1 . Some of the oldest living things on our remarkable planet are trees. The record holders are bristlecone pines (狐尾松) of the western United States, quite a few of which are known to be more than 3,000 years old. One individual, discovered in 2012, is estimated to be more than 5,060 years old, making it the oldest known non-clonal tree in the world!     1    : individuals across a number of other tree species have also been around for thousands of years.

So, how do trees survive for thousands of years?     2    . Undoubtedly, part of the answer lies in luck. Ancient trees have obviously not submitted to deadly diseases, pests, fires, droughts, windstorms, landslides, or the human axe in the centuries and centuries that they have quietly endured.

The other part of the answer has to do with how trees age. In fact, there is quite a debate about whether ancient trees can be considered “immortal (永生的)”. That is, will such trees ever die if they are not killed by an outside force? We may never know the answer to that, but, at the very least,     3    . While cell death is an important factor in the aging of humans and other animals, one study found little evidence of cell death in the ginkgo tree vascular cambium (银杏树维管形成层). In addition, a study of bristlecone pine pollen (花粉) found no significant increase in mutation (变异) rates with age, which is another factor associated with animal aging.     4    .

Older trees benefit greatly from having bodies made mostly of dead woody tissue. In fact, an old tree might be as much as 95 percent dead tissue! Given that it isn’t alive, wood does not require metabolic (新陈代谢的) activity to maintain it,     5    .

A．so an old tree doesn’t really need to do much to keep living

B．This is a question that has something to do with the good luck of trees

C．However, bristlecones are certainly not alone in terms of the oldest creatures

D．This is a fascinating question for biologists that does not yet have a settled answer

E．What’s more, some ancient trees have superior chemical defenses against pests and diseases

F．which means that trees can survive everywhere without being limited by external and internal conditions

G．we know that ancient trees age in ways that are dramatically different from the ways that most animals and even other plants age

2 . Kew Gardens is not only a popular tourist destination in London, but also a botanic garden and a research center that has the largest collection of living plants at a single site. So, let’s explore the Royal Botanic Gardens with CGTN’s reporter Robyn Dwyer.

Palm House

The first stop is the Palm House, a giant indoor rainforest with a wide range of plants. Visitors can enjoy these exotic plants while researchers can study the secrets of these flora. Eatable plants such as cocoa tree and African oil palm are all preserved here to keep the diversity of food resources. At the same time, it houses many medical use plants, including some that are used to treat cancer.

Temperate House

Known as the world’s largest Victorian glasshouse, the Temperate House is home to1,500 species of plants from temperate regions of the world. Some of the species kept here have gone extinct in the wild, such as Encephalartos woodii, a cycad from South Africa. And some are already extinct like Saint Helena olive, but the Kew has stored its DNA.

Mediterranean Garden

In the Mediterranean Garden, one can see plants from the Southern Europe, such as rosemary, olives and cork oak. Walking in the garden, one can feel the non-indoor vibe (氛围) of the Mediterranean and learn about the economic as well as scientific uses of these plants.

On International Day for Biological Diversity this year, join CGTN to travel around the world’s national parks and reserves across seven continents. Our next program is to visit penguins and seals in the Antarctic Ice Aquarium Norway. Please stay tuned!

1. What do the three stops have in common?

A．They store plants for medical use.

B．They have plants of economic value.

C．They house plants of seven continents.

D．They own plants for scientific research.

2. Which one suits a visitor preferring outdoor sites?

A．Palm House.	B．Temperate House.
C．Antarctic Ice Aquarium.	D．Mediterranean Garden.

3. Where is the text most probably taken from?

A．A botanic dictionary.	B．A TV travel series.
C．A trip advertisement.	D．A biodiversity essay.

3 . 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。

Malaindrano is a giant baobab (猴面包树) tree that is hollowed out (使成中空) for the storage of water,     1     (exist) in the village of Ampotaka in Madagascar. Malaindrano means “he who hates water”,       2     this baobab doesn’t hate water at all. It is so big that many people believe it has never been     3     (complete) filled. Even semi-full, the trees are vital for storing water in one of Madagascar’s driest regions. Also known     4     bottle trees because of their unique thick trunks, such baobab trees form a network of     5     (nature) water tanks. Using them has allowed people to live in a place where rain is rare, and where the little rain that falls     6     (absorb) quickly by the soil.

Lack of rain can lead to a lack of food. In the 1920s and 1930s, thousands of people     7     (die) because of extreme drought. This forced the locals to come up with an idea: hollowing out baobabs     8     (store) water when it is abundant. A large baobab has the     9     (able) to store about 14,000 litres of water. Today, some 20,000 people live in the region, many of       10     rely on the tree water for around a third of the year.

4 . The Royal Botanic Gardens,Kew,usually known as Kew Gardens,in Richmond upon Thames is a major London tourist attraction and a UNESCO Word Heritage site.

