1 . Many people want to grow their own food in their own backyard, but they don’t know how to start. This article will teach you how to start!

Find out what plants to get. Get plants that can grow in your area, and make sure you plant them at the right time of the year.     1     Usually you should start your garden after the last frost date in the spring t While they’re technically fruits, a good starter plant to grow is tomatoes. You can plant these in a pot or in your garden.

    2    Make sure there is enough space to grow your plants. Use a tiller (犁) and till the whole space you will be gardening. Then pull out any weeds and move any large rocks. Find out how big your plants get and space them accordingly. If your plant needs slightly acidic (酸性的) soil, get an acid metre and make sure the soil has enough acidity.     3     To grow them well, you can buy fertilizer that can add acidity to the soil.

Buy your plants and fertilizers. You can either get seeds or get plant seedlings. Go to your local nursery and see what they have. Get fertilizer as well.     4     This will make your plants grow, better and faster!

Plant your plants in the garden. Use a hand shovel and dig a small hole big enough to put your plant in. Water your plant before you put it in so you can wet the root ball. Sprinkle(撒)in a little bit of fertilizer and put your plant in.     5    

For seeds, stick your finger into the dirt where you want to plant the seed until the dirt reaches the second joint on your finger.

A．Learn how to start a garden.

B．Plan out your garden wisely.

C．Make sure to get the right fertilizer for your plants.

D．Some plants that need acidity are tomatoes and blueberries.

E．You should grow and water them in spring if you want to have a good start.

F．Then surround the plant with dirt and make a small circle around it for water.

G．If you plant them too early or too late, they could freeze and die before you can harvest vegetables.

2 . For many years, scientists saw trees as independent living things. Each tree in the forest was trying to get light, water and nutrients. Trees competed for resources.     1     They cooperate with each other with the help of fungi (真菌).

In forests, fungi connect trees through underground networks. Trees’ roots branch out in all directions. The same soil is home to fungi, which can grow on and around tree roots. The fungi grow in thin threads (线状物). As they grow, the threads can link to numerous trees. The fungi create webs between trees known as mycorrhizal (菌根) networks.     2     The trees give sugars to the fungi and the fungi get mineral nutrients from the soil. They share them with the trees.

The fungi in a mycorrhizal network link the trees together.     3     For example, if a young plant is growing in a shaded area, it may not get enough sunlight. However, larger trees growing around it can send sugars to the young tree’s roots through the fungi. Similarly, if a tree is dying, it might give its nutrients to the healthy trees growing around it.

Mycorrhizal networks are not always cooperative. Some plants will use the networks to take nutrients from their neighbors. Some flowers will steal food from other plants.     4     They want to harm plants that are competing for sunlight and water.

    5     They can send chemical or electrical signals through the wood wide web. If a tree is being eaten by insects, it will send out signals for help. Similarly, when diseases attack trees, they can send out chemicals.

A．Trees also send messages through the networks.

B．Networks can even connect different species of plants.

C．Scientists think the fungi are important for healthy forests.

D．Trees can share sugars, nutrients and water with one another.

E．However, scientists are discovering that trees may actually work together.

F．There are also plants that send poisonous substances through the networks.

G．In these networks, scientists think the trees and the fungi help one another.

3 . Scientists have shown how plants can protect themselves against genetic (基因的) damage caused by environmental stresses. The growing tips of plant roots and shoots have an in-built mechanism (机制) that spells cell death if DNA damage is detected, avoiding passing on faulty DNA.

Plants have small populations of stem cells (干细胞) at the tips of their roots and shoots, which enable them to continuously grow and produce new tissues throughout their lifetime. These stem cells serve as ancestors for plant tissues and organs. However, any genetic faults present in the stem cells will continue to exist and be passed on permanently throughout the plant’s life, which could last thousands of years.

