1 . The green and red watermelon is a sweet, refreshing summer snack. But it wasn’t always so sugary or brightly colored. So what did watermelons originally taste and look like, and from where did they come?
The fruit isn’t from the Fertile Crescent of ancient Mesopotamia, as so many other domesticated (家养的) crops are, research shows. Susanne Renner, a scientist, and her colleagues carried out comprehensive genetic sequencing (基因测序) of the domesticated watermelons — the kind you might find on supermarket shelves — along with six wild watermelon species.
“We found the modern genomes (基因组) of the domesticated watermelon are more closely related to the Sudanese wild type than any other that we analyzed,” she said. The Sudanese wild watermelon has some obvious differences from the domesticated version. “The flesh is white and not very sweet, and it’s mainly used as animal feed,” Renner said. Nevertheless, the genetic similarity between the two species led the researchers to conclude that the Sudanese fruit is probably a precursor (前身) to the red and sweet domesticated watermelon.
It’s likely that ancient farmers grew non-bitter varieties of the wild watermelon and thus increased its sweetness over many generations through the domestication process. The red color is probably also thanks to artificial selection, in which farmers likely favored and selectively bred red fruit.
We already knew that the ancient Egyptian king Tutankhamun was buried with watermelon seeds 3,300 years ago, yet that isn’t sufficient proof of a domesticated, sweet watermelon. But then, Renner found an image of a watermelon-like fruit on an ancient Egyptian tomb painting, thought to be more than 4,300 years old. In a separate tomb, another image showed the watermelon cut up in a dish alongside other sweet fruits. This realization, coupled with Renner’s genetic findings, suggests that the watermelon was most likely domesticated around that time either in Egypt or within trading distance of the ancient empire.
“Historically speaking, that’s a very significant finding,” said Hanno Schaefer, a professor of plant biodiversity. “It’s becoming clearer that we’ve greatly neglected the North African region. We’ve focused too much on the Fertile Crescent and we need to invest more resources into studying the agriculture of North Africa.”
1. What can we learn about the Sudanese wild watermelon?| A．It is brightly colored and sugary. |
| B．It is consumed mainly by animals. |
| C．It has no connection with the domesticated type. |
| D．It has more differences than similarities to the domesticated type. |
| A．More resources will be devoted to agriculture research in South Africa. |
| B．The domesticated watermelon has a history of at least four thousand years. |
| C．The domesticated watermelon probably developed from the Sudanese type. |
| D．Few domesticated crops are from the Fertile Crescent of ancient Mesopotamia. |
| A．The history of the Sudanese wild watermelon. |
| B．Where wild watermelons actually come from. |
| C．The characteristics of domesticated watermelons. |
| D．How domesticated watermelons came into being. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Doubtful. | C．Critical. | D．Tolerant. |
2 . Emmanuel Mendoza, a college student, is currently running a study at Texas A&M University, where he’s mixing simulated (模拟的)Martian (火星的) soil and frass(粪便)from fly larvae(幼虫)to find just the right recipe for growing plants on Mars.
The seed of this idea was planted when Mendoza was in middle school, watching Ridley Scott’s 2015 film The Martian, in which Mark Watney becomes stuck on the planet and grows potatoes to survive. “That got me really interested in what nutrients or what soil structure Martian soil has that we could potentially take advantage of, ”Mendoza said.
Now, he’s running an experiment growing English peas in simulated Martian soil. “I definitely considered potatoes like Mark Watney, ”he said. “But the fact was that I couldn’t necessarily get the data I wanted out of them. ”
He wanted to be able to measure plant growth as it occurred throughout his experiment. Since potatoes grow underground, he’d only be able to collect data once they were done growing. In the end, Mendoza chose to grow English peas because they’re self-pollinating(自花传粉), grow fairly quickly and he can see the shoots climb.
Martian soil, though it does contain other essential nutrients, isn’t exactly ideal for plants from Earth. It tends to be rocky and lacks the right organic (有机 的)matter. Here’s where the larvae come in. Mendoza turned to the larvae of black soldier flies, which produce a waste known as frass. “They can break down almost any biomatter and turn it into really useful matter, “Mendoza said. “And then you can use the frass as a nutrient alternative to soil.”
For this experiment, Mendoza mixed different percentages of simulated Martian soil and frass to see what best supported growing English pea plants. Now, he said he’s seeing growth across all his plants—even the ones growing in 100%simulated Martian soil.