Founded in 1759,Kew began as a royal garden attached to the Royal Kew Palace,home to George III and his many children. The Palace is now open to visitors,but probably the buildings most visitors come to see are the incredible glasshouses. The Palmhouse is one of the largest surviving Victorian glasshouses in the world,with over 16,000 panes of glass. The Waterlily House,which contains some of the world's largest and smallest waterlilies, is also not to be missed.

However, Kew is more than just a garden and green space in the heart of Britain’s capital city. It is also the world’s leading horticultural (园艺学的) center for botanical research and plant science. The Royal Botanic Gardens,Kew,covers approximately three hundred acres of land,and attracts around a million visitors every year.Its collections and laboratories illustrate the important part that plants play in our lives, and highlight the need to protect and conserve them for the benefit of generations to come.

Kew is a vital research and scientific base, with multiple research projects and partnerships stretching across the globe. As a world leader in plant science,Kew employs around seven hundred people, and is home to about nineteen thousand species of living plants. Its Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place holds seeds from around ten percent of the world's plant species for the benefit of humankind, exhibiting around two billion seeds from 28,000 species of plants sourced from approximately 130 countries.

Around eighty percent of our daily calorie intake comes from just twelve plant species.A project of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank recognizes the need for greater genetic diversity in our crops and seeks to preserve food security for future generations.The project collects seeds from the wild relatives of some of our most important food crop plants whose genetic make-up can be used to breed new and useful qualities back into modern agricultural crops so that they can better adapt to future climates and other threats, such as pests and diseases.

1. What can we learn about the glasshouses from Paragraph 2?

A．Every tourist to Kew will come to see them.

B．The Palmhouse is the largest glasshouse in the world.

C．They are made of about 16,000 panes of glass.

D．The Waterlily House displays waterlilies of different sizes.

2. What does the underlined “them” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Lives.

B．Plants.

C．Gardens.

D．Laboratories.

3. Why does the project collect seeds from some wild plants?

A．To help modern crops become more adaptable.

B．To guarantee safe environment for future generations.

C．To completely change the genetic make-up of crops.

D．To find a way to kill pests and prevent other threats.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．The booming tourism of London.

B．The popularity of a royal garden.

C．Kew Gardens featuring science.

D．Genetic make-up boosting modern crops.

5 . There’ s no place like home. It’ s the place where we’ re surrounded by our possessions and creature comforts. We purchase things to give our homes a personal touch. And one thing we’re buying more of is houseplants. But are these “living” additions to our homes good for us and the environment?

Houseplants, also known as pot plants, add a natural touch and they have the ability to brighten up a room on a budget. The Royal Horticultural Society found that nearly 72% of adults in the UK had a houseplant in their home, with this figure rising to 80% of 16-24 year olds. A fifth of owners also said they use plants in the home to boost their health and well-being. And average sales last year were up on the previous year.

It seems millennials (千禧代) are driving the growth in the sales of houseplants. More young people are living in flats without a garden. 24-year-old Daisy Hale said “being able to care for something but not having too much commitment—I guess that’s a classic millennial line—is ideal for my lifestyle.”

From hanging baskets, to cacti (仙人掌) and succulent ferns, the choice of vegetation is endless. They are easy to care for, and there have been unproven claims that they improve the air quality in our home. But whatever their benefits, there are now concerns that they might not be so good for the environment. Some are bought online and shipped from overseas. Fay Kenworthy, co-founder of PlantSwap, a community activity that encourages people to trade plants locally, said “this could defeat many local plants.”

But botanist James Wong argues that home delivery has less of an environmental impact than multiple trips to the garden center in a car. Although he’ s not too concerned about the environmental impact, others are worried about the plastic pots they are in and the type of peat (泥炭) that some of them are grown in. However, a sustainable approach to buying them may be the best way forward if we want to introduce some natural greenery into our homes.

1. What is the benefit of a houseplant?

A．A houseplant can cure people of many diseases.

B．A houseplant is ideal for millennials’ career.

C．A houseplant improve the water quality in our home.

D．A houseplant can beautify a room with little money.

2. Which of the following may Fay Kenworthy agree with?

A．The choice of vegetation is endless.	B．People should buy local plants.
C．It’s best to buy plants online.	D．Houseplants are hard to care for.

3. Where is the passage probably from?

A．A fashion magazine.	B．A tour brochure.
C．A scientific fiction.	D．A history book.

4. What is James Wong’s attitude towards home delivery of plants?

A．Negative.

B．Neutral.

C．Positive.

D．Not mentioned.

5. What is the best title of the passage?

A．Natural Greenery	B．Millennials’ Choice
C．Houseplants: Good or Bad?	D．Hanging Baskets or a Garden?