1 . We all love gardens with beautiful flowers and leafy plants, choosing colourful species to plant in and around our homes. Plant scientists, however, may have fallen for the same trick in what they choose to research.
The research, published in Nature Plants, found there’s a clear bias (偏好) among scientists toward visually striking plants. This means they’re more likely chosen for scientific study and conservation efforts, regardless of their ecological or evolutionary significance. White, red and pink flowers were more likely to feature in research literature than those with dull, or green and brown flowers. Plants with tall stems also stood out. Plants with blue flowers — the rarest colour in nature — received most research attention. But interestingly, a plant’s rarity didn’t significantly influence research attention. The team had expected to find more endangered species among those most studied, it did not either.
This bias may direct conservation efforts away from less visually pleasing plants that are more important to the health of the overall ecosystem or in need of urgent conservation. A bias toward colorful plants could mean we may be missing species that could be in rapid decline toward extinction, and we don’t have even basic information on seed banking for conservation. This is not a tragedy, but something to consider when planning future work.
We often don’t know how important a species is until it’s thoroughly researched. In Australia, for example, milkweeds are an important food source for butterflies, while dull-flowered mat rushes are now known to be the home for rare native sun moths. From habitats to food, these plants provide foundational ecological services, yet many milkweed and mat rush species are rare, and largely neglected in conservation research.
The study shows the need to take biases into consideration in science and in the choice of species studied, for the best conservation and ecological outcomes. People should be more alert in all parts of the conservation process, from the science to listing species for protection.
1. Which of the following plants are highly researched?| A．Plants which are rare. | B．Plants with blue flowers. |
| C．Plants with brown flowers. | D．Plants which are endangered. |
| A．The efforts to save endangered species. | B．The ways to conserve dull plants. |
| C．The reasons for plants’ extinction. | D．The consequences of plant bias. |
| A．They deserve thorough research. |
| B．They are closely connected with each other. |
| C．They have received the least research attention. |
| D．They are more important than beautiful flowers. |
| A．Are beautiful plants the most useful? | B．How can we save less attractive plants? |
| C．Which plant species need our help? | D．Are attractive plants researched more? |
2 . 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? |
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. |
| A．Wet soil. | B．Hard soil. | C．Smelly soil. |
| A．2. | B．3. | C．4. |
4 . 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. |
| 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. |
| A．Positive. | B．Surprised. | C．Concerned. | D．Doubtful. |
| 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. |
5 . Ice-coated vines (葡萄藤) stretched across hillsides around Chablis, France, as the region had a temperature of -5°C on Monday. Fruit growers are worried that the frost will kill off large numbers of early buds (花蕾) and disturb the whole growing season.
The frost is particularly disturbing after a similar phenomenon hit French vineyards last year, leading to some 2 billion euros in losses. Scientists later found that the damaging 2021 frost was more likely made by climate change.
Some growers tried to warm the vines with electrical lines, or set up special watering systems, or spray (喷洒) the buds with water to protect them from frost. The water creates a thin layer of ice that ensures the buds’ temperature remains around freezing point but does not drop much lower.
Daniel-Etienne Defaix, whose vineyard has been producing wine for 400 years and lived through many climate disasters, calls what’s happening now “a very, very serious frost”. He placed candles on the soil to protect about five hectares (亩) of his most valuable grapes, but had to leave the remaining 25 hectares to face the force of nature. At a cost of 10 euros per candle, and 600 candles per hectare, it was too costly to save the rest of the grapes.
The 2021 April frost led to what French government officials described as “probably the greatest agricultural disaster of the beginning of the 21st century”. The pattern was similar: an intense April 6-8 frost after a lengthy warm period in March.
The researchers concluded that the warming caused by humans had coaxed the plants so that they exposed their young leaves earlier than usual, before a burst of Arctic cold reached Europe in April.
