Besides containing attractive flowers, trees ...

Besides containing attractive flowers, trees and other plants that beautify the community, eco-friendly rain gardens are healthy for the environment and the people living and working nearby.

A rain garden is not very different from a traditional garden. It is just a far more eco-friendly garden. Usually it is built lower than the ground. Rain gardens make smart use of rain and storm water by temporarily holding water from rain and storms and letting it soak slowly into the ground before it runs into streams or enters the public drinking water supply.

Thus, a rain garden keeps the water, allowing it to be used as needed by plants in the rain garden, rather than flowing immediately into nearby streams and going unused. The water will soak slowly into the ground within a day or two. This creates an advantage that the rain garden does not allow mosquitoes to breed. This is a simple, attractive, and eco-friendly “green” way to treat storm water.

What’s more, planting a rain garden helps reduce pollution and improve the environment. Without using expensive machinery and chemicals, rain gardens remove harmful chemicals in the rainwater and cut down on the amount of pollution reaching streams and rivers by up to 30%.

Native plants are recommended for rain gardens because they are more used to the local climate, soil, and water conditions. They may attract local wildlife such as native birds. Water your rain garden immediately after planting and once a week, unless you have had at least an inch of rain during the week. Once the native plants establish the necessary root system, it will require little care.

Often, local governments and private businesses develop large rain gardens in their yards and in public parks as a way to improve the environment and solve flooding problems. However, you don’t need to be a professional environmental engineer to create a rain garden. As long as you’re eco-conscious homeowners, you can help the environment by building smaller rain gardens in your yards.

1.Which of the following is the eco-friendly function of rain gardens discussed in Paragraph 4?

A. They can keep the rain and storm water.

B. They can help reduce the pollution problem.

C. They can be healthy for the people around.

D. They can make the environment more beautiful.

2.One of the main reasons why native plants are recommended is that ______.

A. they cost less and are much easier to get

B. they may attract local wildlife to come

C. they require little care from the local gardeners

D. they are more used to the local growing conditions.

3.We can infer from the passage that after native plants are planted, rain gardens ______.

A. need little water

B. need little care

C. need to be watered every day

D. needn’t be watered if there is at least an inch of rainwater per week

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

阅读下面材料,在空白处填入一个单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Trees, plants and flowers are all around us and we enjoy their beauty every day. However, we are so used to them 1. we may even take them for granted without　 2.(realize) how much inspiration they have given us. In fact, nature has inspired many of the most　 3.(fascinate) designs around us, including those in architecture. Nature 4. (present) in various architectural designs.

Today, architects continue to explore ways 5. (capture) the beauty of natural forms, to mimic the way nature works or even to make natural organisms part of a building. ArtScience Museum, Singapore was designed to show the 6. (connect) between nature and the modern city environment in which it sits. Visitors are often amazed to find themselves in an urban building that so 7.(true) captures the beauty of natural forms. Harare's Eastgate Centre is 8. superb example of biomimicry（仿生学）. To use biomimicry is to create structures 9.(base) on natural forms and processes. Creating buildings such as these enables us to live 10. closer harmony with our environment.

高二英语语法填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Dodder is an unusual and unwanted plant that attacks other plants. Except for its flowers, the plant looks like spaghetti, a kind of noodles in the shape of long thin pieces that look like string when they are cooked. Its almost leafless, thread-like stems（茎）hang down on top of other plants that dodder needs to stay alive. Dodder does not produce its own food. Instead, it steals food from other plants. It feeds by sucking juices from the plant which is wrapped around, often making its host very weak or even killing it.

Dodder can find other plants by their smell. When a young dodder plant starts growing, it follows the smell of plants it prefers, like tomato plants, potato plants, or other farm crops. Unlike most plants that usually grow in the direction of light or warmth, a dodder plant will grow in the direction of, for example, tomato smell-if a tomato happens to be growing nearby.

However, a young dodder plant must find a host plant quickly. It no longer needs its root once it is attached to the host and wrapped around it. If it cannot catch a smell of a potential host within a few days, it will dry up and disappear-even if there is plenty of water around. Once it finds a host, the young dodder plant will attach itself to it and start growing faster. At that point the dodder plant will drop its root.