Given the critical role of stem cells and their exposure to potentially dangerous environments at the growing tips of roots and shoots, safeguards are necessary to prevent stem cell faults from becoming fixed. Researchers Nick Fulcher and Robert Sablowski, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, aimed to uncover these protective mechanisms. Through experiments involving X-rays and chemicals, they discovered that stem cells were more sensitive to DNA damage compared to other cells.

When DNA damage occurs, the cells have the capacity to detect it and cause programmed cells to die, preventing the propagation of the damaged genetic code to the rest of the plant tissues. This process has similarities to the safeguard mechanism found in animal cells, which has been broadly studied due to its relevance in preventing cancer.

The identification of a similar protective system in plants is of great interest in the field of plant development. It also helps scientists develop plants that can better handle environmental stress. So knowledge of how plants deal with these stresses is of fundamental significance to agricultural science’s response to climate change.

1. What is the function of the in-built mechanism in plants?

A．To produce more roots and shoots.	B．To increase the overall lifetime of the plant.
C．To enhance plant growth and nutrient intake.	D．To stop genetic faults in stem cells passing on.

2. What can we know about stem cells in plants according to the text?

A．They are relatively abundant in quantity.	B．They are resistant to environmental stresses.
C．They make quick response to DNA damage.	D．They have the ability to repair damaged DNA.

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

A．Spread.

B．Change.

C．Existence.

D．Self-repair.

4. What does the last paragraph focus on?

A．The way of dealing with climate change on the earth.

B．The significance of identifying the protective system in plants.

C．The method of ensuring plant survival under environmental stress.

D．The urgency of developing plants that can handle environmental stress.

4 . Ariel Novoplansky, an ecologist in Israel, set up an experiment among pea plants to study how they communicate with each other.

In the experiments, Ariel put the pea plants in rows of containers. The center plant in the row was the target. The pea plants had been grown with two main roots. On one side, each pea plant had one root in its own pot and the other reaching into a neighbor’s pot. The central plant connected to its closest neighbor, which connected to another neighbor, and so on down the line. On the other side, all the plants kept their roots in their own pots, unconnected to their neighbors.

With everything ready, the ecologist created a dryness for the central target plant, which had quickly closed up its leaf pores(气孔)to save water. Amazingly, the connected plants on one side gradually closed up their leaf pores, even though only one of them had experienced real dryness. On the other side, with unconnected roots pea chain, all their pores stayed open. This means the warning signal didn’t travel from the stressed plants leaves through the air, but only from its roots through the soil.

It’s possible that plants are just eavesdropping (偷听) even if the damaged plant didn’t mean to send signals to them. Maybe the damaged plant leaks certain chemicals and nearby roots could sense those signals. But the plants with connected roots that weren’t dried out passed on the drought signals to their neighbors too, which means simple eavesdropping probably isn’t the answer. They seem to be having a real conversation, picking up information on one side and sharing it with a neighbor on the other.

The benefit to a plant that receives this information is pretty clear. But what’s the benefit to sending a danger signal to your neigbour? Remember, your neighbor may actually be you.

1. Which aspect of the experiment does Paragraph 2 mainly concern?

A．Its finding.

B．Its application.

C．Its purpose.

D．Its design.

2. How do the pea plants communicate in the experiment?

A．By connecting their roots.	B．By opening their leaf pores.
C．By spreading a special smell.	D．By leaking certain chemicals.

3. Which word best describes the communication between plants?

A．Complex.

B．Cooperative.

C．Efficient.

D．Direct.

4. Why does a plant send a danger signal to its neighbors according to the last paragraph?

A．To better its surroundings.	B．To make itself strong.
C．To develop its root.	D．To keep itself safe.

5 . We all love gardens with beautiful flowers and leafy plants, choosing colourful species to plant in and around our homes. Plant scientists, however, may have fallen for the same trick in what they choose to research.

