1 . In recent years, scientists have discovered that mushrooms are much more than just a tasty addition to your favorite dish. In fact, they are the “Internet of trees” — a vast network of underground mycorrhizal (菌根的) fungi (真菌) that connects trees and other plants in a similar way to how the Internet connects people.
The mycorrhizal network is made up of hyphae (菌丝),which connect the roots of different plants and trees. These hyphae act like an underground internet, allowing plants to exchange nutrients, water, and even hormones (激素). For example, if one tree is under stress due to drought or disease, it can send out hormones to warn other nearby trees of the danger. The other trees can then prepare themselves for the coming threat.
Human beings can help trees and mushrooms by practicing “mycorestoration” in regenerative projects. With the Global Tree Initiative working towards reforestation and preserving natural habitats, it is important to share how mycorestoration can supply innovative ways to mitigate the impact of human activities.
Fungi are natural decomposers (分解器) that break down complex organic matter, like dead trees, into simpler compounds that can be absorbed by plants. This decomposition process is crucial for the health of our forests, as it contributes to nutrient cycling, soil formation, and carbon sequestration. By introducing native fungi species into areas where deforestation has occurred, we can help regenerate soil and support the growth of new trees. Fungi form symbiotic (共生的) relationships with tree roots, improving their ability to absorb water and nutrients. This increased access to resources accelerates tree growth and improves their resilience to stress, such as drought or disease.
Fostering sustainable communities through mycorestoration can be conducted through global partnerships that promote ecology within Ecovillage Design Education. The Global Ecovillage Network’s presence in five continents and in over 8,000 communities around the planet, helps the regenerative approach to community building and preservation of existing forests. By promoting sustainable land management practices and reducing our reliance on extractive industries, ecovillages can help prevent deforestation and protect the habitats of countless plant and animal species.
1. The “Internet of trees” can function as ________.| A．A linker of hormones. | B．A warning of danger. |
| C．A detector of diseases. | D．A destroyer of nutrients. |
| A．Assess. | B．Increase. | C．Relieve. | D．Underestimate. |
| A．They produce more water and nutrients. |
| B．They help form complex plant-friendly compounds. |
| C．They accelerate the process of carbon sequestration. |
| D．They help with soil regeneration and tree growth. |
| A．Promoting ecological education. |
| B．Preserving existing forests. |
| C．Building independent communities. |
| D．Reducing reliance on industries. |
Kongeegen is a large oak tree located (位于) in the north of Denmark. Kongeegen’s real age is unknown. The tree went through a scientific study in 1965, through which Kongeegen was confirmed to be between 1,500 and 2,000 years of age. This would make it the oldest living oak in the northern part of Europe.
Granit Oak
The Granit Oak measures 2.38 meters in diameter (直径) and 23.4 meters in height. The head of the tree measures about 1,017 square meters, which covers nearly 11,000 square feet. Back in 1967, the Bulgarian government announced this oak was a protected tree and it has been under protection ever since.
Stelmuze Oak
Not all of the tree’s branches are still alive, but it continues to be considered a living tree. This makes it the oldest living tree in all of Lithuania. Stelmuze Oak was made a natural monument (纪念碑) in 1960. Ever since then, it has been on the Lithuanian list of protected monuments, and it is well looked after.
Major Oak
Local legends (传说) say that this is the tree where Robin Hood’s shelter was located. According to the tales, Robin and his merry men slept in this very tree. Back in 2003 in Dorset, England, 260 acorn saplings (橡子树苗) from the Major Oak were used to start an oak plantation.
| Kongeegen | Granit Oak | Stelmuze Oak | Major Oak | |
| Estimated age | 1, 500-2, 000yeas | 1,700 years | 1, 500-2, 000 years | 800-1,000 years |
| Status | Alive | Dead | Alive | Alive |
| Location | Denmark | Bulgaria | Lithuania | England |
| Oak species(物种) | Quercus robur | Quercus robur | Quercus robur | Quercus robur |
| A．In 1960. | B．In 1965. | C．In 1967. | D．In 2003. |
| A．Kongeegen. | B．Granit Oak | C．Stelmuze Oak. | D．Major Oak. |
| A．They are of the same species. | B．There are beautiful stories about them. |
| C．Some of their branches aren’t alive now. | D．They are under good protection. |
3 . Keeping a bit of the outdoors inside is nothing new, but houseplant collections have become a popular social media trend — which means that more people than ever are discovering the comfort and beauty that caring for plants brings.
