1 . An Oil for Life
Maria Alcala of Madrid speaks for many Mediterranean people when she says that “a meal without olive oil would be a bore.” No one knows when the Mediterranean civilizations fell in love with olives. That occurred before recorded history. However, there is evidence that the cultivation (种植) of olive trees began in countries around the Mediterranean Sea in approximately 4000 B.C., and 2000 years after that people in the eastern Mediterranean area began to produce oil from olives. The Mediterranean still accounts for 99 percent of all world olive oil production.
From ancient times until today, the basic process of producing the oil is the same. First, whole olives are pressed hard into pieces. Then, the liquid is separated from the solids. After that, the valuable oil is separated from the water.
Many olive growers make their ancient traditions continue and still harvest the olives by hand. “We harvest in the traditional way,” says Don Celso, an olive farmer from Tuscany, Italy. “It would be less expensive to do it with machines, but it’s more a social thing. Twenty people come to help with the harvest, and we pay them in oil.”
Olive oil has had a variety of uses through its long history. In ancient times, olive oil was used as money and as medicine. It was even used during war—heated up and dropped down on attackers. It is still used in religious ceremonies. It is great for protecting the freshness of fish and cheese. There are even olive oil lamp and olive oil soaps.
One important study shows that Mediterranean people have the lowest rate of heart disease among Western nations. This is partly associated with their frequent use of olive oil. Other studies show that food cooked in olive oil is healthier, and that eating olive oil twice a day reduces women’s risk of getting breast cancer. The world is beginning to understand its benefits, and olive oil is no longer an unusual sight at dinner tables outside the Mediterranean area. The olive oil producing countries now sell large amounts of olive oil to countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America.
Olive oil improves the lives of people everywhere. Its benefits, recently confirmed by science, were already understood in ancient times. Mediterranean people are happy to share their secret with the world.
1. Which step occurs first in olive oil production?| A．Drying the olives under the sun. | B．Separating the oil from the water. |
| C．Separating the liquid from the solids. | D．Pressing the whole olives into pieces. |
| A．Paint. | B．Medicine. | C．Money. | D．Soap. |
| A．To give reasons why olive oil is similar to medicine. |
| B．To show how the biology of Mediterranean people is special. |
| C．To explain the growing interest in olive oil around the world. |
| D．To prove that olive oil is more important for women than for men. |
| A．Discussing olive oil production outside the Mediterranean area. |
| B．Explaining the history, production, benefits, and use of olive oil. |
| C．Showing why olive oil is produced around the Mediterranean Sea. |
| D．Comparing Mediterranean olive oil with that produced in other places. |
2 . Many animals depend upon sound to find food, detect predators and communicate with one another. These species understandably suffer when loud motorways cut through their habitats. Some deal with this problem by singing more loudly, some change the timing of their calls to occur when fewer people are driving, others just move to quieter places.
It has always been assumed that noise is a problem unique to animals. But a new study by Ali Akbar Ghotbi-Ravandi, a botanist at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran, has revealed that plants suffer too.
That plants can be affected indirectly by noise pollution has never been in doubt. Since most flowering species depend upon pollinators and most fruit-bearing species need animals to disperse their seeds, it is obvious that if these animal partners are harmed by noise then their botanical plants will do badly, too. What has remained unknown is whether or not plants themselves suffer directly from noise pollution.
Sounds are pressure waves transmitted through gases, liquids and solids. Scientists have previously predicted that plants may be able to sense these waves as they are struck by them. A number of experiments have confirmed this in recent years — plants attacked with ultrasound in the lab have shown a range of hurtful responses, including the expression of stress-related genes, underdeveloped growth and reduced germination (发芽) of seeds.
Working with a team of colleagues, Dr. Ghotbi-Ravandi grew two species in his lab that are commonly found in urban environments. The plants were grown from seeds and allowed to mature for two months in the same space before they were divided into two groups. One group was exposed to 73 decibels (分贝) of traffic noise recorded from a busy motorway in Tehran for 16 hours a day. The other group was left to grow in silence. After 15 days, samples were taken from the youngest fully expanded leaves on every plant in the experiment and studied.
None of the plants exposed to the traffic noise did well. Analysis of their leaves revealed that all of them were suffering. Harmful chemicals in them are indicators of stress in plants and both were found at much higher levels in the plants exposed to the traffic noise. Most notably, levels of the harmful chemicals in the plants exposed to noise were two to three times what they were in those grown in silence. The findings make it clear that the noise of traffic bothers the plants.
