Britain’s seed bank, the only one in the world aiming to collect all of the planet’s wild plant species, has reached its goal of banking 10 percent by 2010.
The Millennium Seed Bank Project, run by Kew Gardens—one of the oldest botanical gardens—will officially deposit the 24,200th species on Thursday, a pink, wild banana from China.
More than 50 countries are now on board with Kew's giant task but vast places of the globe, including India and Brazil, still need to join in and donate seeds, director Paul Smith said.
The seed bank is one of the largest and most diverse in the world with more than 1.5 billion seeds. Its goal is to help protect the planet’s bio-diversity during a time of climate change.
The wild banana seed is under threat of extinction(灭绝) in southwest China from agricultural development. It is a vital food source for Asian elephants and important for growing bananas for human consumption.
Stored at minus-20 degrees centigrade, so they can last for thousands of years, the seeds await the day that scientists hope never comes—when the species no longer exist in the wild.
It is a race against time, Smith said, because in the last decade alone, 20 plants held in the bank have already been wiped out in the wild. He estimates that between a third and a quarter will become extinct this century.
"It is urgent and it is happening now. An area, the size of England, is cleared of primary vegetation（植被）every year." Smith said.
Because most of the world's food and medicines come from nature, protecting wild plant species is quite important, scientists say. There are already many other seed banks safeguarding food crops, which only account for 0.6 percent of plant diversity.
For Kew's next goal—to collect a quarter of wild varieties by 2020—the botanists need 10 million pounds a year, or a further 100 million pounds on top of the 40 million they have already been granted.
1.What’s the final purpose of the Britain’s seed bank?
A. To collect enough money for the project. B. To safeguard food crops.
C. To protect wild plants from extinction. D. To help scientists study wild plants.
2.The wild banana seed in China is in danger because of _______.
A. the expanding of farming work B. the climate change in this area
C. the large number of Asian elephants D. human’s large consumption
3. We can learn from the passage that _______.
A. the seeds in the bank can be used now and then all over the world
B. India and Brazil haven’t joined in the Seed Bank Project at present
C. there is only one seed bank in the world at present
D. the wild plants in places like India and China will never die out
4. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 7 refer to?
A. The extinction of plant species. B. The Millennium Seed Bank Project.
C. Britain’s seed bank. D. Kew Gardens’ next goal.
5.Which of the following information isn’t mentioned in the passage?
A. The global partnership of collecting wild plant species.
B. The temperature condition of the conservative wild plant species.
C. The government’s financial support for the seed bank project.
D. Scientists’ concern on the extinct wild plant species.
完型填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A recent study shows that gossip（流言蜚语）is more powerful than truth. It suggests people believe what they hear through the grapevine(小道消息) 36 they have evidence to the contrary.
Researchers, 37 students using a computer game, also found gossip played an important role when people 38 decisions. “We show that gossip has a strong 39 , even when people have 40 to the original information as well as gossip about the same information. Thus, it is 41 that gossip has a strong controlling potential,” said Ralf Sommerfeld, who led the study.
In the study, the researchers 42 the students money and allowed them to give it to others in a series of rounds. The students also wrote 43 about how others played the game that everyone could review. Students tended to give 44 money to people described as “scrooges (吝啬鬼)” and more to those described as “ 45 players”. “People only believed the gossip, not the past decisions,” Sommerfeld said in a telephone interview.
The researchers then took the game a step 46 and showed the students the actual decisions people had made. But they also supplied false gossip that contradicted that 47 . In these cases, the students 48 their decisions to award money on the gossip, 49 the hard evidence.
“If you know what the people did, you should care, but they still 50 what others said,” Sommerfeld said. Researchers have 51 used similar games to study how people cooperate and the 52 of gossip in groups. Scientists define gossip 53 social information spread about a person who is not 54 . In evolutionary terms, gossip can be an important tool for people to 55 information about others' reputations or find the way through social networks at work and in their everyday lives.
1.A. in case B. for fear that C. as if D. even if
2. A. testing B. checking C. examining D. experimenting
3. A. drew B. made C. reached D. concluded
4. A. impression B. difference C. influence D. function
5.. A. access B. entrance C. charge D. communication
6. A. curious B. serious C. obvious D. worth
7. A. impressed B. asked C. showed D. gave
8. A. articles B. notes C. dairies D. letters
9. A. less B. more C. fewer D. much
10.A. general B. mean C. generous D. outgoing
11. A. away B. forward C. ahead D. further
12. A. existence B. evidence C. confidence D. dependence
13. A. based B. put C. focused D. passed
14. A. more than B. less than C. rather than D. other than
15. A. referred to B. listened to C. turned to D. stuck to
16. A. soon B. presently C. far D. long
17.A. strength B. energy C. effect D. force
18. A. as B. for C. to D. by
19. A. absent B. present C. gone D. missing
20.A. achieve B. earn C. acquire D. win
_______ well prepared a gymnast is, he still needs a lot of luck in performing.
A. Whatever B. Although C. No matter D. However
_______ Typhoon Morakot struck Taiwan led to water and electricity shortage on the island.
A. Which B. That C. What D. As
—Did anybody sign your petition?
—Yes. We had a hundred signatures,________.
A. if no more B. if not more C. if moreover D. if not larger
Unemployment in USA is likely to remain high in 2011, and _______ for the next few years.
A. possibly B. necessarily C. gradually D. normally
