Nature’s Lungs

We know that trees are nature’s purifier (净化器): They absorb carbon emissions (碳排放)and release oxygen. But their     1       (able) to do that changes as they age. According to Newsweek, trees     2       are at least 20 years old can absorb carbon better than younger ones and older ones. And a recent study by researchers from South Korea’s Forest Research Institute     3       (find) exactly how much carbon that each 25-year-old cherry tree can absorb: 20 pounds (9.1 kilograms) each year.

According to the study, there are     4       (current) about 1.5 million cherry trees in South Korea, which means they can take in as much as 13,650 tons of carbon each year.

This may sound like a lot,     5       it’s only the annual emissions of 6,000 cars. And it’s pretty     6       (shock) if you think about it: The annual emissions of a single-car requires 250 mature cherry trees to absorb     7       carbon.

Yet, planting trees is still considered the most effective way     8       (reduce) global warming, according to Professor Tom Crowther of the Swiss university ETH Zurich. “Forest restoration isn’t just one of our climate change     9       (solution), it’s the top one,” he told the Guardian. “What blows my mind is the scale. I thought restoration would be in the top 10, but it is much    10     (powerful) than all of the other climate change solutions proposed.”

Travelling around Europe is always     1     (excite), because it’s full of interesting things to see, from historical, culturally important monuments (历史遗迹) to natural sites. But Europe is also full     2     magical and mysterious locations that will surprise even the experienced travellers and blow the minds of anyone who sees     3     (they).

Some of them are natural, while others are man-made. But there’s something similar about all these places — all of them are so mysterious     4     if you go there, you’ll feel completely different and you’ll never forget your experience.

Are you ready     5     (take) the most amazing journey of your life? First and foremost, put Crooked Forest in Europe on your list!

One of the most wonderful     6     (forest) in the world, Crooked Forest is located in Poland, close to the border with Germany. It’s a small grove (小树林) and all trees in it have a quite strange shape. They     7     (bend) over almost 90 degrees at the trunk and then they twist back straight again and keep on growing straight up, like all normal trees do.

The only thing we know about this forest is that it was planted in     8     1930s. Why the trees took this strange shape still remains a mystery. According to one of the theories, it was done to produce     9     (natural) bended wood for boats, but the     10     (produce) was stopped as a result of the German invasion.

Among the many beautiful treasures people can receive from nature are natural dyes. The most common natural source     1     natural dyes come is plants. Materials for making natural dyes can often be found in gardens     2     colourful flowers are planted. Other natural dyes are made from insects, sea creatures and mineral compounds.

Natural dyes are now returning to popularity, especially with artists and craftspeople. The reasons     3     they prefer natural dyes are that the colours are brighter and can be kept longer. Natural dyes are also becoming more popular with consumers     4     caring for the environment is a priority. More and more people feel that by using natural dyes, we can remind ourselves of nature’s beauty and protect the natural world.

This scene at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics amazed the world. Fireworks     1     the shape of the “Guest-Greeting Pine“ made the world feel the enthusiasm of an open China. The “Guest-Greeting Pine”, named after its shape like a person    2    (wave) to welcome visitors, is one of the landmarks on Mount Huangshan, which     3    (sit) in the south of Anhui Province.

As a UNESCO natural and cultural heritage site, Mount Huangshan is also a global geopark characterized by a Mesozoic granite landscape. This     4    (drama) landscape includes formations of natural stone pillars, strangely-shaped rocks, waterfalls, caves, lakes and hot springs, formed by    5    (it) complex geological history. Its magnificent natural scenery of massive granitic stones and ancient pine trees is often    6    (far) enhanced by cloud and mist effects.

Mount Huangshan boasts 72 peaks, among    7     Lianhua Peak, Guangmingding Peak and Tiandu Peak are the three main peaks, with    8     altitude(海拔) of over 1, 800 meters. In Mount Huangshan, there are more than 200 cloudy days in a year. When the water vapor rises or the fog does not disappear after the rain, it     9    (form) a sea of clouds, presenting a fairyland landscape.

As a famous traditional mountain in China, Mount Huangshan bears profound historical and cultural     10    (mean) with ancient buildings, ancient pedals, cliff stone carvings, etc. , and has bred the “Huangshan Painting School” of Chinese landscape painting.

Plants cannot move from place to place, but seeds can. They can travel great distances. They may be carried by the wind or upon the water. They may also be carried by animals or people. Seeds     1     (carry) by the wind often have special shapes. Maple seeds have wings that spin and keep them in the air for longer, allowing them to land in all kinds of places.     2     (depend) on the strength of the wind, they can sometimes travel for hundreds of kilometres.

Coconuts are carried along by ocean     3     (current). When a coconut falls from a tree onto the beach, the sea picks     4     up at high tide and carries it away to grow somewhere else. Its hard shell allows it to float on the water for    5     long time. Another way for seeds to travel is through the digestive systems of animals. Many plants produce     6     (attract) fruits that animals like to eat. The animal receives the nutrients of the fruit,     7     it does not digest the seed, which is passed out some time     8     (late). Of course, animals move, so the seed can easily end     9     a long way away from the parent plant, especially if the fruit     10     (eat) by a bird.

