1 . When gardeners grow varieties of plants in their beautiful gardens, they are happy to see beneficial insects like bees and butterflies surrounding the flowers. But as they take a closer look, they may find some plants are covered in black dots and filled with harmful insects or pests. Some gardeners may immediately reach for chemicals.
If you are wise gardeners, you should first take preventive measures to control the harmful insects.
Prevention
As a rule, prevention is the best treatment. Inspect plants closely, including their leaves, before buying them from the store.
When planting, space plants out to permit them to grow to their full size. Plants too close together can breed harmful organisms, like bacteria.
Pesticides
If you decide a pesticide is necessary, choose it carefully and follow the directions and warnings on the product. Avoid using pesticides in extreme heat, on windy days, or when the plants are wet.
| A．But this is not wise. |
| B．In most cases, chemicals don’t help. |
| C．Treat the plants early in the morning or at night. |
| D．Also do remember the plants need nutrition and care. |
| E．Keep your garden free of fallen leaves, fruits and other wastes. |
| F．Do not bring any plants home that show signs of disease or pests. |
| G．The process starts with the idea that having some pests is acceptable. |
2 . 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 |
3 . What if someone told you about a kind of grass as tall as the tallest trees? A grass as strong as steel? Would you believe that person? You should, for that grass is bamboo (竹子), which has more than 1,000 uses. It is not just a material for making useful products. Young bamboo is eaten, often mixed with other vegetables.
Bamboo grows in many parts of the world. In the USA it grows in many states like Virginia and Florida. Most bamboo, however, is found in wet and warm climates, especially in Asia and on the islands of the South Pacific Ocean.
In most Asian countries, bamboo is nearly as important as rice. This unusual material is used to not only build large buildings but also make water pipes, musical instruments and paper. There are over 1,000 kinds of bamboo. No wonder the lives of nearly half the people on earth would change greatly if there were no longer any bamboo.
1. According to the text, bamboo is actually a kind of .| A．grass | B．steel | C．tree | D．vegetable |
| A．Only in Asia. | B．Only in the USA. |
| C．In wet and warm climates. | D．All over the world. |
| A．Build large buildings. | B．Make water pipes. |
| C．Make musical instruments and paper. | D．All of the above. |
| A．Over 1,000. | B．Over 800. | C．Over 600. | D．Over 400. |
4 . Though they may not know it, about half a billion people depend on the ecosystems created and sustained by corals. And with climate change threatening coral’s survival, marine scientist Enric Sala had a goal that might have seemed impossible.
“We wanted to get into a time machine, go back hundreds of years and actually see a coral reef like they used to be everywhere, before we started exploiting, polluting and killing them,” Sala said.
The goal was made possible during an expedition Sala led in 2009. The team traveled to a corner of the South Pacific Ocean, to see if the almost untouched reefs held any clues to bringing damaged reefs in other parts of the ocean back to health.
“The bottom was covered by thriving coral. Vivid colors surrounded me－purples, reds, oranges, yellows and greens. It was so beautiful,” Sala said.
His team presented their findings to officials in the island country of Kiribati. The government took steps to protect the waters from fishing. But between 2015 and 2016, record levels of ocean warming damaged half the coral reefs the team had been studying.
After hearing that news, they lost hope for the health of coral reefs. Last year, they went in for another dive. Despite the reported conditions, the reef had somehow restored itself, filled with life and color once more. Sala and his team were overjoyed. This is something that Sala says can be owed to two key factors.
The first is, thankfully, half of the corals had not died. Despite the rise in temperatures, there were enough surviving corals left behind to help reproduce the reefs. The second was the Kiribati government’s decision to fully protect those waters.
“It has an abundance of fish. So they were eating all the algae (藻类) that would cover the dead corals, and make it impossible for the corals to come back, which is what happens in other places like the Caribbean,” Sala explained.
