1 . Huge crowds are forming on Monday at the US Botanic Garden in Washington, DC. Usually, it’s a place to see flowers that look pretty, smell fantastic and bloom (开花) annually. But today, the so-called “corpse plants” on show are the opposite in all aspects.
Native to the rain forests of Sumatra, Indonesia, the corpse plants don’t bloom on a regular cycle -- the length of time between blooms ranges from a few years to a few decades and they are ugly and smelly.
“Last night it started out like a good French cheese, stinky but delightful. Then it moved on to a lazy boy’s socks. At last, it was junior high school gym followed by full-on rotten fish. Finally, it moved all the way to a rotting meat smell that was so thick and heavy that I experienced a sore throat, burning eyes and had a bitter taste in my mouth.” said John Clements, one of the garden employees,
“It smells bad to us, but it smells great to flies. It makes them think there’s rotten meat somewhere to lay their eggs, and that helps the corpse plant to get pollinated (授粉),” says Rob Raguso, a professor at Cornell University. “Since it takes a lot of energy for the plant to produce the smell, it puts it on reserve during the day, and will put it out in full strength from 9 pm to 3 am when the air is still and the smell can travel more easily.”
The smell comes from a number of chemicals that smell differently on their own, and that together draw flies to the plant’s cup-like flower. One of these, timethylamine, smells like rotting fish. Another, isovaleric acid, is responsible for the terrible smell of sweaty gym socks.
“It also heats up. The flower actually reaches human body temperature, making it all the more convincing to flesh-loving insects,”adds Rob Raguso.
1. What does John Clements mainly talk about?| A．Lazy boys’ socks. | B．Delightful French cheese. |
| C．The smell of a flower. | D．The taste of corpse plants. |
| A．At noon | B．At dusk. | C．In the afternoon. | D．After midnight. |
| A．To reserve energy. | B．To attract pollinators. |
| C．To heat the environment | D．To send the smell further. |
| A．What Makes Corpse Plants Smell So Bad? |
| B．How Do Corpse Plants Appeal to Insects? |
| C．When Do Corpse Plants Bloom in Full Strength? |
| D．Why Can Flies Find Corpse Plants in the Darkness? |
2 . The first great agricultural revolution happened 10,000 years ago, when humans settled on farms. The second was the “green revolution” from the 1930s to the 1960s, in which advances in fertilization, mechanization, and irrigation dramatically increased global food production. The third is likely to come from information, as digital technology and big data help farmers make better decisions and drive up crop production.
Michael Stern, president and chief executive officer of Climate Corp., said that the ability to gather detailed information about farmers’ fields, coupled with advances in weather forecasting, computing power, and artificial intelligence, will change farming from a business that often reacts to the past—applying insecticide this year because of a disease outbreak last year—to one that uses real-time data and weather forecasts to make more accurate decisions for the season to come.
Over the course of a growing season, farmers make 40 to 50 key decisions that affect crop performance. Recent trends that have swept other areas of society—such as cheap data storage, the ability to transfer data witlessly, and dramatic increases in computing power—have the potential to transform the farm.
Stem offered the example of a farmer preparing for the regular fall fertilizing of his fields who delays the application after being informed of a coming storm. That decision reduces runoff, keeps fertilizer on the field, and helps controls farmer’s costs. As data gathers season after season, computer models will help farmers better manage fertilizer and other additions to optimize production and minimize runoff.
Remote sensing is another way that modern technology can help farmers know what’s going on in their fields. Many farmers drive around to monitor growth and watch for pests and diseases. But these surveys are typically random and don’t cover more than 2 percent of a field. Remote sensing can provide accurate data that covers an entire field and cables recommendations tailored to what’s going on in the stricken area.
1. What may the third agricultural revolution help farmers do in the future?| A．Make reasonable decisions. | B．Grasp computing ability. |
| C．Deal with big data. | D．Develop business potentials. |
| A．To confirm the coming of a storm. | B．To explain the reason of fertilizer runoff. |
| C．To stress the effect of information application. | D．To show the use of computer models. |
| A．It can show typical random. | B．It can drive up crop production |
| C．It can remove pests and diseases. | D．It can offer exact statistics. |
| A．Opposed. | B．Neutral. | C．Positive. | D．Unclear. |
3 . The Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, in the UK, are home to thousands of fascinating plants, but none are as lonely as the Encephalartos woodii (伍德苏铁), an ancient cycad species and, most likely, the last one of its kind.
It was in 1895 that botanist John Wood noticed this interesting looking palm tree on a steep slope in southern Africa. Spellbound by its multiple trunks and arched palm fronds, Dr. Wood — who made his living collecting rare plants — had some stems removed and sent to London in a box. It ended up in the Palm House at the Royal Botanical Gardens, where it has been waiting for a mate for over a century. Despite numerous efforts to find it a mate, the Encephalartos woodii at Kew remains alone, unable to produce an offspring and reproduce its species. For this reason, many consider it the world’s loneliest plant.
