1 . High-resolution (高分辨率) satellite imagery has been used to map every single tree in Africa, showing a technique that could help improve the monitoring of deforestation (森林砍伐) across the world. Florian Reiner at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and his colleagues used images from sate lies to map canopy (树冠) across the entire African continent.
Modern sate lies usually catch tree canopies at a resolution of 30 meters — fine for measuring the size of forests, but less good at mapping individual trees. The satellite data Reiner and his colleagues used had a resolution of 3 meters, enabling the study to map all trees, including those not part of a forest.
The results suggest that 30 percent of all trees in Africa aren’t in a forest and instead are across farmland, savannah and urban areas. “Many countries in Africa lack thick forests, but have a lot of trees.” says Reiner. “These trees are extremely important to the local ecosystems, the people and the economy. By tracking every single tree, researchers can start to monitor how these trees are coping with climate change or whether they are sensitive to deforestation.” It could also improve the monitoring of reforestation efforts, which are growing in popularity as a way of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
“At a local level, being able to consistently monitor when and where trees are disappearing or reappearing can lead to more actionable insights,” says John Francis at the Alan Turing Institute in London.
“The study is a proof of concept rather than a map ready for immediate commercial use,” says Reiner. “It’s research work. It’s showing what could be done,” he says. But he is already working with colleagues to scale up the tracking approach to cover the entire global canopy: “We’re hoping that this will be seen as a way forward in monitoring tree resources.”
1. Why is high-resolution satellite imagery used to map every single tree?| A．To know the exact height of the tree. |
| B．To have a clear picture of the canopy. |
| C．To help monitor the deforestation. |
| D．To improve the satellite technology. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Disapproving. | C．Indifferent. | D．Favorable. |
| A．Protect the trees only in Africa. |
| B．Put the map into commercial use. |
| C．Track the entire global canopy. |
| D．Improve the imagery technology. |
| A．Ways to Measure the Size of Forests in Africa |
| B．Coping with Climate Change by Tracking Every Single Tree |
| C．A Map from the Satellite Ready for Immediate Commercial Use |
| D．High-resolution Satellite Imagery Used in Monitoring Deforestation |
1. What has happened in the park?
| A．Some flowers are dying because of the dry weather. |
| B．Lots of flowers are opening up. |
| C．Some flowers have been planted in the park. |
| A．It is the hottest place in the world. |
| B．It is the driest place in the world. |
| C．It is the smallest park in the world. |
| A．In 2005 and 1998. | B．In 2004 and 1998. | C．In 2000 and 2005. |
3 . With so many different kinds of plants out there, telling them apart can seem like an impossible task. But you don’t have to have a degree in botany to start putting names to the plants you come across. Learning to recognize various species begins with studying the plants’ unique physical features carefully and recording what you see.
Study the plant’s features carefully. Whenever you come across a species you’ve never seen before, stop and take note. Look over each of the individual parts, like the stems (茎，梗), leaves, and flowers.
Use viewing aids to take a closer look. A magnifying glass will allow you to zoom in and analyze a plant’s features in more vivid detail. Similarly, you may require a pair of binoculars or a telescopic lens when you want to inspect a particular specimen (样本) from a distance.
Write down the plant’s key features.
Ask an expert to take advantage of their firsthand experience. Show your notes and any photos you’ve taken to a botanist, gardening specialist, or respected outdoorsman and see if they can help you discover the identity of a certain plant.
| A．Observe the plant carefully at first. |
| B．Take your environment into consideration. |
| C．Record each characteristic in your own words. |
| D．Judge the age and shape of the plants you have found. |
| E．Without these tools, you’ll be stuck doing a lot of guesswork. |
| F．You’ll have an opportunity to absorb a little of what they know. |
| G．Most plants can be grouped and distinguished by these structures. |
China is known as the Kingdom of Bamboo because it is the country with the most bamboo in the world. More than 400 species of bamboo, one third of all known species in the world, grow in China. The areas
Bamboo was
In the Han Dynasty, bamboo
Tall and graceful with luxuriant foliage(枝叶),bamboo is an
5 . A handful of healthy soil could contain great numbers of living organisms. However, poisonous pesticides (杀虫剂) are causing harm and destruction to them, according to a recent analysis.