1. What seemingly impossible goal does Sala have?| A．Educating the public to protect the ecosystems. |
| B．Calling on people to actively respond to climate change. |
| C．Going to old days when corals were in healthy condition. |
| D．Leading an expedition to the South Pacific Ocean. |
| A．The bad news. | B．The second diving. |
| C．The reef’s restoration. | D．The cheerful mood. |
| A．There is abundant fish in its ocean. |
| B．Algae lie thick over corals there. |
| C．Global warming does little harm to its marine life. |
| D．Corals come back to life thanks to government’s efforts. |
| A．Kiribati—A Country of Biodiversity | B．A Scientist’s Love for Diving |
| C．The Coral Reef Restored Itself | D．Ocean Warming Bothered Government |
5 . Earth Day is April 22. Every year, people around the world observe the day by helping to care for the environment. They carry out all kinds of activities in an effort to better the planet’s heath.
One way to support this goal is to grow plants native to your area. This helps wildlife like birds and insects that evolved alongside native plants. For many of these animals, plant pollen (花粉) is their food. Native pollinators often cannot recognize non-native plants as food. This means they do not collect the pollen or spread plants’ seeds. Planting non-native species creates so-called “food deserts” for pollinators including bees, birds, bats, butterflies and more.
Doug Taamy is a professor of entomology at the University of Delaware. Entomology is the study of insects. He found that non-native plant species can harm the natural food chain, which can lead to a collapse of the environment. “Plant choice matters,” he said. “The plants we choose to landscape our properties should be determined by how much life can live there.”
Humans depend strongly on insects. Without them, we would have no flowering plants, which would harm the food web that supports important animals. Birds, for example, depend on plants for food and spread their seeds while keeping the populations of harmful insects down.
Insects support plants that provide oxygen, clean our water, capture carbon and add nutrients to the soil. That builds topsoil and prevents flooding. Without insects, the biosphere — the living parts of the Earth — would rot because of the loss of insect decomposers. Humans simply could not survive that, Tallamy said.
In addition to providing food and habitat for insects and other wildlife, native plants are able to grow easily and do not require much care. That means less watering and less fertilizing. The situation is a win-win for gardeners and pollinators.
1. Which section of a website is the text probably taken from?| A．Around the globe. | B．Technology report. |
| C．The secret of nature. | D．Healthy Lifestyle. |
| A．They attract more insects. | B．They do harm to native plants. |
| C．They turn soil into desert. | D．They break the balance of nature. |
| A．They produce more oxygen. | B．They prevent flooding more effectively. |
| C．They need less care. | D．They add more nutrients to the soil. |
| A．Take effective measures to protect insects. |
| B．Raise environmental awareness on Earth Day. |
| C．Make great effort to better the planet's health. |
| D．Plant native plants to support local environment. |
6 . The story started from a popular video, in which a tourist pulled a flower out of the ground in Tibet and boiled it with other food.
He might not know what he dug up was not an ordinary one but snow lotus, an extremely rare species. The exact number existing in the wild is unknown, but scientists believe that the species is dying out and people are not allowed to collect them for private or even scientific use since 2000.
The snow lotus generally only grows above the snowline of the Tibetan Himalayas or Heaven Mountain in Central Asia. In order to survive the harsh environment and strong wind, it grows thick hair on the outside, which keeps the plant from the cold. And it often has to grow around six to eight years before its only flowering time in life.
Only very few plants and animals survive in such an environment. Therefore, each snow lotus is key part of fragile (脆弱的) ecosystem around it. When someone digs one out of the ground, he/she not only wastes the plant’s own years of efforts, but also threatens the ecological (生态的) balance of about one square kilometer around it.
For a long time, many people collect the lotus flowers to sell as herbal (药草的) plants to others, even though their herbal effects are not proved. Regardless of the fact, some traders do misleading advertising about them and illegally sell them at high prices. As a result, the species is in danger. The snow lotus is not the only plant that suffers from the illegal sale of certain people because they carry a sense of mystery. It is time the law offered stricter protection of these rare plants for the ecological environment.