1. What’s the function of the first two paragraphs?| A．To lead in the topic of the passage. |
| B．To prove that only animals suffer from noise. |
| C．To introduce how animals avoid the urban traffic noise. |
| D．To compare the different effects of noise on animals and plants. |
| A．Classify. | B．Spread. | C．Damage. | D．Collect |
| A．Urban traffic noise mainly poses a threat to animals. |
| B．Plants themselves suffer indirectly from noise pollution. |
| C．Plants exposed to the traffic noise bear higher levels of stress. |
| D．Plants that don't need animals for growth will not be influenced by noise. |
3 . If there is one thing that comes to mind when the words “South Pacific” are spoken, then it must be coconut palms (椰子树). Most of us have images of all attractive coconut palms lining sandy beaches. But the coconut tree is more than a central characteristic of picture postcards bought by tourists.
To people of the South Pacific, the coconut tree is also known as the “Tree of Life”. It gets this name because of the different kinds of products which the coconut palm provides from its various parts. From the leaves down to its roots, it plays a great part in the life of many island people. The coconut tree provides food, shelter, fuel as well as income from exports.
Coconut leaves produce good-quality paper pulp (纸浆), hats, wastebaskets and bags. Flesh (果肉) and water (often called the milk) from the young, green coconut can be taken as a healthy food and drink. It is also used in salads and other tasty dishes.
Coconut husks (外壳) it are often thrown away, but they can be used to produce different kinds of useful products such as ropes, fishing nets, and floor coverings.
Coconut water can be used in the production of wine and is also used to treat a number of medical problems.
The white coconut flesh is a good source of coconut oil, coconut chips, and feed for animals.
The trunk of the coconut tree is a strong and durable wood, which can be used to build houses.
Medicines and dyes (燃料) are obtained from the roots.
The English oak, the Lebanon cedar or the Australian gum tree all have a place in history but the coconut palm is the only true “Tree of Life”.
1. Why is the coconut palm called the “Tree of Life”?| A．It has a long lifetime. | B．It is mostly exported. |
| C．It has a vast range of uses. | D．It is necessary for islanders. |
| A．Leaves. | B．Flesh. | C．Husks. | D．Water. |
| A．long-lived. | B．wet. | C．flexible. | D．rough. |
| A．To introduce a useful type of plant. |
| B．To announce some new discoveries. |
| C．To tell readers about island people’s life. |
| D．To explain how to make full use of coconut leaves. |
4 . The Greenwood fire took its name from the nearby lake where lightning struck on Aug.15, causing a wildfire that burned for weeks. Fueled by drought and wind, its persistence dominated headlines for much of late summer and early fall in Minnesota. When the last flames were finally put out, the northern Minnesota fire had consumed nearly 27,000 acres, countless firefighting resources, and at its worst, the lives that some had built around nearby McDougal Lake. Vast areas of forest were left burned-out, with the black and bare remains of what were once massive pines.
But, despite the destruction left behind, Mother Nature is set to a comeback. When organic matter is burned from the forest floor, seeds dropped by plants and trees begin to take hold, with the sprouting species emerging first. The trees above have died, which sends a chemical signal to the root system that is actually more expansive than just under that tree, and that chemical response encourages those root systems to re-grow. Ten years ago, a fire ripped through 93,000 acres of Minnesota forest in and around the BWCA. Today, that burnt area's rebirth is well underway.
"Here in the Pagami Creek wildfire scar, we have Jack Pine, Red Pine, Black Spruce, Aspen and paper birch-those are our main species, those are the ones that are growing quickly. It's 10 years on, and these trees are 10 to 15 feet tall in many areas," said Kyle Stover from the U.S. Forest Service.
A wildfire kills most things in its path, but despite the flames and intense temperatures, rarely is everything reduced to ashes -and that plays a key role in a forest's regeneration. Just one year after the fire, the survivors dominate the forest, and grasses replace the burnt ground. Wildflowers are abundant bushes and small trees have started to grow, and Jack Pine returned. So, it's an amazing ecological system of creating new forest life when it appears that all is lost, one that has evolved throughout the ages, where fire has always played a vital role.
1. What can we learn about the Greenwood fire?| A．It was a natural occurrence | B．It was caused by drought. |
| C．it gained half-year fame. | D．It took many people's lives. |
| A．Seeding growth is held up. | B．Burnt organic matter hardly functions. |
| C．Root systems spread further and wider | D．Chemicals in the soil are in greater demand. |
| A．They are flammable | B．They are fire-resistant |
| C．They are fire-adapted. | D．They are overgrown. |
| A．A fire. | B．A life | C．A time. | D．A system |