1. Why does the author mention the film The Martian?| A．To show Mendoza’s enthusiasm for films. |
| B．To illustrate Mark Watney’s intelligence. |
| C．To prove Mark Watney’s interest in gardening. |
| D．To introduce the origin of Mendoza’s experiment. |
| A．He was unwilling to repeat others’ study. |
| B．English peas grew far faster than potatoes . |
| C．Potatoes needed stricter living conditions. |
| D．It was more convenient to collect the data. |
| A．It serves as certain essential nutrients. |
| B．It loosens the soil for plants to grow. |
| C．It makes the soil become quite rocky. |
| D．It helps black soldier flies grow stronger. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Pleased. | C．Intolerant. | D．Disappointed. |
3 . It could be said that trees naturally call for attention as they climb toward the sky with their arms outstretched. Yet, it’s still easy for us to ignore them. As we rush through our own day-to-day lives, trees seem to play the role of an insignificant backdrop.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Rooted to a single spot, trees appear sill.But that stillness is not associated with laziness. In fact, trees are guards of the planet as the impact of their hard work carries miles farther than the ground in which they stand.
Globally, trees are the most cost-effective tool in promoting biodiversity. They support the survival of a significant number of animals. For example, a big reason why ring-tailed lemurs (狐猴) are endangered is that half of the forests they depend on in Madagascar off the East coast of Africa were cut down.
Not only do animals depend on trees for shelter, trees are significant to the health of humans as well. In fact, doctors in Canada are so convinced of trees’ benefits for the mind and body that they recommend patients visit national parks. Trees help a lot in tackling climate change too. They absorb and store carbon dioxide(CO2) — the key greenhouse gas emitted by our cars and power plants — before it has a chance to reach the upper atmosphere and trap heat around the Earth’s surface.
So it’s time to put trees in the spotlight. The Arbor Day Foundation, the world’s largest nonprofit, is devoted to this exact mission: inspiring people to plant,protect, and honor trees. We know there’s never been a more important time for trees. And we know there’s never been a more important time for mankind to engage in its role as environmental guards. This isn’t a one-sided relationship. What we give to nature we will receive in return, tenfold (十倍地). So as springtime arrives once again, take a moment and appreciate what a tree can be.
1. What does the author mainly want to tell us by giving the example of ring-tailed lemurs?| A．Trees are insignificant for their stillness. |
| B．Trees play a vital role in cleaning the air. |
| C．Trees provide critical habitats for creatures. |
| D．Half of the forests in Madagascar were cut down. |
| A．To provide advice on planting trees. |
| B．To call for human attention to trees. |
| C．To show the best time of planting trees. |
| D．To stress the impact of trees on humans. |
1=Paragraph One 2= Paragraph Two 3= Paragraph Three 4= Paragraph Four 5=Paragraph Five
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．Trees: Cleaners of the Environment | B．Trees: Shelters for Creatures |
| C．Trees: Defenders of Human Health | D．Trees: Guards of the Planet |
4 . Yellow flower carpeted fields are a sure sign of summer. In Denmark alone, more than 200,000 hectares of rapeseed (油菜籽) are planted every year. But until now, the plant has only been used for oil and animal food, as it is both bitter and unsafe for human consumption.
To protect themselves, the rapeseed plants produce a group of substances (物质) called glucosinolates (硫苷), which give the plants a strong and bitter taste that scares off insects and disease. As a result rapeseed is unhealthy to eat and the rapeseed cake, which is the remains of the seeds after the oil has been squeezed out, has only been used as feed for pigs and chickens, despite its 30 — 40 percent protein content.
Now, researchers from the University of Copenhagen have discovered the three proteins that help to store the bitter substances in seeds of thale cress (阿拉伯芥), a plant closely related to the rapeseed. The new knowledge makes it possible to prevent the accumulation (积聚) of these substances in the seed by removing the proteins through “transport engineering” technology. In doing so, the defensive substances remain in all other parts of the plant, allowing it to continue to defend itself.
So far, the researchers have shown that their method works in thale cress. “The next task is to apply our method to the closely related rapeseed plant, which we are now working on,” says Professor Halkier, leader of the research.
“Half of plant proteins in the EU come from rapeseed. The climate crisis demands that we reduce meat consumption and eat more plants, which is where rapeseed has great potential as a new source of plant protein. Our latest research results bring us a step closer to making full use of rapeseed,” says Professor Halkier.
1. What is the function of paragraph 2?| A．To state the reason. | B．To offer the solution. |
| C．To give an example. | D．To introduce the topic. |
| A．By selecting better seeds. | B．By removing the three proteins. |
| C．By increasing sweet tastes. | D．By storing defensive substances. |
| A．Researchers’ efforts to better the taste. |
| B．Researchers’ progress in their experiment. |
| C．Rapeseed’s role in relieving climate crisis. |
| D．Rapeseed’s potential as a new protein source. |
| A．Harmful proteins discovered in rapeseed |
| B．Rapeseed widely used as oil and animal food |
| C．Researchers closer to making rapeseed safe food |
| D．New plant protein in rapeseed finally uncovered |
5 . Gardening’s many “rules” have been repeated so often that they can seem like unquestionable truths. But many have little basis in fact, so following them may be unnecessary at best and could give you poorer results at worst.