1. What did the author intend to tell us about the tourist?| A．He destroyed an endangered plant. | B．He has good outdoor survival skills. |
| C．He discovered a special kind of flowers. | D．He has made many popular short videos. |
| A．To fight for enough living space. | B．To make the flower less obvious. |
| C．To protect it from extreme conditions. | D．To prevent it from being dug out easily. |
| A．It is hard for people to find a snow lotus. |
| B．It takes many years for a snow lotus to fully grow. |
| C．Some rare plants usually grow in weak environments. |
| D．The snow lotus is very important to the local ecosystem. |
| A．We should call on the public to protect rare plants. |
| B．We should learn to recognize different plants. |
| C．We should follow all the laws in our country. |
| D．We should avoid taking wild plants as food. |
7 . Greenhouse gas emissions would rise if all farms in England and Wales went organic. Though the emissions of each farm would go down, much more food would have to be imported, as the amount they would produce would decrease greatly.
“The key message from my perspective is that you can't really have your cake and eat it,” says Laurence Smith, now at the Royal Agricultural University in the UK, who was part of the team that ran the numbers. Smith is a supporter of organic farming and says “there are a lot of merits of the organic approach”, but his analysis shows that organic farming has downsides too.
Farming and changes in land use, such as cutting down forests, are responsible for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions. That means reducing farming emissions and the land needed for farming is required to limit further global warming.
Smith and his colleagues found that emissions per unit of food are, on average, 20 per cent lower for organic crops and 4 per cent lower for organic animal products. However, organic harvests per hectare (公顷) are also lower on average. For wheat and barley, for instance, harvests are just half of those of conventional farms. This means 1.5 times as much land would be needed to grow the same amount of these foods.
The estimated increase in emissions varies greatly, depending on where the extra farmland comes from. If only half comes from turning grassland into farms, the increase could be as low as 20 per cent. If grassland that would otherwise have been reforested is turned into farmland, emissions could nearly double.
This doesn't necessarily mean people should stop eating organic produce, says Smith. People might choose organic food for other reasons, such as to reduce their pesticide exposure (though contrary to popular belief, organic farmers do use pesticides) or for the sake of wildlife.
Going 100 per cent organic could also harm global biodiversity. The extra land used for farming would mean the land available for wildlife would be smaller and more fragmented (碎片化的).
Smith says the best option may be to use some organic and conventional farming methods at the same time.
1. Why may greenhouse gas emissions increase if a country goes organic?| A．Organic farms take longer to build. |
| B．The agricultural output will increase greatly. |
| C．The emissions of each farm unit will increase. |
| D．Greater demand for imported food will be created. |
| A．Changes. | B．Challenges. | C．Advantages. | D．Differences. |
| A．Organic harvests per unit are greater than traditional harvests. |
| B．Organic farming needs more farmland to feed a country. |
| C．Global warming could be brought under control. |
| D．Land was not used in a responsible way. |
| A．Stopping using pesticides. |
| B．Eating less organic produce. |
| C．Going back to traditional farming. |
| D．Adopting mixed farming methods. |
8 . For many people, catching a smell of freshly cut grass is a pleasant sign that warmer weather is here to stay. For the grass, however, this scent signals an entirely different story.
The smell we associate with freshly cut grass is actually a chemical SOS, one used by plants to beg nearby creatures to save them from attack. After all, when danger strikes —whether it's gardening equipment or a hungry caterpillar — plants can't lift their roots and run. They must fight where they stand. To protect themselves, plants employ a string of molecular (分子) responses. These chemical communications can be used to poison an enemy, warn surrounding plants of dangers or attract helpful insects to perform needed services.
Clearly, plants can communicate. But does that mean they can feel pain? According to some researchers, plants release gases that are the equivalent of crying out in pain. Using a laser-powered microphone, researchers have picked up sound waves produced by plants releasing gases when cut or injured. Although not audible to the human ear, the secret voices of plants have revealed that cucumbers scream when they are sick, and flowers cry when their leaves are cut.
There's also evidence that plants can hear themselves being eaten. Researches show that plants understand and respond to chewing sounds made by caterpillars dining on them. As soon as the plants hear the noises, they respond with several defense mechanisms.
For some researchers, evidence of these complex communication systems — giving out noises via gas when in pain — signals that plants feel pain. Others argue that there cannot be pain without a brain to register the feeling. Still more scientists infer that plants can exhibit intelligent behavior without possessing a brain or conscious awareness.