1. What did Daniel-Etienne Defaix do to protect his vines?| A．Heat the vines with electrical lines. |
| B．Spray the buds with water. |
| C．Set up special watering systems. |
| D．Warm the vines with candles. |
| A．Growers can save most of their crops. |
| B．The 2022 frost is the worst in history. |
| C．Humans are to blame for the damage. |
| D．The weather was normal last March. |
| A．Protected. | B．Dried. | C．Tricked. | D．Delayed. |
| A．Causes for Early Budding |
| B．Late Frost Threatens Vine Crops |
| C．Creative Ways to Save Vines |
| D．Global Warming Brings Extreme Weather |
6 . 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. |
| A．The scale of the woodlands. |
| B．The diversity of the fields. |
| C．The rate of the changes. |
| D．The frequency of the wilderness. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
7 . Being highly connected to a strong social network has its benefits. Now a new study is showing the same goes for trees, thanks to their underground neighbors. The study is the first to show that the growth of adult trees is linked to their participation in fungal (真菌) networks living in the forest soil. Though past research has focused on young trees, these findings give new insight into the importance of fungal networks to older trees — which are more environmentally beneficial for functions like capturing carbon.
“Large trees make up the main part of the forest, so they drive what the forest is doing,” said researcher Joseph Birch, who led the study. When they live in the forest soil, fungal networks act as a sort of highway, allowing water, nutrients and compounds to flow back and forth among the trees. The network also helps nutrients flow to resource-limited trees like family units that support one another in times of stress.
Cores taken from 350 Douglas firs (花旗松) showed that annual tree ring growth was related to the extent of fungal connections a tree had with other trees. They had much higher growth than those that had only a few connections. The research also showed that trees with more connections to many unique fungi had much greater growth than those with only one or two connections. “If you have this network that is helping trees grow faster, that helps capture more carbon year after year. These networks may help trees grow more steadily even as conditions become more stressful, and could even help protect them against death.” said Birch.
Birch hopes his findings lead to further studies in different kinds of forests in other geographical areas, because it’s likely that the connections among trees change from year to year. He said, “Knowing whether fungal networks are operating the same way in other tree species could inform how we reforest areas after harvesting them, and inform how we plant trees to preserve these networks.”
1. In what way do the new findings differ from the previous ones?| A．They reveal the value of fungal networks to adult trees. |
| B．They clarify misunderstandings of fungal networks. |
| C．They demonstrate a new way to capture carbon. |
| D．They confirm the benefits of fungal networks. |
| A．By acting as the center of family units. |
| B．By maintaining the balance of resources. |
| C．By fighting against diseases. |
| D．By bettering forest soil conditions. |
| A．Tree rings. |
| B．Cores from Douglas firs. |
| C．Douglas firs. |
| D．Fungal networks. |
| A．The fungal networks support one another in times of stress. |
| B．The fungal networks enable us to know more about reforestation. |
| C．The findings can apply to different kinds of forests in other geographical areas. |
| D．The fungal networks will help trees grow more steadily if conditions become more stressful. |
8 . Lichens (地衣)
Lichens look like splashes of paint left behind by a careless painter. Unlike many plants, they do not require soil to grow. They grow on trunk of trees in steaming tropical rain forests, on farmers’ fenceposts, on the bricks of big-city buildings, and on old gravestones. Lichens can tolerate extremes of climate. They grow on rocks in hot springs, on wind-swept mountaintops, and on stones in the driest deserts. In the Arctic, lichens are the principal source of food for reindeer. Whole mountainsides in Antarctica appear green and orange because of the presence of lichens; they are one of the few plants that can survive there. They are among the oldest of known plants. Recently, scientists discovered lichen fossils on a rock in a mine in southwest China that date back 600 million years.
When conditions become harsh, lichens become dormant (休眠). If there is not enough moisture, they simply dry up, but a short rain or even a heavy dew gives them new life. When growing on rock surfaces, lichens produce acids that dissolve (溶解) the minerals, contributing to the process of weathering by which rocks are slowly turned to soil. This property enables lichens to be pioneers. They appear on barren rock rubbed clean by glaciers, fires, lava flows, or floods, beginning the process of soil formation that allows mosses (苔藓) and other plants to later take root. But, despite their hardiness, lichens are extremely sensitive to airborne particles(颗粒). That’s why they serve as an early warning system for air pollution.
