第三部分 閱讀理解 （共20小題；每小題2分，滿分 40分）

閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個選項（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。

A

Once upon a time, there was a lovely vegetable field, on which grew a very thick tree. Both the vegetables and the tree gave the place a wonderful appearance, which was the joy of the garden’s owner. What no one knew was that the vegetables in the field and the tree couldn’t stand each other. The vegetables hated the tree’s shadow, because it left them only just enough light to survive. The tree, on the other hand, hated the vegetables because they drank nearly all the water before it could get to him, leaving him with just enough to survive.

The situation became so extreme that the vegetables got totally fed up and decided to use up all the water in the ground so that the tree would dry up. The tree answered back by refusing to give the vegetables shadow from the hot midday sun, so they both began to dry up. Before long, the vegetables were really thin and the tree’s branches were drying up.

Neither of them thought that the gardener, on seeing his vegetable field becoming worse, would stop watering it. When he did that, both the tree and the vegetables really learned what thirst was. There seemed to be no solution, but one of the vegetables, a small courgette（小胡瓜）, understood what was going on, and decided to deal with it. Despite the little water and the unbearable heat, the little courgette did all he could to grow, grow...He managed to grow so big that the gardener started watering the field again. The gardener wanted to enter that beautiful big courgette in some gardening contest.

And so the vegetables and the tree realized that it was better to help each other than to fight. They should really learn how to live in harmony with those around them, doing the best they could. So they decided to work together, using both the shadow and the water in the best combination to grow good vegetables. Seeing how well they were doing, the gardener now gave the best of care to his vegetable field, watering it better than any other field for miles around.

56. What is the problem between the tree and the vegetables?

   A. They looked down upon each other.   B. They didn’t leave water to each other.

   C. They couldn’t stand each other.       D. They didn’t know how to protect themselves.

57. What is the result of the fight between the tree and the vegetables?

   A. They grew taller and stronger. B. They were both drying up.

   C. The tree defeated the vegetables.  D. The vegetables defeated the tree.

58. The courgette thought of ways to solve the conflict by          .

   A. making peace with the tree        B. working together with other vegetables 

   C. entering the gardening contests     D. growing big enough

59. What can we learn from this passage?

  A. We ought to live in harmony with others.   B. We ought to save as much water as possible. 

   C. We ought to learn from each other in some ways. 

   D. We ought to learn to respect each other.

B

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（神經(jīng)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.

60.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

61.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

62.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”.

63.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
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