Dodder is thus a difficult weed to manage and a real headache for farmers. When it does get out of hand, dodder can greatly reduce a farmer’s harvest or even destroy crops completely. Before sowing their produce, especially farmers in warm parts of the world often check to make sure no unwanted dodder seeds have mixed with their crop seeds. This is a good way to stop dodder plants from making their way to a crop field secretly.

1.Why does the author mention spaghetti in the first paragraph?

A. To analyze the content of some food.

B. To describe tie shape of dodder plants.

C. To explain where the dodder plants come from.

D. To argue that dodder plants can be used.

2.What will happen if a dodder plant starts growing where there are no other plants around?

A. It will die sooner or later.

B. It will grow deep roots.

C. It will attract other plants.

D. It will cover the entire area of soil.

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A. Dodder does not produce its own food.

B. Dodder can affect farmers’ income.

C. Dodder can only survive in the shade.

D. Dodder only grows in the warm areas.

4.What is the main topic of the passage?

A. A new variety of farm crops.

B. Plants that are harmful to humans.

C. The special abilities of a dangerous plant.

D. Recent improvements in farming methods.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Windbreaks are barriers（屏障）formed by trees and other plants．Farmers plant these barriers around their fields，which help prevent the loss of soil，and stop the wind from blowing soil away．They also keep the wind from damaging or destroying crops．Besides，extra trees and plants can be cut down and used or sold for wood．

Windbreaks can be highly valuable for protecting grain crops．For example，in parts of West Africa grain harvests were as much as twenty percent higher in fields protected by windbreaks compared with fields without them．

But here is something interesting about windbreaks．They seem to work best when they allow some wind to pass through the barrier of trees or plants around a field．If not，then the movement of air close to the ground will lift the soil．Then the soil will be blown away．For this reason，a windbreak works best if it contains only 60 to 80 percent of the trees and plants that would be needed to make a solid line．An easy rule to remember is that windbreaks can protect areas up to 10 times the height of the tallest trees in the windbreak．

There should be at least two lines in each windbreak．One line should be large trees．The second line，right next to it，can be shorter trees or other plants with leaves．Locally grown trees and plants are considered the best choices for windbreaks．Trees reduce the damaging effects of wind and rain．Their roots help protect soil from being washed away．And trees can provide animals outdoors with shade from the sun．

1.The advantages of building a windbreak are as follows except _____.

A. providing humans with shade from the sun

B. increasing the production of grain harvests

C. keeping the wind from destroying grain crops

D. reducing the damaging effects of wind and rain

2.The author thinks windbreaks are interesting because ______.

A. windbreaks can stop the wind getting through

B. the movement of air lifts the soil

C. large trees are lined with short ones

D. windbreaks allow some wind to pass through

3.If the trees grow to a height of 30 feet, the areas the windbreak can protect are ______.

A. 150 square feet　　　 　 B.　 100 square feet

C. 300 square feet　　　　　 D. 240 square feet

4.What can be inferred from the text?

A. The environment is going from bad to worse.

B. Windbreaks can contribute to agriculture harvests. .

C. Trees and plants from abroad are the best for windbreaks.

D. Extra trees and plants can be cut down for wood

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The flowers ________ sweet in the garden look ________ and attract the visitors to the beauty of nature.

A. to smell; beautifully　　　 　　 B. smell; lovely

C. are smelt; beautiful　　　　　　 D. smelling; lovely

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

We have known for a long time that flowers of different plants open and close at different times of day. This is so 1  that there seems to be no need to ask the reason for it. Yet no one 2  understands why flowers open and close like this at particular times. The process is not as 3  as we might think, as recent experiments have shown. In one study, flowers were kept in constant 4 . We might expect that the flowers, without any information about the time of day, did not open as they 5  do. As a matter of fact, they 6  to open at their usual time. This suggests that they have some mysterious(神秘的) way of knowing the 7 . Their sense of time does not 8  information from the outside world; it is, so to speak, inside them, a kind of “inner clock”.

This 9  may not seem to be very important. However, it was later found that not just plants but also 10 , including man, have this “inner clock” which 11  the working of their bodies and influences their activities. Men, then, are also influenced by this mysterious 12 . Whether we wish it or not, it affects such things in our life as our need for sleep, our need for food.

