Would it surprise you to learn that, like animals, trees communicate with each other and pass on their wealth to the next generation?

UBC Professor Simard explains how trees are much more complex than most of us ever imagined .Although Charles Darwin thought that trees are competing for survival of the fittest, Simard shows just how wrong he was. In fact, the opposite is true: trees survive through their co-operation and support, passing around necessary nutrition “depending on who needs it”.

Nitrogen(氮) and carbon are shared through miles of underground fungi(真菌) networks, making sure that all trees in the forest ecological system give and receive just the right amount to keep them all healthy. This hidden system works in a very similar way to the networks of neurons(神经元)in our brains, and when one tree is destroyed, it affects all.

Simard talks about “mother trees”, usually the largest and oldest plants on which all other trees depend .She explains how dying trees pass on the wealth to the next generation, transporting important minerals to young trees so they may continue to grow .When humans cut down “mother trees” with no awareness of these highly complex “tree societies” or the networks on which they feed, we are reducing the chances of survival for the entire forest.

“We didn't take any notice of it .” Simard says sadly .“Dying trees move nutrition into the young trees before dying, but we never give them chance.” If we could put across the message to the forestry industry, we could make a huge difference towards our environmental protection efforts for the future.

1.What would be the best title for the passage?

A. Old Trees Communicate Like Humans

B. Young Trees Are In Need Of Protection

C. Trees Contribute To Our Society

D. Trees Are More Complex Than You Think

2. In Simard's opinion, trees _______

A. compete for survival

B. protect their own wealth

C. depend on each other

D. provide support for dying trees

3.We can learn from the passage that .

A. “mother trees” are usually of no use to other trees.

B. Charles Darwin had the same thought as Simard.

C. if “mother trees” are cut down, the survival for the entire forest will be affected.

D. people know much about the complex “tree societies”.

4.The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to .

A. how “tree societies” work

B. how trees grow old

C. how forestry industry develops

D. how young trees survive

完形填空

A Different View

At age 14, 15 and 16, the way we looked was the most important thing in the world to us.My friends and I wanted nothing less than perfection.

In high school, we joined the gymnastics team, and our became even more important to us.We had no fat, only muscle.On the weekends, we would go to the beach, of our flat stomachs.

One summer day, all my friends were at my house .At one point, I was running back to the pool.I on a bee, and while it was dying under my foot, it stung (蛰) me.I instantly started to feel .That night, I began to run a high fever and my leg and foot were red, hot and swollen.I couldn’t walk.I could barely .

When my foot started to go numb, everyone became more .My foot was not getting enough blood. I had to go to the , and my leg hurt as if it were badly broken.I couldn’t move.All I could do was think about how soft my middle was becoming.That me more than any concern over my leg.

That would all when I heard the doctors mention possibly cutting off my foot.It was still not getting the supply it needed. The doctors would have to speed up their treatment.

Never before did I have such great for my foot.And walking seemed like a .from the gods.Less and less would I want to hear my friends talk about .and who was wearing what.More and more I expected visits from other kids in the hospital, who were quickly becoming my friends.

One girl came to visit me .Every time she came, she brought flowers.She was recovering from cancer and felt she should come back and the other patients.

She still had no hair, and she was swollen from medications she had been taking.I would not have given this girl a second before.I now loved every inch of her and looked forward to her .

Finally, I was improving and soon I went home.My leg was still swollen, I was walking, and I had my foot! When I would go back to the hospital, I often saw my friend. She was still visiting people and good cheer.I thought if even there was an angel on this earth, it had to be her.

