1 . 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.     1    , but studies have shown that they can promote people’s wellbeing by improving their mood (心情), reducing stress and helping their memory. What’s more, indoor plants are easy to look after and are not very expensive.

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.     2    .

Why are indoor plants good for you?

Will Spoelstra, who works at the Royal Botanic Gardens, says, “    3    . I find during the winter months, plants around the house can really lift your mood.” Several studies have backed this up and found that indoor plants can improve creativity, focus and memory. There is also research showing that pot plants can clean the air around them by removing harmful gases, such as carbon dioxide. They also remove some harmful chemicals from paints or cooking.     4    .

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. “    5    ,” Spoelstra says. “It can bring a new interest and focus into people’s lives and help to make the link between home and nature.”

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

2 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Why is it suggested not to buy from wholesalers?

A．They only sell seeds.

B．They don’t have good soil.

C．They don’t take good care of plants.

2. What is good soil?

A．Wet soil.

B．Hard soil.

C．Smelly soil.

3. How many suggestions are given?

A．2.

B．3.

C．4.

3 . Plants have been essential to humans since the beginning of time. Their beauty inspires joy and many have healing functions. Now, a recent study has identified a super plant that cleans polluted air.

Noting that car pollution is a global concern, researchers set out to study how effective plants are at catching roadside particulates (颗粒), which cause many health problems. The scientists at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in the UK chose the city of Reading to study how effective plants are at catching them. Since previous research has shown that trees help remove air pollution, researchers decided to explore the effectiveness of hedges (树篱). This study looked at three species: hawthorn, western red cedar, and franchet’s cotoneaster (栒子).

Researchers discovered that cotoneaster was the most effective after comparing particulates on leaves of these three plants. This is due to the plant’s hairy, complex leaf structure. Researchers also found that thick hedges over six feet high were best in reducing the concentration of particles. In the most heavily trafficked areas, cotoneaster took in 20 percent more pollution than the other shrubs, according to The Guardian.

Dr Tijana Blanusa, co-author of the study, told The Guardian, “We know that in just seven days a l-metre length of well-managed dense hedge will clean up the same amount of pollution that a car emits over a 500-mile drive.” Blanusa highly recommends planting cotoneasters along busy roads.

This is great news for urban planners, as well as gardeners. Although many people are affected by roadside pollution, an RHS survey shows that only six percent of gardeners choose specific plants that may improve air quality.

Originally from China, cotoneaster is a hardy evergreen that can tolerate cold. In addition to growing healthy in the UK, it can grow strong in areas from California up to the Pacific Northwest, into British Columbia and around the Great Lakes.

Thanks to this recent study, cotoneaster has proved to be extremely beneficial, enabling gardeners and landscapers to make a positive difference to the environment. The hope is that once these super plants are grown in urban gardens and on streets, they will clean the air plus provide intense beauty along the way.

1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．What plants bring people.

B．Why researchers did the study.

C．How serious air pollution is.

D．What progress scientists have made.

2. Why is cotoneaster better at absorbing roadside particulates?

A．Its leaves are made of many different parts.

B．It can keep green in bad weather conditions.

C．It has a suitable height for reducing pollution.

D．Its leaves are thick in places with heavy traffic.

3. What’s Tijana Blanusa’s attitude towards the effect of cotoneaster?

A．Positive.

B．Surprised.

C．Concerned.

D．Doubtful.

4. What can we learn about cotoneaster?

A．It requires a lot of care in urban areas.

B．It will affect the growth of other species.

C．It will help improve air quality once planted.

D．It can make people feel energetic all day long.

4 . The flower doesn’t use verbs or adjectives to tell a pollinator (传粉昆虫) that it looks pretty when the pollinator flies by, at least not as far as we know. But plants do respond to the sound of bees buzzing through the air, greeting them with more sweet nectar (花蜜) in hopes of attracting them to land. It is a poetic and practical language that increases everyone’s chances of survival. Scientists increasingly believe that animals and plants communicate with each other. Thanks to a new study on “natural language”, now there’s additional evidence that measures how evening primroses (月见草) respond to sound.

The research team played sounds like that of bees’ wings beating to evening primroses. The flowers vibrated (振动) when they heard the sounds. It’s as if they were listening. Other sounds, played at different frequencies, didn’t lead to the same result. The flowers vibrated, but didn’t increase the sweetness of their nectar production. The average sugar concentration was 20% higher in flowers exposed to pollinator-like frequencies, but remained stable at the sound of higher frequency recordings and silence.

