A lot of families in Britain grow vegetables. A few people grow unusual or strange vegetables. But a great many people grow tomatoes. My neighbor grows the biggest, sweetest, happiest tomatoes in the world. “How do you do it?” I ask. “Why can’t I grow tomatoes like yours?”

“I talk to them,” my neighbor says. “I’ve been talking to my tomatoes for years.” Up to now, I have always laughed at this.

This summer, some scientists carried out an interesting experiment(实验), and I have just read their report.

Three sets of tomato plants were grown. Nobody talked to the first set, but every day for a month, a recording of a man’s voice was played to the second set, and a recording of a woman’s voice was played to the third set. At the end of the month, the second set of plants had grown four centimeters taller than the first, and the third set of plants had grown five centimeters taller than the second. The plants liked the woman’s voice best.

“We can’t explain it,” a scientist said. “But sound waves surely help the tomatoes to grow. Plant growers have always paid attention to light and water. Now_we_advise_you_to_think_of_sound_waves_in_the_same_way.

1.The writer’s neighbor grows better tomatoes because he ________.

A. stays with them

B. laughs at them

C. talks to them

D. thinks of them

2.Through the experiment, the scientists proved that ________ helps tomatoes to grow best.

A. a man’s voice

B. a woman’s voice

C. the sound of nature

D. the sound of animals

3.By the underlined sentence the scientist means ________.

A. plants don’t grow without sound waves

B. scientists have found the secret of sound waves

C. sound waves are more important than light and water

D. plant growers should also pay attention to(注意;关注) sound waves

The Silk Road is the name of different roads that long ago connected Europe, Africa and Asia. People reached these different places along these roads. Scientists believe people began to travel the Silk Road about 3000 years ago. By the time the Chinese silk trade became important in the world, the Silk Road covered almost 6500 kilometers. It spread from Rome to China, which is from the West to the Far East.

Traders travelling along the Silk Road carried silk, of course. They also carried and traded spices(香料),cloth, valuable stones and gold.

There is a famous old story along the old road. It is said that Roman soldiers(士兵)travelled through central Asia. They started to live somewhere near the ancient Chinese village of Liqian. Some of these Romans married local Chinese women and the story of blue-eyed villages of China was started.

During its busiest period, the Silk Road allowed people from many different cultures and countries to meet each other and mix. The Silk Road allowed the sharing of valuable goods and new ideas. These included people and trading goods from the Mediterranean, Persian, Magyar, Armenian, Bactrian, Indian and Chinese areas. All these peoples travelled the Silk Road, and they shared goods, stories, languages, and cultures.

In modern times, the old Silk Road routes(路线)are still used, but now they are crossed by trains instead of camels and horses. There is even a Silk Route Museum in Jiuquan in China. It has over 35,000 objects from all along the Silk Road. In this way, China protects the history of many countries and peoples.

1.How many kilometers did the Silk Road cover?

A. About 3000. B. Nearly 6500. C. Almost 2000 D. Over 35,000

2.Traders carried all kinds of goods along the Silk Road. Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage?

A. Silk B. Cloth. C. Gold. D. Tea.

3.Who married ancient Chinese women in the story of blue-eyed villages of China?

A. Asian soldiers. B. African soldiers. C. European soldiers. D. American soldiers.

4.What can we infer(推断)from the passage?

A. Valuable things could not be sold along the Silk Road.

B. The Silk Road allowed people from different countries to mix.

C. Ancient Chinese along the Slik Road may be able to speak different languages.

D. The objects in the museum in Jiuquan in China are from all along the Silk Road.

5.Which part of a magazine can this passage come from?

A. History and Geography. B. Sports World. C. Man and Animals. D. Popular Science.

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