Two hundred million years ago, when dinosaurs still roamed the world, cycads were everywhere. They made up around 20% of plants, acted as shelter for some dinosaur species and as food supply for others. They managed to somehow survive five ice ages, adapted to coexist with new species of plants, but as time passed, their numbers dwindled. Like all other cycads, Encephalartos woodii went from numbering millions of specimens, to thousands, and today, possibly just one, a male.
Some plants have both male and female organs, but not Encephalartos woodii. Without a female specimen to produce the seeds, it can never mate.
The Encephalartos woodii is technically not the last of its kind. It has been cloned several times, and its clones can be found in several botanical gardens around the world. It can even mate with some closely related species, but it can’t produce a true offspring. It just sits there, the last of its ancient species waiting for a female species to be found somewhere on Earth. “Surely this is the loneliest organism in the world,” biologist Richard Fortey once wrote, “growing older, alone, and fated to have no successors. Nobody knows how long it will live.”
1. What can we learn about the Encephalartos woodii?| A．It once was a common being with male and female organs. |
| B．It has been the last of its species for centuries. |
| C．Scientists’ efforts to produce any young of it were in vain. |
| D．It used to play an important role in the survival of dinosaurs. |
| A．Declined. | B．Increased. | C．Multiplied. | D．Rocketed. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Indifferent. | C．Sympathetic. | D．Skeptical. |
| A．The last Cycad on Earth | B．The World’s Loneliest Plant |
| C．The Plant that Outlived Dinosaurs | D．The Ancient Cycad Found by John Wood |
4 . About 17 years ago, I became allergic to Delhi's air. My doctors told me that my lung function had gone down to 70 percent. My doctor told me that there were three plants, with which I could grow all the fresh air indoors to keep me healthy.
The three plants are Areca palm, Mother-in-law's Tongue and money plant. Areca palm is a plant which removes CO2 and turns it into oxygen. We need four shoulder-high plants every person. The second plant is Mother-in-law's Tongue. It is called a bedroom plant because it turns CO, into oxygen at night. And we need six to eight waist-high plants every person. The third plant is money plant, and it preferably grows in hydroponics. This particular plant removes some harmful chemicals.
My team and I have tried these plants at our own building in Delhi, which is a 50,000-square-feet, 20-yearold building. And it has close to 1,200 such plants for 300 families. Our studies have found that there is a 42 percent probability of one's blood oxygen going up by one percent if one stays indoors in this building for 10 hours. Our experience also points to an amazing reduction in energy requirements in the building by an outstanding 15 percent. The government has published a study to show that this is the healthiest building in Delhi. And the study has also shown that, compared to other buildings, there is a reduced incidence of headaches by 24 percent.
In my opinion, these studies above are also important for the environment because the world’s energy requirements are expected to grow by 30 percent in the next decade. 40 percent of the world's energy is taken up by buildings currently, and 60 percent of the world's population will be living in buildings in cities with a population of over one million in the next 15 years. And there is a growing preference for living and working in air-conditioned places.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To show the results of growing plants. | B．To give the reason for the author's studies. |
| C．To introduce the author's life. | D．To praise the author's doctor. |
| A．CO2. | B．Oxygen. | C．Money plant. | D．Mother-in-law's Tongue. |
| A．The building with the three plants is the healthiest in Delhi |
| B．The possibility of headaches reduces by 40 percent. |
| C．The energy requirements in the building drop by 42 percent. |
| D．People can stay in the building for only 10 hours. |
| A．Complex. | B．Boring. | C．Meaningful. | D．Useless. |
5 . Topher White spends a lot of time walking in the forest and thinking about how quickly we’re losing it. He is making an effort to stop global deforestation (滥伐). Founder of the San Francisco— based Nonprofit Rainforest Connection, White has developed a simple but ingenious strategy: using old cell phones to listen for the sound of destruction.
Forests are disappearing worldwide and fast, which not only harms wildlife, including many species that live nowhere else, but also contributes to climate change. “I didn’t know any of this stuff when I started,” says White, who began his journey in 2011, when he traveled to Indonesian Borneo to help decreasing gibbons (长臂猿).
Between 50 and 90 percent of the logging (采伐) that happens in the world’s rain forests is illegal, according to White, yet detecting that activity can be tough. So he has developed a system in which he uses a cell phone staying charged by solar cells and an extra microphone. From there, the device can detect the sounds of chainsaws (电锯) nearly a mile away.
Because it’s unfeasible to have people listening to the devices all the time, he added some “old-school data analysis,” so that the cell phone’s computers can distinguish a chainsaw’s sound from others in the forest. This way, his device can automatically detect logging activity and send a text alert to authorities who can determine if it’s illegal and then stop it.