These findings led the researchers to argue that flowers function as a plant’s ears, informing the plant as a whole of what’s going on nearby and when it’s time to attract a pollinator. Plants have to be sensitive to the sound of pollinators because they have an interdependent relationship with one another. The plants rely on the pollinators for reproduction, so they produce a sweeter nectar as a kind of seduction. And the bees eat the nectar, which means they’ll be adjusted to what the flowers are doing and drawn to the sweeter food. It pays for flowers to be able to distinguish between the sound of bats as compared to bees, for example, and for the pollinators, it’s worthwhile to find the best food in the least amount of time.

While this study is just a first step in understanding how plants respond to sound, and studies on other species must be done next to better understand how flowers listen.

1. How did the researchers do the experiment?

A．By vibrating the flowers.	B．By exposing plants to pollinators.
C．By imitating the sound of insects.	D．By increasing the sweetness of nectar.

2. What does the underlined word “seduction” mean in paragraph 3?

A．Production.

B．Attraction.

C．Value.

D．Adjustment.

3. In which aspect do plants benefit from listening?

A．Saving resources.	B．Providing more food.
C．Knowing different species.	D．Promoting the reproduction.

4. What does the study mainly focus on?

A．How certain plants react to sound.	B．How to interact with plants.
C．The languages used in nature.	D．The methods of survival for plants.

5 . Plants and exposure to greenery have been found to have multiple mental health benefits, such as lowering stress, decreasing feelings of depression, increasing sociability, restoring focus, improving cognitive performance, improving mood, and increasing self-esteem.

Gardening and care for plants can help to turn people away from negative thoughts or emotions. So with all that, what do these experts recommend as the best plant?

Snake plant. It’s very easy to care for, thrives in spaces with low sunlight, has visual appeal, and cleans the air, and they are drought resistant if you forget to water them.

Spider plants. Spider plants, with plenty of light-green leaves, are another low-maintenance selection.When a spider plant thrives, it will grow new offshoots that can be clipped and potted as a new plant.

Aloe Vera. Drought-resistant and easy to grow. Aloe Vera is low-maintenance, you can just water it monthly, and it helps clean the airspace and is helpful for burns, cuts, and scrapes to help injuries heal faster or soothe pain.

Lavender is well-known for its relaxing scent, and it has a calming effect, aids in reducing stress, promotes sleep.This means it’s great both in the garden, or clipped and dried in a bowl inside your space .

Basil is a summertime herb that loves the sun. Not only is it delicious in meals, but eating basil has health benefits, too. It has properties which help to relieve stress and anxiety.

Lemon balm. This fragrant green herb is part of the mint family and is simple to cultivate. Known for its calming properties, it has a light lemony scent that can be wonderfully intensified by rubbing the leaves between your fingers. It has been used to improve sleep, reduce stress and anxiety, improve appetite, and help with indigestion.

1. What can we know from the passage?

A．Spider plants will still survive if you forget to water them.

B．Lavender is recognized for its mint scent and calming effects.

C．Snake plants grow well in spaces without enough sunlight.

D．Basil is not edible but has some valuable properties.

2. What do these plants have in common?

A．They need little water.	B．They appeal to the eye.
C．They help us calm down.	D．They enhance health.

3. How many of the plants mentioned in the passage can help people to handle stress or anxiety?

A．Two

B．Three

C．Four

D．Five

6 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

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.

7 . The Bitter Truth Behind Vanilla

Vanilla is one of the world’s most popular spices and an important ingredient in products ranging from chocolate to perfume. However, the wholesale price of vanilla has reached up to $600 per kilogram, when just a few years ago it fetched a tenth of that. What is happening?

Madagascar supplies more than 80 percent of the world’s natural vanilla. In the 19th century, the French introduced Bourbon vanilla to their African island colony. Today, vanilla represents 20 percent of Madagascan exports, worth around $600 million at current prices. However, it is a difficult crop to grow. A vine takes three to four years to mature.     1     Nine months later, the green beans must be hand-picked when perfectly ripe to optimize their vanillin content (the compound that gives vanilla its flavor). Months of blanching(焯水), sweathing(焖煮) and gradual drying in the sun are then necessary to produce the aromatic(芳香的) spice. Six hundred hand-pollinated blossoms yield about six kilos of green beans, which convert to one kilo of dried beans.