As they grow, plants can change their paths to avoid obstacles or reach for support with their tendrils (卷须). This activity comes from a complex biological network distributed through the plants' roots, leaves and stems. This network helps plants reproduce, grow and survive.
1. What does the smell of freshly cut grass signal?| A．Warmer weather. | B．Being poisonous. |
| C．Cry for help. | D．The need of services. |
| A．By giving out gases. | B．By changing the color of their leaves. |
| C．By producing audible sound waves. | D．By sharing it through the root systems. |
| A．Their tendrils. | B．Their biological network. |
| C．Their communication systems. | D．Their conscious awareness. |
| A．Do plants feel pain? | B．How plants protect themselves? |
| C．Do plants communicate? | D．How plants grow and reproduce? |
9 . Underground farming, as the name may suggest, is the practice of growing food underground.
Until recently, underground farming is a recent and important trend, but why? Because of its potential (潜力) and the benefits that it brings.
·
It has been estimated that even if cities were to build rooftop greenhouses on every possible building and fill the parking spots with growing containers — it would only be able to reach around 5% of the crop requirements of the city.
·Lowers Heating Costs for Building Above
Even the most efficient LED lights generate waste heat, which means that they heat up the farm, and for most modern indoor farms that's a major issue because not only energy is lost through lighting, but it's also required to cool down the farm.
·Enables Farming in Unfriendly Environments
Obviously when going under a certain depth, the weather and environmental conditions of the surface have no effect on the growing environment.
| A．Replaces rooftop greenhouses. |
| B．Increases the urban farming capacity (容量). |
| C．Underground farms have a big advantage here. |
| D．It aims at creating stable underground environments. |
| E．Growing in cities is highly limited due to less empty space. |
| F．Underground farms can reduce that waste of energy as much as possible. |
| G．So it's possible to build productive farms in deserts and even mountainous areas. |
10 . Every year the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the New York Botanical Garden open their doors to thousands of visitors. They go there for the world-famous orchid (兰花) shows. But these organizations are not just protecting living plants but also recording the culture connected with them.
Working with the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Beijing, Kew has developed a collection of plants--including orchids. The plants are collected in the forms they are used in traditional Chinese medicine. This is a storehouse of medical knowledge and a tool for cultural research.
Dr. Barnabas Seyler, assistant researcher in the department of environment at Sichuan University, believes in the key role of botanical gardens. As an ethnobotanist (民族植物学家), Seyler is looking at the relationship between orchids and local culture of Liangshan. “They can help the culture continue to exist through providing protection, educating the general public, and supporting traditional knowledge, stories, and cultural traditions connected with these plants,” he says.
In China, orchids are more than just wild plants. “If you walk into any Chinese-restaurant around the world, or into any teahouse in China, you will likely find paintings, place settings, or other cultural things showing orchids,” he says. “Many people, especially in the west, do not fully understand the weight that the plant has held throughout history in traditional Han Chinese culture.
The researchers have noticed that orchid species native to Sichuan are disappearing rapidly. Their beauty is killing them. Wild-collected rare forms could be sold for thousands of dollars. In his study, Seyler asked locals of Yiand Han communities whether they could recognize different orchid species. They also asked them about how to find and grow orchids, and knowledge about orchids in arts and language. They found that when species were locally dying out, knowledge about them would be forgotten.
Culture doesn't soon disappear because of the loss of one plant or group of plants. But what happens if species loss continues?
1. Why does the author mention the collection of plants?| A．To explain why the two orchid shows are so popular. |
| B．To explain how Kew saves living plants across the world. |
| C．To show the importance of working with foreign countries. |
| D．To show how botanical gardens are protecting the environment. |
| A．They can help keep orchid culture alive. |
| B．They will win more support from the public. |
| C．They should pay more attention to local cultures. |
| D．They can play a key role in environmental protection. |
| A．The long history of orchids in China. |
| B．The many uses of orchids in the world. |
| C．The importance of orchids in Chinese culture. |
| D．The great influence of orchids on Western people. |
| A．How to prevent orchids from dying out. |
| B．What will happen to orchids in Sichuan. |
| C．How to increase knowledge about orchids. |
| D．What the loss of orchids will bring about. |