With high yield and superior quality, Chinese hybrid rice varieties have been introduced around the world,     1     (benefit) more people. The export of China’s hybrid rice technology started many years ago. In 1979, China provided hybrid rice seeds to another country for the first time, and 40 years later, in     2     (real), China’s hybrid rice has been planted in dozens of countries in the world.

In the past 40 years, Chinese scientists     3     (devote) to providing assistance to many other countries. China has trained more than 14,000 hybrid rice professionals for more than 80 developing countries through international training courses. This technology has spread     4     more and more places in the world so far.

Yuan Longping,     5     cultivated the world’s first high-yield hybrid rice strain not only earned respect from Chinese people but also the global community. His hybrid rice research has been     6     (entire) saving millions of people from hunger. Yuan’s dream was     7     (solve) the global food shortage and promote hybrid rice around the world. China has achieved     8     great wonder, feeding nearly one fifth of the world’s population with less than nine percent of the world’s total land. And China is     9     (will) to contribute to global food security and calls for joint efforts to end global hunger and poverty.

It     10     (believe) that Yuan’s dream will come true one day.

Hua Weiguang,     1     retired teacher from Tongliao, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is a photography enthusiast.

A decade ago, the arrival of tree planters     2     (catch) Hua’s attention and the photos of the tree planters     3     (take) by Hua are evidence of the     4     (remark) transformation of the land. In those photos, hats, scarves and goggles, for the workers fighting desertification, are basic necessities to protect them     5     the wind and sand. There was no way to avoid the brutal summer heat in the land so the workers had to lie down on the ground or curl up in the narrow shade of their cars to cool off. And they also had to eat their lunch amid the blowing sands, taking in the small pieces of sand with their food.

“    6     we don’t fool the tree, it won’t fool you. You take it     7     (serious), and then it behaves in the same way to you. You put efforts to make it live, and the tree lives up to your     8     (expect),” the planters say.

China’s forest resources have increased by over 70 million hectares in the past decade,     9     (rank) first in the world. One tree after another, a green Great Wall has been built. Brush by brush, a green field     10     (paint) over the yellow sandy land up to now.

Apples are ready to pick when the skin color deepens and the fruit comes away     1     (easy) from the tree. The presence of windfalls (风吹落的果子) is a good     2     (indicate) that fruits are ready to pick. Not all apples are ready     3     the same time, so pick regularly as most of them are fully developed.

To pick an apple, cup it in your hand, lift, and twist gently. It should be separate from     4     (it) end. Always touch apples gently     5     (avoid) injuring them, and never tug (拽) an apple from the tree     6     you may damage the fruiting spurs (枝丫) or cause apples nearby to drop.

Early season apples are eaten best soon after     7     (pick) as they don’t store (储藏) well. Midseason apples will store for a few weeks, and late season apples should be good for up to six     8     (month). Apples chosen for storage must be in perfect condition. Check stored apples regularly and remove the ones that     9     (be) going soft, brown, or rotting,

Store your apples in a cool but frost-free, dark, well-ventilated place such as a shed or garage. Make sure they don’t touch, or else wrap them in newspaper. Different species store for different lengths of time — keep them separate and use those     10     have a shorter storage life sooner.

A new study reveals that plants have their own “ bedtime alarm clock ” that helps them survive the night. Researchers at the University of York have discovered that plants possess an internal signal which they believe tells them     1     amount of sugar they have in their systems at dusk. Plants use sunlight to make     2     ( they ) own sugars from photosynthesis (光合作用）during the day and store them to provide energy during the night.

Plants’ ability to predict sunrise and estimate the     3     ( long ) of the night, as well as adjust metabolism (新陈代谢),     4     ( depend ) on a biological time-keeper called a circadian clock. This is a network of genes which drives rhythms of     5     ( rough ) 24 hours. Biologists think it is this signal, or so-called “ alarm ” ,     6     gives plants the information they need to adjust their metabolism in the dark nighttime hours to stay alive.

The researchers discovered a set of genes     7     ( regulate ) by the chemical compound superoxide, which     8     ( associate ) with metabolic activity. And they found by stopping the production of superoxide, they also stopped the effect of sugar     9     these circadian clock genes in the evening,     10     ( reveal ) the plants’ so-called “ alarm ” .

Giant Amazonian lily pads(睡莲叶) are the world’s largest and strongest floating plants and the giant Amazonian water lily has long fascinated scientists, architects and artists for    1    (it) beauty and sheer size. Yet how the lily’s leaves are able to grow as large as 10 feet across, strong enough to support the    2    (weigh) of a small child,    3    (remain) a mystery—till now. “    4    we showed through our experiments and modeling was that these leaves are uniquely strong and have great opportunities    5    (enable) them to grow really big,” says Thorogood, from a team of British and French scientists. In fact, the giant lily    6    (discover) by British explorers in South America in 1801 and symbolized the British Empire. But it became more than    7    symbol as botanists repeatedly attempted to grow it at home. The British gardener and architect Joseph Paxton was the first to    8     (success) grow the giant water lily. It inspired his design of the Crystal Palace, a London landmark of cast iron and glass that was built for the Great Exhibition of 1851. “Nature was the engineer,” Paxton said. “Nature has provided the leaf    9    special structures and supports that I,    10    (borrow) from it, have adopted in this building.”