The research, published in Nature Plants, found there’s a clear bias (偏好) among scientists toward visually striking plants. This means they’re more likely chosen for scientific study and conservation efforts, regardless of their ecological or evolutionary significance. White, red and pink flowers were more likely to feature in research literature than those with dull, or green and brown flowers. Plants with tall stems also stood out. Plants with blue flowers — the rarest colour in nature — received most research attention. But interestingly, a plant’s rarity didn’t significantly influence research attention. The team had expected to find more endangered species among those most studied, it did not either.

This bias may direct conservation efforts away from less visually pleasing plants that are more important to the health of the overall ecosystem or in need of urgent conservation. A bias toward colorful plants could mean we may be missing species that could be in rapid decline toward extinction, and we don’t have even basic information on seed banking for conservation. This is not a tragedy, but something to consider when planning future work.

We often don’t know how important a species is until it’s thoroughly researched. In Australia, for example, milkweeds are an important food source for butterflies, while dull-flowered mat rushes are now known to be the home for rare native sun moths. From habitats to food, these plants provide foundational ecological services, yet many milkweed and mat rush species are rare, and largely neglected in conservation research.

The study shows the need to take biases into consideration in science and in the choice of species studied, for the best conservation and ecological outcomes. People should be more alert in all parts of the conservation process, from the science to listing species for protection.

1. Which of the following plants are highly researched?

A．Plants which are rare.	B．Plants with blue flowers.
C．Plants with brown flowers.	D．Plants which are endangered.

2. What is the third paragraph mainly about?

A．The efforts to save endangered species.	B．The ways to conserve dull plants.
C．The reasons for plants’ extinction.	D．The consequences of plant bias.

3. What can we know about the “milkweeds” and “mat rushes” in paragraph 4?

A．They deserve thorough research.

B．They are closely connected with each other.

C．They have received the least research attention.

D．They are more important than beautiful flowers.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Are beautiful plants the most useful?	B．How can we save less attractive plants?
C．Which plant species need our help?	D．Are attractive plants researched more?

6 . 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。

More than 10,000 years ago, people in Mexico and Central America gathered and ate the fruit of wild avocado (牛油果) trees and    1    didn’t take long before they started to plant this high-fat, tasty food.

The name “avocado”    2    (be) from an Aztec word, ahuacatl, which refers to the shape of the fruit. The earliest evidence of human    3    (consume) of avocados is the seeds, or stones, found in Coxcatlan Cave in the Tehuacan Valley, Mexico,    4    have dated back to around 8,000 BCE. The high oil content of the avocado’s green flesh would have made the fruit a valuable addition    5    the prehistoric diet.

Domestication of the avocado soon followed, with the trees    6    (plant) in Mexico and Central America. By the time the explorer Christopher Columbus    7    (reach) South America in 1492, avocados were being consumed as far south as Peru. Today, Mexico is the world’s leading avocado producer, and the fruit is also    8    important crop in the US state of California, the Dominican Republic, and Indonesia.

With an amazing flavour, buttery flesh, and high nutrient content, the avocado has enjoyed a recent rise in popularity, and people continue to find innovative ways    9    (enjoy) it. It is perhaps most famous as the main ingredient of salad, but in Latin America avocados are still    10    (wide) used to garnish (搭配) chicken and potato soup.

7 . Plants have been essential to humans since the beginning of time. Their beauty inspires joy and many have healing functions. Now, a recent study has identified a super plant that cleans polluted air.

Noting that car pollution is a global concern, researchers set out to study how effective plants are at catching roadside particulates (颗粒), which cause many health problems. The scientists at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in the UK chose the city of Reading to study how effective plants are at catching them. Since previous research has shown that trees help remove air pollution, researchers decided to explore the effectiveness of hedges (树篱). This study looked at three species: hawthorn, western red cedar, and franchet’s cotoneaster (栒子).