So far, his monitoring system has been used in Cameroon, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil and will soon be deployed in Bolivia. It’s not just about listening for logging. Also, it can pick out the sounds of specific birds, which is why White sees the forest recordings as a potential science tool. He is urging biologists and ecologists to use his monitoring system anywhere, whether it’s a remote forest or a park in London. “The more we learn about these places,” he says, “the easier it will be to protect them.”
1. What made Topher White decide to stop global deforestation?| A．The problem of global climate change. |
| B．The association of Nonprofit Rainforest Connection. |
| C．The experience of travelling to Indonesian Borneo in 2011. |
| D．The desire to find new uses for old cell phones. |
| A．Impractical. | B．Unwilling. | C．Impassive. | D．Unnecessary. |
| A．updating advanced technology | B．our better understanding of it |
| C．developing strong teamwork spirit | D．growing environmental awareness |
| A．A Creative Way Is Used to Protect Wildlife |
| B．Measures Should Be Taken to Preserve Nature |
| C．Forests Are Disappearing Worldwide |
| D．Your Old Cell Phones Can Help Save the Rain Forest |
6 . Plants cannot run or hide, so they need other strategies to avoid being eaten. Some curl up their leaves, others produce chemicals to make themselves taste bad if they sense animals drooling on them, chewing them up or laying eggs on them—all signals of an attack. New research now shows some flora can feel a plant-eating animal well before it launches an attack, letting a plant prepare a preemptive（先发制人的）defense that even works against other pest species.
When ecologist John Orrock of the University of Wisconsin-Madison sprayed snail slime—a liquid the animals release as they slide along—onto soil, nearby tomato plants appeared to notice. They increased their levels of an enzyme（酶）, which is known to prevent plant-eating animals. “None of the plants were ever actually attacked,” Orrock says. “We just gave them cues that suggested an attack was coming, and that was enough to cause big changes in their chemistry.”
Initially Orrock found this defense worked against snails; in the latest study, his team measured the slimy warning’s impact on another potential threat. The investigators found that hungry caterpillars（毛虫）, which usually eat tomato leaves greedily, had no appetite for them after the plants were exposed to snail slime and activated their chemical resistance. This nonspecific defense may be a strategy that benefits the plants by further improving their overall possibilities of survival, says Orrock, who reported the results with his colleagues in March in Oecologia.
The finding that a snail’s approach can cause a plant response that affects a different animal made Richard Karban curious, a plant communications expert, who was not involved in the study. “It is significant that the plants are responding before being damaged and that these cues are having such far-ranging effects, ” Karban says. The research was comprehensive, he adds, but he wonders how the tomato plants felt chemicals in snail slime that never actually touched them.
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Orrock says. He hopes future research will make out the mechanisms that enable plants to sense these relatively distant cues.
1. John Orrock sprayed a liquid onto soil near tomato plants to ________.| A．make them grow better |
| B．give them a warning |
| C．keep plant-eating animals away |
| D．inform plant-eating animals of danger |
| A．To introduce another animal. |
| B．To confirm the result of the study. |
| C．To appeal to people to protect animals. |
| D．To analyze different resistance chemicals. |
| A．How tomato plants become aware of danger. |
| B．What the chemicals in the snail slime are. |
| C．Whether the research is of practical value. |
| D．What the finding of the research is. |
| A．Watchful Plants. | B．Greedy Animals. |
| C．A Snail’s Approach. | D．A Defense Attack. |
7 . The earliest tomatoes were little sour berries. They grew among low bushes in dry, sunny places in the Andes Mountains in South America. It was about 350 million years ago.
Tomato plants are relative to nightshade (茄属植物), which has poison. The leaves and stems of tomato plants have poison , but the berries are good to eat. The berries are red so that animals can find them easily and eat them. The animals carry the seeds to other places. That was how earliest tomato plants found new places to grow. Tomatoes are also relative to tobacco, chili peppers and potatoes.
When people first came to South America about 20,000 years ago, they ate these tiny wild tomatoes. Travelers brought a few kinds of wild tomato plants from the Andes to Central America, there the ancestors of the Maya began to farm them. Nobody knows exactly when people began farming tomatoes, but it probably was much later than corn and beans, and it was surely before 500 BC. These Central American fanners bred tomatoes to be bigger and sweeter than the wild ones.
By the time Spanish explorers got to Tenochtitlan in Mexico in 1521 AD, the Aztec people ere eating a lot of tomatoes, made a sauce of chopped (剁碎的)tomatoes, onions, salt and chili peppers that was a lot like our salsa. The word “tomato” comes from their Nahuatl word “tomato”.
Because tomatoes weren't farmed until pretty late, farmers further north had not yet been able to adapt heir growing season to working in North America. Even today, it's pretty hard to get your tomatoes ripe in the northern parts of North America before the growing season ends.