“One study showed that patients at a hospital who had plants in their room reported less pain, lower blood pressure, less fatigue and less anxiety than patients without plants in their rooms,” says Jenny Seham, a New York-based psychologist. She explains: “Cortisol, the stress hormone, has been shown to lower with plant interaction, reducing fatigue, irritability (易怒) and blood pressure.”
Research has also shown that having plants and gardening increase productivity and levels of serotonin, the neurotransmitter responsible for lifting our mood.
Before you fill your space with greenery, consider how you’ll interact with your plants.
If you have a small space or aren’t sure how much time you’re willing to invest in “plant parenting.” Start slow. “
| A．For instance, is there enough space for plants in areas where you spend a lot of time? |
| B．Half the fun of gardening is that you never know exactly what’s going to come up. |
| C．It’s a feel-good hobby that’s supported by science. |
| D．While indoor gardening can boost your feelings of wellbeing, help reduce stress and promote relaxation, it’s not, of course, a substitute for a trained mental health professional. |
| E．The theory is that plant care helps us focus on the present moment and provides a feeling of accomplishment. |
| F．Just one plant can make a difference. |
4 . Bottle gardens are loved by many people. What’s a bottle garden? A bottle garden is exactly what it sounds like: a tiny garden planted in an object like a bottle._
By following some tips, you’ll have your bottle garden planted and thriving (茁壮成长) in no time. The first step in creating a bottle garden is selecting (挑选) the bottle. Clear bottles can allow the most sunlight to enter.
Then you should keep in mind that bottles with openings big enough to fit your hand through can make planting easier.
When the bottle is ready, put inside some rich soil and plants suitable for a bottle garden. Once you grow the plants in the way you like, remember to place your bottle in a bright space which won’t have direct sunlight. East-facing windows often work well for this purpose.
| A．How do the bottle gardens work? |
| B．Such gardens don’t have a very long history. |
| C．They make thoughtful and eco-friendly gifts. |
| D．Why would anyone want to grow a garden in a bottle? |
| E．If you choose a colored bottle, select plants that prefer low levels of light. |
| F．If not, you’ll have to use tools to work the soil and plants inside the bottle. |
| G．You can also use a grow light if your home doesn’t have any suitable windows. |
1. How does the woman feel at first?
| A．Curious. | B．Surprised. | C．Excited. |
| A．Flowers. | B．Mushrooms. | C．Trees. |
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. |
| A．On Thursday. | B．On Friday. | C．On Saturday. |
6 . Plant biologists have found a way that may enable poor farmers to do away with the need to purchase expensive hybrid seeds every year. Researchers at the University of California report that they have solved a long-standing problem of hybrid seeds by making exact clones of the hybrid plants from seeds.
For long, many crops have been grown from high-yielding, anti-disease or climate-tolerant hybrid seeds. But the seeds of hybrid crops do not produce plants with the same qualities during reproduction and hence farmers cannot save the seeds for the next growing season. They end up paying for new hybrid seeds each sowing season. The discovery, long sought by plant researchers, could make it easier to grow desirable high-yielding crops and make them available to the world’s farmers. Farmers could thus replant seeds from their own hybrid plants and enjoy the benefits of high production year after year, the scientists report.
While the discovery would help farmers, it would also impact the commercial interest of the hybrid seed industry. Siddiq, a former Deputy Director General in the Crop Science Division of the ICAR, said at first sight, this might seem like a setback for hybrid seed companies but there would be plenty of things they can still do. “Rice is grown over such a vast climatic and geographical range that specialized hybrids would have to be developed for each region,” he said. The companies, he said, would continue to improve their hybrids. “It will be interesting to see how all this plays out in the years to come.”