For the analysis, researchers looked through nearly 400 published studies including over 2,800 experiments on how pesticides affect soil organisms. They found that pesticides harmed organisms critical to maintaining healthy soils, but these harms have never been considered in the safety reviews of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).Poisonous pesticides are driving factors in the sharp decline of many soil organisms, such as ground beetles. They have been identified as the most significant driver of soil biodiversity loss in the last ten years.
However, that research has always been ignored. The EPA, which is responsible for pesticide supervision(监管)in the country, openly acknowledges that somewhere between 50 and 100 percent of all agriculturally applied pesticides end up on the soil. Yet, to assess pesticides’ harms to soil species, the agency just uses a single test species, the European honeybee, to estimate risk to all soil organisms. It spends its entire life above ground in artificial boxes.
Worse still, as soil health gain popularity globally, pesticide companies have jumped up to green wash and promote their products. Every major company is now advertising its role in improving soil health, such as advocating planting cover crops. As general beliefs, these practices are indeed good for soil health and, if adopted responsibly, are a great step to take. But companies know that these practices are often accompanied by increased pesticide use. Chemicals and pesticides have to be applied more frequently to kill weeds before crops are planted.
The long-term environmental cost can no longer be overlooked. Soils are some of the most complex ecosystems on Earth, containing nearly a quarter of the planet’s biodiversity. Protecting them should be a priority, not an afterthought.
1. What does the underlined word “They” refer to in Paragraph 2?| A．Soil organisms. | B．Ground beetles. |
| C．Artificial boxes. | D．Poisonous pesticides. |
| A．The honeybee is a typical species living in nature. |
| B．The assessment of pesticides’ harms is one-sided. |
| C．Less than half of applied pesticide go to the soil eventually. |
| D．The EPA attaches great importance to pesticide inspection. |
| A．To obey the EPA’s rules. |
| B．To increase their product sales. |
| C．To protect the environment. |
| D．To shoulder their social responsibility. |
| A．Soil: essential to agriculture. |
| B．Pesticides: harmful to soil health. |
| C．Organisms: significant to harvest. |
| D．Pollution: destructive to biodiversity. |
6 . Five Tasks for Your Winter Garden
As autumn has come, winter is on the way. When it finally arrives, it can be cold outside. However, even a blanket of snow doesn’t stop a keen gardener.
Build New Beds
If you live in a more temperate area, you can start making new beds for your vegetable garden now. Raised beds are easy and relatively inexpensive if you have plenty of homemade fertilizers.
Tend to Apples and Pears
Winter is fit to prune(修剪) apple and pear trees. You can remove the damaged and diseased branches when the trees were dormant(休眠).
Frost covering can be put over cold hard vegetables before the temperature drops too far to help keep those plants happy in winter. Frost covering can be helpful for Brussels Sprouts, kale, winter cabbage and leeks if you live in milder climates.
Take Hardwood Cuttings(插条)
| A．Cover Crops |
| B．If you don’t have anything to made fertilizers |
| C．Here are plenty of jobs you can do in the garden |
| D．Many bare root trees can also be planted in winter |
| E．Even if homemade fertilizers will be bad as it is too cold |
| F．Plenty of leaves help keep some hardy plants from freezing |
| G．Winter is a great time to multiply plants by hardwood cuttings |
7 . 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. |
8 . Art museums are filled with centuries-old paintings with details of plants that today give us clues about evolution and breeding practices.
Exhibited at an art museum in New York City, The Harvesters created by Pieter Bruegel in 1565 shows farmers cutting wheat nearly as tall as they are. “Nowadays, if you walk through a wheat field, you basically see that wheat is about knee-height. The short wheat is essentially a consequence of breeding from the second half of the 20th century. ” said biologist Ive De Smet.