1. What do we know about the earliest tomatoes?| A．They were big sweet berries. |
| B．They grew in Central America. |
| C．They grew in dry, sunny places. |
| D．They grew about 35 million years ago. |
| A．People grew them in new places. |
| B．They grew in new places naturally. |
| C．Their seeds were carried away by wind. |
| D．Their seeds were carried away by animals. |
| A．The farmers sold them to others. |
| B．The farmers disliked their taste. |
| C．The farmers tried to improve them. |
| D．The farmers showed no interest in them. |
| A．How to grow tomatoes. |
| B．The history of tomatoes. |
| C．When to grow tomatoes. |
| D．The places where tomatoes grow. |
| A．Environmental protection. | B．Gardening skills. | C．Greenhouse effect. |
9 . Everyone knows that the population of the world is the largest ever. As more and more people are born and grow to an older average age than previous generations, everyone on the earth has a responsibility to feed this ever-growing population.
One possible solution to this is vertical farming, While humans have farmed and worked the land as long as history has recorded events, how much humans' farming has changed! From hands to ancient tools to animals to advanced machinery, the agricultural scenes have changed greatly over the centuries.
Now new and improved farming methods have been considered and studied to keep up with demand. With vertical farming, food is grown vertically by using existing buildings or shipping containers.
Unlike traditional farming that relies on Mother Nature, vertical farming often relies on CEA technology, also known as Controlled Environment Agriculture. With this approach, humans affect light, temperature, gases and more, thus controlling the environment in which plants grow.
The technology used in vertical farming is just expanding into greenhouses, where light and temperature are man-controlled. The final goal of vertical farming is to produce the most possible crops with the least possible space.
Vertical farming has many advantages. There are some other benefits as well.
With more and more humans living in heavily populated areas, vertical farming allows humans to be prepared for the future with continued population growth and increased movements to cities.
In vertical farming, since the environment in which plants grow is controlled by humans, farming can happen all the year round and is not dependent on seasons and weather. It can possibly use 95% less water than traditional farming. Besides, it is easier to produce organic crops in such a controlled environment, and farm chemicals will not be needed to protect the plants. This means less pollution in the environment.
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly show?| A．The need to feed an increasing population. | B．The importance of protecting the earth. |
| C．The struggle to control the population. | D．The responsibility of previous generations. |
| A．The change of weather. | B．New advances in research on high-quality soils. |
| C．More favorable air conditions in higher places. | D．The birth of CEA technology. |
| A．It needs no light. | B．It uses much less water. |
| C．It relies more on the seasons. | D．It needs more farm chemicals. |
| A．Vertical Farming Is the Future | B．Traditional Farming Comes to an End |
| C．Traditional Farming's Methods and Measures | D．Advantages and Disadvantages of Vertical Farming |
10 . Tree planting used to be regarded as an effective means of controlling climate change. Perhaps it's time for us to rethink this practice. Trees pull carbon dioxide or CO2 from the air. This effectively removes CO2 from the atmosphere, making trees an important part of the fight against climate change. But trees only hold onto carbon dioxide as long as they're alive. Once they die, trees decay (腐烂) and release that CO2 back into the atmosphere.
Recent studies have found that trees around the world are growing faster than ever. Rising atmosphere CO2 is probably driving that rapid growth, said Roel Brienen. High levels of this gas are boosting temperatures, which in turn speeds tree growth in those areas, he added. The faster tees grow, the faster they store carbon. It seems like good news. However, it is known that fast-growing tree species, in general, live shorter lives than their slow-growing relatives.
In order to see whether this is a universal phenomenon, Brienen and his colleagues analyzed over 210,000 individual tree ring records of 110 tree species from more than 70,000 sites worldwide.“By measuring tree rings' widths one can tell how fast trees grew, while counting rings provides information on tree ages and allows making inferences about trees' maximum lifespan (寿命).” Brienen explained.
The team also created a computer program that modeled a forest. Early on, it showed that “the forest could hold more carbon as the trees grew faster”, Brienen reported. But after 20 years, these trees stared dying and losing this extra carbon again. “We must understand that the only solution to bring down CO2 levels is to stop emitting (排放) it into the atmosphere,” said Brienen.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．Where carbon dioxide or CO2 is. |
| B．Whether trees will be planted or not. |
| C．Why the atmosphere can remove carbon dioxide. |
| D．Why trees against climate change should be rethought. |
| A．They give off and store lots of CO2. |
| B．They belong to fast-growing species. |
| C．Rising atmospheric CO2 may help them. |
| D．The surrounding trees may affect them. |
| A．age | B．height |
| C．growth speed | D．top lifespan |
| A．Why the team founded the computer program. |
| B．Why the faster trees grow, the longer they live. |
| C．How to make the old trees live a little longer. |
| D．How to deal with dying trees emitting their extra carbon. |