Currently, the high costs of producing hybrid seeds are a major barrier to farmers in developing countries, especially South Asia and Africa. Siddiq said if efficiently used, this method could potentially be a game-changer for poor farmers, who would need to purchase hybrid seeds just once and plant the progeny(后代) seeds from their own harvest in the following seasons.
1. What problem do the researchers aim to solve?| A．Farmers’ income. | B．Farmers’ costs. |
| C．Hybrid seeds’ cloning. | D．Hybrid seeds’ climate tolerance. |
| A．They have a pretty long growth cycle. |
| B．They tend to be affected by various diseases. |
| C．They have stricter requirements for sowing time. |
| D．They fail to reproduce plants with the same quality. |
| A．Hopeful. | B．Concerned. | C．Doubtful. | D．Anxious. |
| A．The future of the hybrid seed industry. |
| B．The drawback of cloning hybrid seeds. |
| C．A method of cloning hybrid plants from their seeds. |
| D．A means of promoting the specialized hybrid seeds. |
When John pulled into his mother’s driveway with his young daughter, Lily, the sight of the familiar lychee (荔枝) tree welcomed them. “Look, Lily,” John said, pointing to the towering tree in the front yard. “It’s the family tree.”
Lily smiled as John treated the tree as if it were a real family member, patting its trunk (树干) affectionately. As they were admiring the tree, the screen door opened and out stepped Grandma Mei, bathed in the warm Florida sunlight. Grandma Mei, who came from the province of Guangdong in China, was known for her green thumb, particularly when it came to lychees.
Seeing her granddaughter, Grandma Mei adjusted her baseball cap and asked if Lily was ready for some lychees. But Lily hesitated, for the fruit’s appearance was unlike any other fruit she had tried before. With a laugh, Grandma Mei gave her a gentle hug. “More lychees for me then, John,” Grandma Mei said.
“Let’s get busy!” John said with enthusiasm, rubbing his hands together. “Family tree’s waiting.”
Hearing Dad calling the tree by name, Lily couldn’t help laughing. “Laugh if you want, Lily, but this tree is really family. On cold nights, before family tree was fully grown, Grandma Mei used to take my blanket and throw it over that tree.” Grandma Mei nodded, adding that she had to protect the tree from bad weather so that it would become a big strong tree and grow fruit for the whole family.
John, eager to start the day’s work, began climbing the tree, determined to harvest the best lychees for the family. Lily watched in amazement, noticing the clusters (簇) of lychees, their skin rough yet inviting.
As John skillfully cut through the branches with a cutter, Lily expressed her concern for the well-being of the tree. John explained to her that cutting the ends of branches won’t hurt family tree. Instead such behaviour made it healthier and stronger.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Lily’s hesitation towards the fruit gradually shifted to curiosity and she wanted to try it.
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Later in the afternoon, they all sat under the tree, surrounded by boxes filled with lychees and sharing stories related to lychees.
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8 . 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. |
| 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. |
| A．Spread. | B．Change. | C．Existence. | D．Self-repair. |
| 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. |
9 . Readers can explore the wonders of nature with Big Tree. The book was written by famous author and illustrator (插画家) Brian Selznick. It is filled with detailed black-and-white illustrations, which took years to complete.
The story introduces Merwin and Louise, two tiny Sycamore seeds (梧桐树种子) who began life during the time when dinosaurs (恐龙) travelled around the Earth. After they fell from their mother tree, they started a dangerous 147-million-year adventure to the modern day.
After reading it, I met with the famous author and illustrator at his home in La Jolla, California. Selznick explained the lessons that nature offers about helping our planet and each other. “All of us can do something to help the real seed,” Selznick said. “No matter how small you feel, there’s always something you can do.”
As for his main goal when writing Big Tree, Selznick said, “Readers feel like they are learning about interesting stories when they read Big Tree, but actually and secretly, they are learning about real science. That’s why I wrote Big Tree.”