It is the acids lichens produce that give them their distinctive colors. Lichens are often spoken of in the same breath as mosses, and some lichens are even called mosses, but true mosses are all distinctively green, whereas lichens appear in many vivid colors. At one time, acids from lichens were used to make dyes, such as the purple dye, the blue dye, and the red dye, and they are sometimes still used that way today. Some lichens, such as oakmoss, contain oils that produce fragrant odors used in scented soaps, cosmetics and perfumes. Some lichens are also known to have antibiotic properties to kill bacteria.
So definite are the form, color, and characteristics of these organisms that for hundreds of years lichens were constantly under scientists’ microscope.
1. What characteristic of lichens is mainly talked about in paragraph 1?| A．They grow only on rock surfaces. |
| B．They live primarily in cold places. |
| C．They have adapted to a wide variety of environments. |
| D．They live in remote locations far from human communities. |
| A．have their primitive structure |
| B．grow in areas before other plants do |
| C．are found in remote parts of the world |
| D．develop so early in the history of the planet |
| A．as a means of coloring clothing |
| B．as a type of medicine |
| C．as a source of food |
| D．as an ingredient in perfume |
| A．Lichens are important in Canada because of their abundance in the north. |
| B．Extracts of lichens were sold as herbal medicines to facilitate hair growth. |
| C．Glacier Park’s vast array of lichens indicate relatively good air quality. |
| D．A German botanist first found lichens are composed of two life forms. |
9 . Scientists say the plant enset, an Ethiopian staple (主食), could be a new superfood and a lifesaver in the face of climate change. “This is a crop that can play a really important role in addressing food security and sustainable development,” said a university professor in Awasa, Ethiopia.
Enset, or “false banana”, is a close relative of the banana but is consumed only in one part of Ethiopia. The banana-like fruit of the plant is inedible (无法食用的), but the stems and roots can be processed to make porridge and bread.
However, Ethiopia is isolated (隔离) by dry lowlands, which are unsuitable for enset to grow. And the procedures for enset raising and preparing require special knowledge. Therefore, despite its wild relatives distributing across Africa, enset is only used as a crop in Ethiopia and has never been widely adopted elsewhere.
Using agricultural surveys and modelling work, scientists found the crop could potentially feed more than 100 million people and boost food security in Ethiopia and other African countries.
Study researcher Dr James Borrell, of the Royal Botanic Gardens, said planting enset as an alternative crop for tough times could help support food security. “It’s got some really unusual characteristics that make it absolutely unique as a crop,” he said. Reaching ten meters tall, as few as 15 enset plants can feed a person for a year. Also, it has flexible harvest times, stores well, and is relatively drought and disease tolerant. All these features have earned it the name, “the tree against hunger”.
There is growing interest in seeking new plants to feed the world. Nearly half of all the calories we eat come from three species - rice, wheat, and corns. “We need to diversify the plants we use globally as a staple because all our eggs are in a very small basket at the moment,” said Dr Borrell.
1. What can we know about enset?| A．It is widely consumed in Ethiopia. | B．Its stems and roots can serve as a staple. |
| C．It is mainly grown in dry lowlands. | D．It distributes throughout the world. |
| A．Lack of related knowledge. | B．Poor quality of farmland. |
| C．Low productivity. | D．Strict storage condition. |
| A．Its advantages. | B．Its edibility. | C．Its variety. | D．Its distribution. |
| A．People are fed up with existing staples. | B．A world of biodiversity is needed. |
| C．Crop varieties should be increased. | D．Food security has been addressed. |
The plum tree (梅树) is native to China.
The plum tree can grow to 4-10 meters tall and its flowers in bright colors of red, pink and yellow have a refreshing smell. The plum flower has long been recommended as one of China’s
The Daoist philosopher Laozi is said to have been born beneath a plum tree,