Researchers discovered that cotoneaster was the most effective after comparing particulates on leaves of these three plants. This is due to the plant’s hairy, complex leaf structure. Researchers also found that thick hedges over six feet high were best in reducing the concentration of particles. In the most heavily trafficked areas, cotoneaster took in 20 percent more pollution than the other shrubs, according to The Guardian.

Dr Tijana Blanusa, co-author of the study, told The Guardian, “We know that in just seven days a l-metre length of well-managed dense hedge will clean up the same amount of pollution that a car emits over a 500-mile drive.” Blanusa highly recommends planting cotoneasters along busy roads.

This is great news for urban planners, as well as gardeners. Although many people are affected by roadside pollution, an RHS survey shows that only six percent of gardeners choose specific plants that may improve air quality.

Originally from China, cotoneaster is a hardy evergreen that can tolerate cold. In addition to growing healthy in the UK, it can grow strong in areas from California up to the Pacific Northwest, into British Columbia and around the Great Lakes.

Thanks to this recent study, cotoneaster has proved to be extremely beneficial, enabling gardeners and landscapers to make a positive difference to the environment. The hope is that once these super plants are grown in urban gardens and on streets, they will clean the air plus provide intense beauty along the way.

1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．What plants bring people.

B．Why researchers did the study.

C．How serious air pollution is.

D．What progress scientists have made.

2. Why is cotoneaster better at absorbing roadside particulates?

A．Its leaves are made of many different parts.

B．It can keep green in bad weather conditions.

C．It has a suitable height for reducing pollution.

D．Its leaves are thick in places with heavy traffic.

3. What’s Tijana Blanusa’s attitude towards the effect of cotoneaster?

A．Positive.

B．Surprised.

C．Concerned.

D．Doubtful.

4. What can we learn about cotoneaster?

A．It requires a lot of care in urban areas.

B．It will affect the growth of other species.

C．It will help improve air quality once planted.

D．It can make people feel energetic all day long.

8 . Bananas, apples and avocados are called climacteric fruits because they continue to become ripe after they are picked. Cherries, blackberries and grapes are called non-climacteric fruits because they do not. Knowing the difference between them is pivotal for fruit-growers and greengrocers because they can keep their goods in perfect condition when they arrive at the market places based on the knowledge. But how the difference originally came about remains unclear.

Fukano Yuya and Tachiki Yuuya of the University of Tokyo offered a view. Fruits, which they observe, exist to solve a problem faced by all plants-how to best spread their young around. Wrapping their seeds in the sugary fruits, to provide a tasty meal, serves as a way to get animals to do this for them. They do, however, need to make sure that their fruits favour the animals most likely to do the distribution work. Their climacterism, or its absence, is a way to achieve this.

To test their idea, the two researchers looked into 276 papers reporting on 80 sorts of fruits, and noted which animals each depended on for the distribution of their young 35 of these fruits they discovered, were eaten by both ground-dwelling animals and those living above the ground. But of others, 15 of the 19 eaten mainly by ground dwellers were climacteric, while 21 of the 26 fed on by animals living above the ground were non-climacteric.

That is a suggestively strong connection. Other evidence points out that non-climacteric fruits tend to have vivid colors. This may help them stand out amid the leaves of their parent plants, advertising their presence. On the contrary, climacteric fruits are generally better at hiding themselves. That makes them harder to spot until they have fallen to the ground.

The main limitation of their work, say Dr Fukano and Dr Tachiki, is that most of the papers they looked through concerned fruits eaten by people. This has probably affected, the sample, for thousands of years of selective breeding for characteristics that human beings find attractive may have weakened any signal improved by natural selection. The next step, therefore, should probably be to limit the analysis to wild fruits.

1. What does the underlined word “pivotal” in paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Critical

B．Popular

C．Reasonable

D．Obvious.

2. How do plants spread seeds according to Fukano and Tachiki?

A．By using their fruits to protect their seeds.

B．By showing their sugary seeds to attract animals.

C．By hiding their seeds on animals’favorite plants.