In order to write Big Tree, Selznick went to the New York Botanical Garden, where he talked to a wonderful park manager. She walked him through the forest and talked about the way leaves work, the way trees grow and the way trees experience time.
Selznick said he learned a lot while creating Big Tree. “The manager thinks that forests are really communities. It really surprised me,” he said. “We live in communities, and when we run into trouble or danger, we communicate with each other to find solutions. Trees are doing the same thing. We’re all part of a community. And that, to me, was a really important part of Big Tree.”
1. What does paragraph 2 mainly focus on?| A．The main idea of Big Tree. | B．The discussion about Big Tree. |
| C．The review of Big Tree. | D．The story behind Big Tree. |
| A．To show the illustration art. | B．To share an interesting story. |
| C．To encourage readers to learn. | D．To make real science interesting. |
| A．He did some research. | B．He planted some trees. |
| C．He asked others’ advice. | D．He stayed in the forest alone. |
| A．Trees are important for communities. | B．Trees can communicate with each other. |
| C．Trees can protect people against danger. | D．Trees run into trouble more often. |
10 . Within the environmental movement, the question often arises whether global warming can be mitigated (缓解) by planting more vegetation. The idea is that the plants will consume carbon dioxide (CO2) that is causing the warming, while producing oxygen for us to breathe. This is acceptable on condition that global warming is indeed caused in some way by CO2 in the air.
However, actual scientific debate on the issue has shifted away from CO2 as the probable cause, especially after the findings that the temperatures changed 800 to 1000 years before carbon dioxide changed. In other words, CO2 levels are an indicator of temperature change, not a cause.
While there is nothing we can do to control the global climate, there is still a lot we can do to improve our local climates. Land use is the biggest decisive factor of local temperature and air quality. On clear days, the temperatures in big cities can be 5.6 degrees Centigrade higher than in the countryside around them. This is because the concrete (混凝土) of sidewalks and buildings and the asphalt (沥青) of roads take in sunlight and transform it into heat. Some get so hot, one could cook an egg on them! These vast surfaces of man﹣made stone also store lots of heat, which they radiate (散发) all night long. Just before sunrise, when the earth should be its coolest, roadways are still warm to touch.
If vegetation was blocking the Sun from the sidewalks and roads, the vegetation would absorb the sunlight, fueling the plants’ oxygen-making engines, and the rock would stay at surrounding temperatures. The easiest and most obvious choice is trees, particularly wide-reaching trees like the oak. Another possibility, especially outside the city centre, could be vine-covered trellises (棚架).Covering rooftops with grasses or other short vegetation reduces a building’s cooling cost as sharply as having trees or trellises that provide shade for windows does.
The reason why vegetation does not warm the air like rock does is that plants take water from the ground and evaporate (蒸发) it through their leaves. The Sun’s energy isn’t radiated as heat — it is used to change water into water vapor. The evaporative cooling works so well that the leaves stay 5.6 to 8.33 degrees Centigrade cooler than they would have been without water. While we can’t improve global climate, increased vegetation can help cool local climates.
1. Which of the following is True according to the passage?| A．With some effort, we can still affect global climate. |
| B．We can do a lot to improve the climate where we live. |
| C．Temperatures in big cities are usually lower than in the countryside. |
| D．The asphalt of roads throws back sunlight. |
| A．Planting full and wide-reaching trees. |
| B．Using vehicles that get better gas mileage. |
| C．Using energy-saving equipment. |
| D．Constructing dark-colored roofs on new buildings. |
| A．Darker colors absorb more sunlight and transform it into heat. |
| B．More thick materials store heat and give off it at night. |
| C．Human activity is changing global climate. |
| D．Vegetation is neither dark nor thick; thus, it reduces localized heating. |
| A．Encourage the next generation to increase vegetation. |
| B．Promote rooftop gardening. |
| C．Remove vines and trellises from buildings. |
| D．A and B above. |
