Succulents(多肉植物) are booming in popularity for two simple reasons: they are beautiful and easy to grow. You can plant succulents in containers or in the garden, but either way, take care to make sure your plants are healthy. Here are some general rules.
Get the pots ready. Succulents need pots that will house the plant comfortably. The actual pot size will depend on the size of the plant. You need to repot(移盆) them later. If you keep it in a smaller pot, it will generally stick to that size. You’d best choose clay (陶土) pots. There should be 3 or more holes at the bottom of the pot.
Prepare your soil. Don’t use regular potting soil because it will hold onto too much water that may cause your succulents to rot. A well-drained soil is a must. Succulents tolerate dry conditions and poorer soils.
Give them some light. Succulents prefer bright light; therefore, place the pots in an area where there is plenty of sunlight, direct or indirect. Succulents need at least four hours of direct light each day. Don’t expose your succulents to hot summer sun for too long.
Water your plant. One of the common mistakes made with succulents is overwatering. If you overwater your succulents, they aren’t going to survive. It’s the same with simply spraying them lightly. The best way to water succulents is the “soak and dry” method. Basically, you need to give your succulents enough water so that the soil gets completely wet. Then, let it dry out completely before you water again. Once every couple of weeks is generally enough during the warmer months. Over winter they don’t really need water at all.
Feed your succulents during the plants’ active growing season. Some grow actively in summer while others are winter plants. Stop fertilizing(施肥) when plant growth naturally slows.
How to grow 1. Succulents | |
Rules for growing succulents | Specific instructions |
Get the pots ready. | Choose a pot according to the size of your succulent. Choose a big pot and your succulent will get much 2.. Clay pots with holes are the best 3.. |
Prepare the soil. | When planting them, make sure the soil is well drained. Succulents will rot in 4.soils. |
Give them some light. | Succulents need at least four hours of direct light 5.. 6. them from hot sun during the summer. |
Water succulents 7.. | Overwatering and spraying will kill succulents. The “soak and dry” method 8. best for succulents. Don’t water succulents again until the soil has 9. out. |
Fertilize. | Succulents need 10. during the growing season. Stop fertilizing when plant growth naturally slows. |
You can find elephants both in ________ and Asia, but they are kind of different. (非洲)
The bookstore where I ________ this book is not far from here. (买)
Awareness of public health risks should be raised ________ all citizens. (在……中)
No matter how old the ________ are and how serious their conditions have become, we never give up saving lives. (病人)
Tons of people enjoy listening to different types of music while they paint, write, or draw. Many believe that music helps get the creative juices flowing, but an international new study is challenging that view by putting volunteers through a series of tests.
The study was performed as a joint partnership between psychologists at three universities in Europe. The results suggest that any task that relies on verbal(与文字有关的) creativity was impaired(削弱) when listening to any type of music.
Subjects(受试者) in the project all spoke English as their first language, and had no problem in their sight or hearing.
The tasks were simple word games. For example, subjects were given three words, such as dress, shine, and flower. Then, they were asked to find a single word which could be connected with all three to form a common phrase or word. The single word, in this case, would be “sun” (sundress, sunflower, etc).
Subjects completed the tasks in either a quiet room, or while they were played background music with foreign lyrics(歌词), English lyrics, and instrumental music with no lyrics at all.
The research team also tested the library background noises, but found that such noises had no great difference in subjects’ creativity. The study’s authors believe that was the case because library noise is a “steady state” environment which is not as disruptive(扰乱的). Music with or without lyrics is characterized by changes in pitch or tone.
It’s worth mentioning that even familiar music with well known lyrics impaired subjects’ creativity, even when subjects declared that they worked or studied with music on regularly and the music improved their overall mood.
So next time you sit down for a study session with those lo-fi beats, you may be giving your brain something else to focus on rather than your work.
1.What does “that view” in Paragraph 1 refer to?
A.Listening to music while working is so common.
B.People enjoy listening to different types of music.
C.Listening to music impairs creativity.
D.Music helps improve our creativity.
2.According to the word game in Paragraph 4, if volunteers are given three words “foot, base, basket”, what is the single word?
A.Case. B.Line. C.Print. D.Ball.
3.Which of the following had no great difference in performance of the verbal tasks?
A.Familiar music with well known lyrics.
B.The quiet and library noise conditions.
C.Background music with foreign lyrics.
D.Instrumental music with no lyrics.
4.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
A.Music cannot disrupt the verbal working memory of the disabled.
B.Different kinds of music impair different parts of our brains.
C.You may do your best work without listening to music.
D.Library noises are characterized by changes in pitch or tone.