In the past, this did not really 13  because people lived in natural condition. In the 14  world, things are different; now there are spacemen, airplane pilots and, in ordinary life, a lot of people who have to work at night. It would be very 15 , then, to know more about the “inner clock”. Such things as flowers might help us understand more about ourselves.

1.A. familiar       B. strange      C. similar          D. special

2.A. partly     B. personally       C. really           D. willingly

3.A. complex        B. simple           C. mature           D. meaningful

4.A. quietness      B. darkness     C. loneliness       D. sadness

5.A. finally        B. completely       C. physically       D. normally

6. A. refused       B. decided      C. continued        D. failed

7.A. time           B. secret           C. process      D. study

8.A. deal with      B. add to           C. give away        D. depend on

9.A. discovery  B. activity     C. invention        D. method

10.A. beasts        B. animals      C. strangers        D. humans

11.A. controls      B. studies          C. measures     D. destroys

12. A. world        B. flower           C. power            D. experiment

13.A. happen        B. exist            C. matter           D. work

14.A. ancient       B. modern       C. wonderful        D. peaceful

15.A. hard      B. expensive        C. convenient       D. important

高二英语完型填空简单题查看答案及解析

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式。

Over time, many flowering plants and 　 1.　　 (they) animal pollinators(传粉昆虫) have evolved together. The plant needs the animal to pollinate it and the animal 　　 2.　　 (reward) with food called nectar when it visits the flowers. Pollen becomes 　　 3.　　 (attach) to the animal during its visit to a flower 　　 4.　　 is then passed on to another plant’s blossom on its next visit. So pollination takes place, therefore 5.　 (increase) the chances of the survival of the plant species.

The type of pollinator 　　 6.　　 (depend) on the characteristics of the flower such 　　 7.　　 its colour, shape, size and smell. For example, yellow flowers attract bees, while red flowers attract 　　 8.　　 (butterfly). The nectar in some flowers can only be reached by a bird 　　 9.　 a long bill or a long-tongued moth or butterfly. Flowers that attract bees often have a special way 　　 10.　　 (guide) the bees to the nectar inside.

高二英语语法填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式。

Over time, many flowering plants and 1. (they) animal pollinators(传粉昆虫) have evolved together. The plant needs the animal to pollinate it and the animal 2. (reward) with food called nectar when it visits the flowers. Pollen becomes 3. (attach) to the animal during its visit to a flower 4. is then passed on to another plant’s blossom on its next visit. So pollination takes place, therefore 5. (increase) the chances of the survival of the plant species.

The type of pollinator 6. depend) on the characteristics of the flower such 7. its colour, shape, size and smell. For example, yellow flowers attract bees, while red flowers attract 8. (butterfly). The nectar in some flowers can only be reached by a bird 9.a long bill or a long-tongued moth or butterfly. Flowers that attract bees often have a special way 10. (guide) the bees to the nectar inside.

高二英语语法填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Bean and other seed shoots are also known as sprouts (新芽). The dry bean seeds contain a store of nutrients just waiting to be released when they sprout. Under the right conditions they will germinate (发芽)。 As they grow, the food value of the seeds is multiplied into vitamins, minerals (矿物质) and other nutrients. This happens almost overnight!

It is easy to grow your own sprouts, but you need to buy your seeds from supermarkets or health food stores. Seeds for planting in the garden are often powdered with chemicals, so when becoming sprouts they are not safe to eat.

Try growing sprouts from a variety of beans and seeds. You will find different sprouts at different stages. Bean sprouts are best when they are about three centimeters long. Wheat and sunflower sprouts taste best when the sprouts and the seeds are of the same length. If the sunflower sprout is too long it leaves a funny stinging feeling in the throat after eating. Alfalfa sprouts are best when their small leaves are well developed. Pea and soybean sprouts are good long or short.

If you leave your sprouts in filtered sunlight for a few hours, the leaves will turn green as chlorophyll (叶绿素) is added. Eating sprouts with green leaves benefits your blood, cells, and the digestive system.

1.Which of the following sprouts taste good whether they are long or short?

2.As sprouts grow, the food value of the seeds will_____.

3.From the passage we know that______.

4.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

I asked the gardener to _________all those bushes and plant flowers instead.

高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析