1 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Why is the baobab’s trunk really fat?

A．It is shaped by people.

B．It stores a large quantity of water.

C．It must be strong enough to support the tree.

2. What is the full height of a baobab?

A．About 12 metres.

B．About 15 metres.

C．About 30 metres.

3. What are baobabs often used as nowadays?

A．Shops.

B．Wildlife habitats.

C．Bus shelters.

2 . It turns out that plants are getting help from their friends underground—quite a bit more than scientists had realized. A global team of researchers has calculated that around 36% of the carbon released into the atmosphere each year from the burning of fossil fuels is captured and delivered to a complicated system of fungi that lives beneath our feet.

Plants take carbon dioxide from the air and use it to make sugars and fats. These are sent down to their roots, where they are taken up by so-called mycorrhizal (菌根) fungi. In exchange, the fungi provide the plants with water and essential nutrients from the soil. The more carbon these fungi are able to draw in， the more carbon dioxide gets captured by plants.

Mycorrhizal fungi helped plants get established on land several hundred millions of years ago, and today’s plants would have a hard time functioning without their partners under the ground. Yet “mycorrhizal fungi have been largely overlooked,” said To by Kiers, executive director of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks. “They represent an incredibly important part of the carbon cycle, and we are only just beginning to understand how they work,” she said. “The urgency to understand that and link it to biodiversity belowground is the most important.”

The researchers also said that plants associated with mycorrhizal fungi can take in eight times more carbon than plants that are not. Stephanie Kivlin, an ecologist at University of Tennessee, said the study is a crucial step toward improving our understanding of the plant-fungi duo’s role in reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. “These mutualisms (互利共栖) can act as a critical carbon sink in many ecosystems on the land,” she said.

Not only do the fungi take in carbon from plants, they also help keep that carbon safely belowground by creating a sticky compound that holds the soil together. Although mycorrhizal fungi have short life spans-only a few years—their usefulness doesn’t end after death. “This is my favorite part,” Kiers said. “After they die, they make a dead underground network that acts as a scaffolding to hold the soil together, locking the carbon in place. ”

1. What do the researchers find?

A．Fungi absorb carbon from plants.	B．Carbon is essential to plants.
C．Carbon is released into the air.	D．Plants exchange food with fungi.

2. What can we learn from paragraph 3 and 4?

A．Carbon sink reduces carbon dioxide.	B．Carbon cycle is linked to biodiversity.
C．Plants nowadays take in carbon as usual.	D．Plant-fungi system functions efficiently.

3. What do we know about the dead fungi?

A．They become sticky scaffolding.	B．They help prevent carbon release.
C．They provide vital nutrients.	D．They change into fossil fuels.

4. Which can be a suitable title for the text?

A．A complicated problem.	B．An overlooked plant.
C．An underground green guard.	D．A useful ecosystem.

3 . 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。

In Rawalpindi, Pakistan, the China Flower House offers a wide range of lifelike artificial flowers and plants     1    (import) from China, enticing everyone entering the shop with their appealing colors, designs and diversity.

“Pakistani people love to decorate their houses, offices, gardens, wedding parties and other events     2     these beautiful Chinese flowers and plants made from polyester.     3    (literal), no one can tell whether these are real or fake from their shape and texture,” said Muhammad Abbas.

“Besides     4    (they) attractive appearance, these products, made from high-quality material,     5     (be) easy to maintain without any trouble and cost-effective. There is no fading of colors, and they look fresh and pretty all the time. These are basic     6    (feature) that home and event decorators are in love with,” he said.

Abbas said, “I     7    (involve) in the business for the last 20 years, and never witnessed a decrease in demand and sales of Chinese flowers and plants,     8    (add) that Chinese manufacturers’ abilities in upgrading the quality and designs to meet the demand of local customers are exceptional.”

Naseem Zadi said, “I have come to buy flowers for my newly-built house,     9     I wishes to decorate. Many people do not have enough time on their busy schedules to take care of real flowers or plants and the artificial ones look lovely     10     attractive.”

4 . How to Save Money Watering Your Garden

Jessica Damiano writes about gardening. In her latest story, she talks about cost-saving ways to keep your garden watered during the hot months of summer. Let’s look at some of Damiano’s recommendations.

Know when and how to water

    1    . This lets the water go deeply into the soil before the weather gets too hot. If you water later in the day, the water will just evaporate(蒸发)from the surface. If you water in the evening, the plants stay too wet overnight.

How you water is just as important as when you water. If you water quickly every day, it does not help the roots, which can extend over 30 centimeters into the soil.     2    .

Catch and reuse water

You can recycle water from boiling vegetables or eggs. Just make sure the water does not have salt in it.     3    . Redirect a pipe that collects rainwater to fill a large container, then use the container to refill watering cans or connect a hose(软管)to a hole at the bottom of the container.

    4    

Most gardeners just think about which plants look good and the plants’ sunlight needs. But watering needs should be considered, too. Drought-resistant plants should not be overwatered. It is best to use plants that are native to the area where you live. These plants tend to be resistant to drought. They just need regular watering in their first two years.     5    .

A．Choose native plants

B．Instead, water the soil less often, but deeply

C．The best time to water plants is in the morning

D．It is also good practice to catch and use rainwater

E．This helps make the cities greener and improve air quality

F．Give some thought to how many plants there are in your garden

G．After that, they can live on just rainwater except during heat waves