition

6.

A．achieved

B．stressed

C．overlooked

D．contained

7.

A．was caught in

B．was alive with

C．be conscious of

D．was honored by

8.

A．announced

B．maintained

C．escalated

D．applied

9.

A．brilliant

B．understandable

C．discharged

D．rewarding

10.

A．introduced

B．reminded

C．respected

D．overlooked

11.

A．toss and turn

B．give and take

C．produce and sell

D．demand and supply

12.

A．until

B．after

C．although

D．when

13.

A．feature

B．mark

C．build

D．benefit

14.

A．worried about

B．ashamed of

C．filled with

D．admired for

15.

A．terror

B．misery

C．starvation

D．crisis

9 . How to Help Your Garden Get Through the Heat

Record-breaking heat is affecting plants in many places around the world. But gardening expert Jessica Damiano says selecting the right plants and a little care could save them.

Damiano says that in serious heat, and when that heat is dry, the soil loses water in it quickly.     1     This requires them to use energy to cool down and use water. This energy should be spent on growth, flowering, fruiting and reproducing. The stress often completely weakens the plant.

    2     These systems allow the plants to reach distant sources of wetness when the nearby area dries out.

Many foreign plants, including most plants that live for just one year, have root systems that are not deep. This means they must depend on the top few centimeters of soil for all of their water needs.     3    

Planting advice

When planting, Damiano says she always covers root balls with fungi (真菌) called mycorrhizae. It helps roots grow and helps plants deal with high temperature. She also treats her plants once a month with two materials: a seaweed-containing fish mixture and a vitamin—hormone—kelp material.

Seaweed and kelp are plants that grow in water.     4     These materials also help plants grow quickly after dividing and planting.

Finally, Damiano says the last addition is a good deal of covering on top. Covering not only keeps things looking clean, but it also helps to keep soil wetness and soil temperatures even.     5     Covering can mean the difference between life and death when it gets hot.

A．When the top soil dries up, so do they.

B．Study which plants are native to your area.

C．And it also keeps unwanted plants from growing.

D．She has watered her flower garden just two times this summer.

E．They have been proved to help other plants in difficult environments.

F．Plants will turn to their own limited water storing when they need water.

G．When plants are native to an area, they naturally develop deep, large root systems.

10 . 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.