1.A. grades B. brains C. bodies D. clothes

2.A. ashamed B. proud C. sure D. tired

3.A. dancing B. chatting C. jogging D. swimming

4.A. stepped B. focused C. held D. took

5.A. upset B. fearful C. sick D. anxious

6.A. jump B. run C. stand D. rest

7.A. concerned B. relieved C. surprised D. interested

8.A. beach B. hospital C. gym D. school

9.A. blamed B. impressed C. shocked D. troubled

10.A. change B. bother C. help D. happen

11.A. nutrition B. blood C. time D. air

12.A. observation B. devotion C. appreciation D. evaluation

13.A. gift B. hand C. promise D. treat

14.A. homework B. appointment C. movies D. gymnastics

15.A. suddenly B. regularly C. eventually D. recently

16.A. advise B. encourage C. serve D. instruct

17.A. choice B. thought C. glance D. chance

18.A. words B. ideas C. flowers D. visits

19.A. but B. then C. so D. for

20.A. enjoying B. gaining C. discovering D. spreading

根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项,有两项为多余选项。

●Does failure really exist?

If you believe you have failed, then you have. If you believe you don’t have the ability to succeed, then you don’t.__1.__ The moment you decide to give up or stop working toward your goals, failure is born.

● __2.__

Most people give themselves an out without even realizing it.They are willing to work hard on reaching their goals, but only until the going gets too rough or their energy dies down. Don’t do that!__3.__Never quit, never admit failure, and never lose heart.

●Don’t believe in a clear finish line for goals.

It’s a good idea to set a general timeline, but remember that something will be beyond your control.__4.___If you lock yourself into a given timeline, you might make yourself feel like a failure! Instead, get a general idea of when you’d like your goal to be completed. Then take it one day at a time and focus on making progress instead of reaching the finish line in as little time as possible.

●Be sure that you don’t see difficulties as failures.

Difficulties mean only one thing: it’s not time for your goal to be completed yet.That’s it! It doesn’t mean you failed; it doesn’t mean you’re weak; it doesn’t mean you’ll never achieve your goals.__5._ You’ve got to keep moving forward and find a way over, around, or through the difficulties.

A. Never give up on yourself.

B. Failure only exists in your own mind!

C. That’s exactly how failure makes us feel.

D. It simply means you have not done enough yet.

E. You can never say exactly when your goal will be reached.

F. Instead, make up your mind to make your goal happen, no matter what!

G. Work hard towards your goal, and you will be likely to get good results.

For thousands of years,we have looked for ways to measure time. Early humans found that the regular movements of the sun,the earth,the moon,and the stars made good ways to measure time. The rising and setting of the sun were used to distinguish day from night.

But,eventually,people needed to tell time more accurately,or exactly. So,by using the sun’s position in the sky,they divided the day into dawn,morning,midday and evening.

Then it was noted that the sun cast a changing shadow as it moved across the sky. Time could be told more accurately by setting up a stick and marking the positions of the sun’s shadow. It was the ancient Greeks who divided each position of this “sundial(日晷)” into hours.

But the sun doesn’t always shine. So,for the past 6,000 years,many other ways of keeping time have been tried. Slow?burning candles were divided into hours,and the hourglass was invented. When all the sand in the top of an hourglass has shifted to the bottom,an hour has passed.

Later,the pendulum(摆钟),with its regular back?and?forth movement of weights,was used to move the hands on a clock. Pendulums are still used in grandfather clocks.

Today,even more accurate clocks are in use,such as battery?operated quartz clocks(石英钟),digital clocks,and clocks run by electrical tuning forks and tiny atoms. These atomic clocks are the most accurate clocks ever invented. The exact time can be kept to within 1 second a century.

1.Humans in the old days used ________ to tell day from night.

A.the rising and setting of the sun

B.battery?operated quartz clocks

C.atomic clocks

D.digital clocks

2.A sundial works by ________.

A.tracking the movement of the stars around the sun

B.marking a shadow cast by the moving sun

C.burning candles in the sunlight

D.watching the stars

3.Which of the following was NOT used in the past to measure time?

A.An hourglass. B.A sundial.

C.Digital clocks. D.A pendulum.

4.Which of the following ways of measuring time is ordered from the least accurate to the most accurate?

A.Sundial,pendulum,sun.

B.Atomic clock,quartz clock,sundial.

C.Sun,pendulum,atomic clock.

D.Digital clock,hourglass,slow?burning candles.

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