According to De Smet, wheat is just one example of how historical artwork can allow us to track the transformation of food crops over time. He teamed up with art historian David Vergauwen to seek similar kinds of artwork around the world.
Friends since childhood, their interest in plants in artwork began with a visit to a museum in Russia, where they noticed an odd-looking watermelon in an early-17th-century painting. A watermelon usually is believed to be dark red on the inside. But that one appeared to be pale and white. De Smet assumed the painter had done a poor job. But Vergauwen had a different idea. He says, “This is one of the best painters ever from that era. So, if he painted it like that, that’s the way it must have looked like. ”
Other paintings revealed that there were both red and white watermelons grown during the 17th century. The color is determined by a gene that controls the lycopene（番茄红素）. “There must have been some sort of genetic change preventing the accumulation of that color. Now, with all the genetic knowledge that we have from various plant species, we can look in more details how something comes about. ”
The team hopes to create an online research database of historical plant artwork. They call for contributions of art enthusiasts around the world via the social media. But they caution, the source paintings need to be realistic. “If you’re going to use, for example, Picasso’s paintings to try and understand how a pear looked like in the early 20th century, you might be misled. ” Indeed, such an attempt could be fruitless.
1. What can we learn about wheat from Paragraph 2?| A．It had no short variety before the 1950s. |
| B．It became shorter and shorter as it evolved. |
| C．It grew shorter as farmers’ heights changed. |
| D．It was about knee-height in the 17th century. |
| A．Their life-long friendship. | B．A white watermelon painting. |
| C．Their professional background. | D．An argument over the best painters. |
| A．To show the contributions of art enthusiasts. |
| B．To give an example of historical plant artwork. |
| C．To tell how a pear looked in the early 20th century. |
| D．To stress the importance of having realistic source painting. |
| A．Centuries-old paintings of plants. | B．Plants information revealed in old art. |
| C．The values of different works of art. | D．Popular objects in historic artworks. |
9 . Contrary to the long-held belief that plants in the natural world are always in competition, new research has found that in severe environments adult plants help smaller ones and grow well as a result.
The research, led by Dr Rocio, studied adult and seedling (幼苗)plants in the ecological desert in the south-east of Spain. Dr Rocio said, “If you're a seedling in a poor land — the top of a mountain or a sand hill, for example-and you’re lucky enough to end up underneath a big plant, your chances of survival are certainly better than if you landed somewhere on your own. What we have found, which was surprising, is an established large plant, called a ‘nurse’, protects a seedling; it also produces more flowers than the same plants of similar large size growing on their own.”
Other benefits of nurse-seedling partnerships include that more variety of plants growing together can have a positive effect on the environment. For example, vegetation areas with nurse plants with more flowers might be able to attract higher numbers of pollinators(传粉者)in an area, in turn supporting insect and soil life and even provide a greater range of different fruit types for birds and other animals.
“The biggest winner for this system of nursing a plant is biodiversity(生物多样性),” Dr Rocio said. “The more biodiverse an area, the greater number of species of plants, insect life, mammals and birds, and the better the chances of long-term healthy functioning of the environment and ecosystems. ” This system is win-win for adult and seedling plants in unfavorable environments.
The research is of value to those who manage and protect plants in tough environments. Most home gardeners and farmers plan to ensure their soil and conditions are the best they can be for plant growth, but the findings might be of value to those who garden in bare places.
1. What is a common understanding of plants?| A．They can help each other. | B．They can survive ill conditions. |
| C．They compete with each other. | D．They grow well on their own. |
| A．They will produce more flowers. | B．They will die owing to competition. |
| C．They will make adult plants larger. | D．They will get support from adult plants. |
| A．It leads to unfavorable environments. |
| B．It produces long-term healthy chances. |
| C．It attracts higher and larger pollinators. |
| D．It provides a more variety of plant types. |
| A．People studying organic farming. |
| B．People protecting plants on sand hills. |
| C．People wanting to change biodiversity. |
| D．People keeping more animals on the farm. |