D．By making their fruits beneficial to the potential spreaders.

3. Which can best describe the non-climacteric fruits?

A．Protective and fully-grown.	B．Small-sized and unnoticeable.
C．Bright-colored and eye-catching.	D．Hard and eaten by ground dwellers.

4. What do Dr Fukano and Dr Tachiki aim to do in the future?

A．Find out fruits of old varieties.	B．Turn to the study of wild fruits.
C．Look into the selective breeding fruits.	D．Protect different fruit plants for breeding.

9 . 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。
Space Station Rice Tests Show Promise

Chinese astronauts have successfully grown rice seedlings (幼苗) onboard the Tiangong space station.

There have been other rice     1     (experiment) in space. But the one being conducted on Tiangong is the first of     2     (it) kind that aims to produce the complete life cycle of the plant, which begins with a seed and ends with     3     mature plant producing new seeds.

China launched the Wentian space laboratory into orbit on July 24. The space lab, which weighs 23 metric tons and is 17.9 meters tall, is the country’s     4     (large) spacecraft to date. Onboard     5     (be) eight experimental payloads, including the one for the rice experiment.

“We want to investigate how microgravity affects the plant flowering time on the molecular (分子的) level     6     whether it is possible to use the microgravity environment     7     (control) the related process,” said Zheng Huiqiong, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Flowering is a     8     (vital) important stage for plant reproductive development.

“If we want to land on and explore Mars, food     9     (bring) from Earth is not enough for the astronauts’ long journey and mission in space. We have to find a sustainable food source     10     long-term space explorations,” Zheng said.

10 . Mangroves are trees that typically grow in saltwater along coasts. But some red mangroves end up deep in the rainforests of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. These plants live in freshwater along the San Pedro Martir River. That’s nearly 200 kilometers from the sea. Scientists wanted to know how these mangroves got trapped so far inland. Carlos Burelo was among them. He became curious about these mangroves on a childhood fishing trip there 35 years ago. Burelo saw that the roots of the mangroves grew above ground. This was different from the other trees.

Burelo’s team first investigated where the freshwater mangroves came from. They started by collecting their leaves and then compared their DNA to the leaves from coastal mangroves which were growing along the Gulf of Mexico. The DNA helped identify the origins of the mangroves on the San Pedro Martir River. They had started along the Gulf of Mexico, some 170 kilometers away from the river. The team discovered other evidence that this ecosystem had once been coastal. They discovered 112 other species in this region that are typically found near coasts.

The researchers looked at the soil too. “These sediments (沉积物)near the mangroves revealed exactly what we expected,” says Exequiel Ezcurra, an ecologist at the University of California. In all, the researchers turned up coastal stones, shells of sea snails and clay sediments rich in shell fragments (碎片). These led the researchers to conclude the area used to be part of the ocean long ago.

Computer models of how sea level has changed over time confirmed those findings. The models showed that when sea levels were higher in the past, the oceanmerged withthe lower basin of the San Pedro Martir River. That would have been around 150,000 to 130,000 years ago. This pushed red mangroves and other species inland.

“This discovery highlights how changes to the past climate have affected the world’s coastlines,” Ezcurra says. “It also offers a chance to better understand how future sea level rise may affect these ecosystems.”

1. What did Burelo notice as a child?

A．The changes of the sea water.

B．The problems facing the rainforest.

C．The unusual roots of some mangroves.

D．The influence of mangroves on fishing.

2. What can we infer about the freshwater mangroves and the coastal ones?

A．They are close in DNA.	B．They have different leaves.
C．They have different origins.	D．They both have many species.

3. What does the research of the soil show?

A．The composition of the soil is very complicated.

B．The freshwater mangroves once grew in the sea.

C．Sea creatures influence the growth of mangroves.

D．The sea level has little change over the past years.

4. What does the underlined phrase “merged with” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Developed from.	B．Changed into.
C．Depended on.	D．Combined with.