A classic example is the long-held idea that watering plants around noon on a sunny day should be avoided, since it might harm their leaves. The explanation is that tiny water droplets can act like lenses (透镜), focusing the sun’s rays onto leaves, resulting in scorched (灼伤的) leaves and reduced plant health.
Four researchers set out to learn more, running experiments on living plants and carrying out computer modelling. They found that spreading small glass spheres (球体) over the surface of smooth-leaved plants could indeed have this effect, causing damage right across the leaf surface. But when this was repeated with actual water droplets, such damage didn’t occur.
This is because water behaves rather differently to glass. The shape of a water droplet on a leaf is more elliptical (椭圆的) than spherical. The computer modelling showed that the extreme damage through a lens of this shape would occur when the sun was at a low angle in the sky, that is, in the morning or in the afternoon. However, the sun’s strength at these times is too low to cause any harm. Even if the light of the midday sun did somehow come at the strongest angle, the heat at this time of day would always cause the water droplets to evaporate (蒸发) before they had an effect.
So, if your plants need a good watering, give them some water. Not watering thirsty plants on a sunny day for fear of leaf scorch will almost certainly lead to more damage from drought stress than could be caused by the magnifying glass (放大镜) effect. While it remains generally true that the ideal time to water a plant is in the morning or evening — to lessen the amount of water that evaporates before reaching the plant’s roots — the evidence doesn’t support the idea that watering at midday will cause burning.
1. What is the long-held idea talked about in the passage!| A．Watering plants counts a lot. |
| B．Plant leaves might act like lenses. |
| C．Watering at midday may harm plant health. |
| D．Sun’s rays might be focused onto water droplets. |
| A．The same degree of damage occurred. |
| B．Damage was caused right across the leaf surface. |
| C．Unlike the glass spheres, the water droplets didn’t damage leaves. |
| D．The smooth-leaved plants were extremely affected by water droplets. |
| A．The explanation for the finding. |
| B．The process of the experiments. |
| C．The time of evaporating. |
| D．The harm caused by the sunshine. |
| A．The long-held idea is well worth advocating. |
| B．Plants’ roots get no water if watering occurs at noon. |
| C．Watering in the morning can prevent water evaporation. |
| D．Watering thirsty plants on a sunny noon makes sense. |
6 . Digging out potato tubers (茎块) is one of the greatest rewards gardens have to offer. Children in particular are surprised at seeing these tubers that almost magically become chips, mash (泥) or baked potatoes.
Happily, potatoes are very easy to grow. Seed tubers are placed in good garden soil, ideally with some compost (堆肥) for every square meter, in a sunny spot, about 10cm deep at 30cm intervals in rows 60-70cm apart.
Seed tubers are offered as earliest and second earliest and maincrop. The second earliest and maincrops can be stored for winter use but earliest are usually consumed in summer.
Seasoned potato growers buy early seed potatoes in February and place them in a cool, reasonably light place and let them sprout (发芽). It takes six weeks for small sprouts to form.
Early potatoes are typically planted from middle March in the South, but are likely to emerge before the first season finishes in May. The shoots are frost-sensitive requiring protection on cod nights with either earth or newspapers.
Second early and maincrop potatoes are planted in middle April—the frost risk will be low, but not absent, by the time they emerge. As the stems (茎) grow, soil should be drawn around them until the leaves meet in the row in early summer. At this stage, the potato field is a series of ridges (脊，垄). The tubers form in the ridge, protected from light that turns them green. Covering with black plastic or a thick layer of compost is also accessible instead of ridging, but plastic is not sustainable and slugs (鼻涕虫) can multiply in compost.
Once the flowers are fully open, it is time to dig plants when the tubers are the size of a hen’s egg. They grow rapidly but gradually lose their juicy new potato flavour, so harvest freely.
1. What’s the writing purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To describe a magic process. |
| B．To recall a childhood memory. |
| C．To raise a potato-related topic. |
| D．To introduce a gardening award. |
| A．The closer the intervals are, the faster they will grow. |
| B．The warmer the weather is, the better they will grow. |
| C．The earlier they are planted, the healthier they will grow. |
| D．The deeper they are planted, the stronger they will grow. |
| A．Frost. | B．Plastic. | C．Ridges. | D．Slugs. |
| A．How to cook potatoes. | B．How to grow potatoes. |
| C．How to harvest potatoes. | D．How to preserve potatoes. |
7 . 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.
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.
Why are indoor plants good for you?