The price of Madagascan vanilla was once set by the government.     2     Madagascar’s government was eventually forced to end its price-fixing regime(体制). Food giants such as Unilever and Nestlé also increased their use of synthetic vanillin, which can be produced from reliable sources, adding to the pressure. For 30 years, Madagascar’s vanilla farmers earned just a pittance, and many ended up leaving the business. But even with fewer producers, the price of natural vanilla stayed low.

It was not until public tastes started shifting towards all things natural that farmers’ fortunes revived. From around 2011, some manufacturers began focusing once more on natural vanilla. In 2015, Nestlé announced plans to use only natural ingredients in five years, and Hershey’s followed suit.     3     Extreme weather, weak crop-security, and exporters who hoard inventory(囤货) and speculate (做投机买卖) on further rises have also kept prices high.

    4     To prevent theft of their now rather valuable crops, farmers have taken to harvesting the beans early, thereby reducing the overall quality of the crop. That forces the government to make greater efforts to enforce penalties(处罚). If it manages this, Madagascar could yet savor the benefits of its near monopoly(垄断).

A．It’s expensive because it’s both labor-intensive and time-consuming to grow.

B．Demand has therefore surged, and with it prices - in part because natural supplies are insufficient.

C．If pollination (授粉) is successful, it will take another eight to nine months until the plant matures.

D．This rise has not been without its challenges.

E．The flowers open for just one day a year, so pollination is done completely by hand.

F．But such were the prices it demanded for vanilla that in the 1980s buyers turned their attention to the cheaper, poor-quality version available elsewhere, in particular Indonesia.

8 . With no special equipment, no fences and no watering, two abandoned agricultural fields in the UK have been rewilded (重新野化), in large part due to the efforts of jays, which actually “engineered” these new woodlands. Researchers now hope that rewilding projects can take a more natural and hands-off approach and that jays can shed some of their bad reputations.

The two fields, which researchers have called the New Wilderness and the Old Wilderness, had been abandoned in 1996 and 1961 respectively. The former was a bare field, while the latter was grassland—both lay next to ancient woodlands. Researchers had suspected that the fields would gradually return to wilderness, but it was impressive to see just how quickly this happened, and how much of it was owed to birds.

Using aerial data, the researchers monitored the two sites. After just 24 years, the New Wilderness had grown into a young, healthy wood with 132 live trees per hectare, over half of which (57%) were oaks. Meanwhile, the Old Wilderness resembled a mature woodland after 39 years, with 390 trees per hectare.

“This native woodland restoration was approaching the structure (but not the species composition) of long-established woodlands within six decades,” the researchers explained in the study.

Part of this reforestation was done by the wind, and researchers suspect that previous ground disturbance may have aided the woodland establishment—which is good news, as it would suggest that agricultural areas may be reforested faster than anticipated. However, animals—Eurasian jays, thrushes, wood mice, and squirrels—also played an important role in helping the forests take shape. This handful of species provided much of the natural regeneration needed for the forest to develop. Jays, in particular, seem to have done a lot of heavy lifting.

1. What does the underlined word “shed” in Paragraph 1 refer to?

A．Be opposed to.

B．Be ashamed of.

C．Get used to.

D．Get rid of.

2. Which aspect of the changes in the two fields impressed the researchers?

A．The scale of the woodlands.

B．The diversity of the fields.

C．The rate of the changes.

D．The frequency of the wilderness.

3. What does the author want to tell us by providing some data in Paragragh 3?

A．The woodland restoration was approaching the structure of long-established ones.

B．Much of the wilderness of the fields was owed to birds.

C．Previous ground disturbance aided the woodland establishment.

D．How quickly the fields returned to wilderness over time.

4. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A．The essential role of humans in the reforestation.

B．The factors that contribute to the reforestation.

C．The importance of woodland establishment.

D．The threats faced by a handful of wild animals.

9 . The world is getting greener, according to a new study published in Nature this week.

Chi Chen, lead author of the study, and his colleagues have been mining data collected by an orbiting NASA camera that monitors green vegetation on Earth’s surface, day by day. Even more interesting: They are able to show the exact causes of increasing or decreasing leaf cover in particular areas.

In some cold places, increase in leaf cover apparently resulted from global warming. Since the climate is becoming more and more temperate and the growing season is getting longer and longer, the plants are growing bigger and leafier there.

Which of the following best explains the underlined word “temperate” in paragraph 3?

A．Warm.	B．Wet.
C．Cold.	D．Dry.

10 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

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 ” .