Will Spoelstra, who works at the Royal Botanic Gardens, says, “
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. “
| 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 |
8 . 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. |
| 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. |
| A．To obey the EPA’s rules. |
| B．To increase their product sales. |
| C．To protect the environment. |
| D．To shoulder their social responsibility. |
| A．Soil: essential to agriculture. |
| B．Pesticides: harmful to soil health. |
| C．Organisms: significant to harvest. |
| D．Pollution: destructive to biodiversity. |
9 . Healthy House Plants: A Complete Gulde to Gardening Indoors
BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine has collaborated (合作) with digital educational platform, FutureLearn, to bring you a brand new online gardening course — Healthy House Plants: A Complete Guide to Gardening Indoors. This four-week online course has been designed to provide you with tips and advice on growing indoor plants and take you on a world journey, exploring imported plants.
Your course instructor
The course is led by expert tutor and Associate Editor, David Hurrion, who will share his 50 years of gardening experience and bring his skills to you online, so you can learn from him in the comfort of your own home.
Learning on this course
You can take this self-guided course. On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.
What’s covered in this course?
Week 1: What will you grow?
Week 2: Growing conditions and the indoor environment.
Week 3: Caring for your house plants.
Week 4: Making more plants and problem-solving.
Course registration (注册) and cost
There are three options for registering for this course：
*FREE — Access to the course is limited to six weeks, and no certificate (证书) is given.
*Upgrade for £32, unlimited time access, and a printed and digital certificate.
*Unlimited access to all FutureLearn short courses: £16.68/month.
More online courses with FutureLearn
Gardening for Beginners: The Basics and Beyond: Grow your gardening skills with easy-to-follow techniques aimed at both new and experienced home gardeners in this five-week online course.
1. What can the learners of this four-week course do?| A．Learn at their own pace. | B．Receive personalized guidance. |
| C．Attend more online courses for free. | D．Hand in a composition online. |
| A．Week 1. | B．Week 2. | C．Week 3. | D．Week 4. |
| A．£16.68. | B．£32. | C．£33.36. | D．£48.68. |
10 . Imagine a plate holding two strawberries, similar in appearance. One came out of a supermarket box, meaning it was probably harvested before it is fully grown, immediately placed in a forced-air cooling unit, loaded onto a refrigerated truck and driven hundreds of miles. By the time it reached the plate two weeks may have passed. The other strawberry was picked from a garden minutes before being eaten.
The first one will probably not taste good as expected. The second is likely to be sweet; the flavor will remain in the mouth. Supermarket strawberries are not entirely without advantages: they are convenient and available even in winter. But the two berries differ from each other in the same way that hearing music in a concert hall differs from listening to an MP3. The home-grown fruit is an eatable case for planting a home garden.
Planting cool-weather greens can seem meaningless as well-stocked supermarket shelves are available all week. But the same could be said of cooking: cheap and good restaurants everywhere, so why bother to make your own meals?
That attitude fails to understand the basic appeal of gardening: it mistakes the product for the purpose. It is true that a garden can produce tomatoes and carrots that taste like themselves rather than the plastic they are usually packaged in. Finding some favorite vegetables in the shops can take some time, effort and expense; growing your own vegetables, rare or routine, ensures a reliable supply.
On the other hand, a garden, especially in the early years, can also produce frustration. Creative gardeners may plant the wrong crops for their soil. Little animals may have the habit of taking single bites of cucumbers, beans and tomatoes. And even expert gardeners can lose a season’s harvest to uncooperative weather.
No matter. The real joy of gardening is the time spent doing it. The deepest pleasure- -as with cooking, writing, bringing up children or almost anything worthwhile- -is in the work itself. A gardener’s memories center not around the food produced, but around long summer afternoons with hands in the dirt of a home garden, surrounded by family. To garden is to patiently and lovingly help life grow, in the ground and above it.
1. What might have caused the strawberries to taste different in paragraph 1?| A．Temperature. | B．Freshness. | C．Appearance. | D．Soil. |
| A．To promote supermarket strawberries. |
| B．To highlight the value of a home garden. |
| C．To stress the differences between them. |
| D．To provide suggestions on fruit shopping. |
| A．Regarding planting a garden as worthless. |
| B．Favoring what is grown in a home garden. |
| C．Enjoying food made by yourself at home. |
| D．Understanding what a garden is intended for. |
| A．Stores can never take the place of a garden. |
| B．Garden products are not for sale in the stores. |
| C．Gardens may fail to produce what you want. |
| D．Training is required for productive gardens. |
| A．Observe patiently how plants grow all summer. |
| B．Spend time taking care of a garden with family. |
| C．Make friends with gardeners in the neighborhood. |
| D．Labor lovingly to clean the dirt out of the garden. |
