People living more than three thousand meters above sea level find it difficult to raise vegetables all year long. People living in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia, for example, cannot grow vegetables outdoors during the months of May through September. It is very cold in the highlands at that time of year. If traditional farming methods are used, vegetables will not survive.

However, there is another way to grow vegetables throughout the year in cold areas. It is a method of gardening developed by a private agency called World Neighbors. The method uses “hot houses” built below ground. A hot house is a building covered with plastic or glass in which vegetables or flowers are grown. The traditional hot house is built above ground.

The air temperature is cold in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia during the winter. But, the winter sun is hot. So, World Neighbors advises farmers there to build hot houses below ground. The design is simple. The material does not cost much. Here is how World Neighbors says to build it: Dig a hole two and one-half meters wide and six meters long. Make it about two meters deep. Build wall with a door in one end of the hole. Dig steps from the ground down to the door.

Now, build a wall along the top edge of the hole. Make it about one-half meters tall. Earth bricks work fine. Build two shorter walls on the ends. These will be uneven; one side will be as high as the existing wall. The other side will be at ground level. Leave a small opening in each of these sloping walls. This prevents the hot house from becoming too hot. Now, make the roof. Build a wood frame. Cover it with clear plastic. Connect it to the brick walls.

The underground hot house we have described is large enough for two raised vegetable beds. Each is one meter wide and six meters long. Each is seeded and watered just as if it were in a garden above ground.

The dirt walls protect the growing plants from the cold. The clear plastic roof permits the sun’s heat to enter. At night, the roof should be covered with straw. This helps prevent cold air from entering. An under ground hot house this size will provide enough vegetables for one family. Groups needing more vegetables can make it bigger.

66. If you lived in Peru, you _______.

A. should raise the special kinds of vegetables that can endure cold

B. could not plant at all

C. had to work out some new unusual plans

D. would not have many vegetables to eat

67. To our surprise, the “hot houses” invented by World Neighbors are _______.

A. covered with a transparent plastic ceiling

B. built under ground

C. quite small

D. hotter than traditional ones

68. The hot house can be kept warm by using _______.

A. a big oven  B. an electricity heater

C. the heat of the earth’s interior   D. the sun shine

69. The measure to prevent the hot house from becoming too hot is to _______.

A. make the roof sloped B. dig holes on the walls

C. make the wall not vertical D. make the walls shorter than the ground level

70. According to the passage, the method suggested by World Neighbors is _______.

A. new and difficult      B. uneasy to explain

C. at trial step D. simple and practical

People living more than three thousand meters above sea level find it difficult to raise vegetables all year long. People living in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia, for example, cannot grow vegetables outdoors during the months of May through September. It is very cold in the highlands at that time of year. If traditional farming methods are used, vegetables will not survive.
However, there is another way to grow vegetables throughout the year in cold areas. It is a method of gardening developed by a private agency called World Neighbors. The method uses “hot houses” built below ground. A hot house is a building covered with plastic or glass in which vegetables or flowers are grown. The traditional hot house is built above ground.
The air temperature is cold in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia during the winter. But, the winter sun is hot. So, World Neighbors advises farmers there to build hot houses below ground. The design is simple. The material does not cost much. Here is how World Neighbors says to build it: Dig a hole two and one-half meters wide and six meters long. Make it about two meters deep. Build wall with a door in one end of the hole. Dig steps from the ground down to the door.
Now, build a wall along the top edge of the hole. Make it about one-half meters tall. Earth bricks work fine. Build two shorter walls on the ends. These will be uneven; one side will be as high as the existing wall. The other side will be at ground level. Leave a small opening in each of these sloping walls. This prevents the hot house from becoming too hot. Now, make the roof. Build a wood frame. Cover it with clear plastic. Connect it to the brick walls.
The underground hot house we have described is large enough for two raised vegetable beds. Each is one meter wide and six meters long. Each is seeded and watered just as if it were in a garden above ground.
The dirt walls protect the growing plants from the cold. The clear plastic roof permits the sun’s heat to enter. At night, the roof should be covered with straw. This helps prevent cold air from entering. An under ground hot house this size will provide enough vegetables for one family. Groups needing more vegetables can make it bigger.
66. If you lived in Peru, you _______.
A. should raise the special kinds of vegetables that can endure cold
B. could not plant at all
C. had to work out some new unusual plans
D. would not have many vegetables to eat
67. To our surprise, the “hot houses” invented by World Neighbors are _______.
A. covered with a transparent plastic ceiling
B. built under ground
C. quite small
D. hotter than traditional ones
68. The hot house can be kept warm by using _______.
A. a big oven  B. an electricity heater
C. the heat of the earth’s interior   D. the sun shine
69. The measure to prevent the hot house from becoming too hot is to _______.
A. make the roof sloped B. dig holes on the walls
C. make the wall not vertical D. make the walls shorter than the ground level
70. According to the passage, the method suggested by World Neighbors is _______.
A. new and difficult      B. uneasy to explain
C. at trial step D. simple and practical

Plants have family values, too; it seems, with new research suggesting they can recognize close relatives in order to work together.

An ability to tell family from strangers is well known in animals, allowing them to cooperate and share resources, but plants may possess similar social skills, scientists believe.

Susan Dudley and Amanda File of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, report they have demonstrated for the first time that plants can recognize their kin.

This suggests that plants, though lacking recognition and memory, are capable of complex social interactions.

“Plants have this kind of hidden but complicated social life，” Dudley said.

The study found plants from the same species of beach­-dwelling wildflower grew aggressively alongside unrelated neighbors but were less competitive when they shared soil with their families.

Sea rocket, a North American species, showed stronger and healthier root growth when planted in pots with strangers than when raised with relatives from the same maternal(母系的) family, the study found.

This is an example of kin selection, a behavior common in animals in which closely related individuals take a group approach to succeeding in their environment, the researchers said.

Kin selection also applies to competition, because if family members compete less with each other, the group will do better overall. “Everywhere you look, plants are growing right up next to other plants，” Dudley said，“ Usually it’s a case of each plant for itself. But sometimes those plants are related, and there are benefits to not wasting resources on being competitive, and there is not really a cost to not being competitive as long as your neighbor is also not being competitive.”

Learning and memory appear to be important for kin recognition in animals, but this isn’t an option for plants, she noted.

Some researchers speculate(猜测) that plants communicate through their roots, identifying themselves using tiny chemical signatures specific to each plant’s family.

1.What’s the main idea of the message?

A．Studies find plants can recognize, communicate with relatives.

B．Kin selection is important for plants.

C．Animals can recognize and memorize their relatives.

D．Competition asks plants to recognize their relatives.

2.Which of the following is NOT right about animals’ social skill?

A．Animals can recognize and memorize their relatives.

B．Animals’ social skill is to cooperate and share resources.

C．Animals’ social skill can recognize close relatives in order to work together.

D．Animals’ social skill is no use at all.

3.Plants’ kin selection is to ________.

A．grow well                             B．compete with other kinds of plants

C．strengthen the relationship among siblings    D．find which one is the best

4.From the passage，we learn that ________.

A．sea rocket is a South American species

B．sea rocket grows aggressively alongside unrelated neighbors

C．sea rocket grows aggressively alongside its siblings

D．sea rocket is a kind of bush without flowers

5.How can the plants communicate with each other according to experts’ suppose?

A．Plants communicate by using tiny chemical signatures specific to each plant’s family.

B．Plants communicate with each other through their roots.

C．Plants communicate with each other by their leaves.

D．Plants communicate with each other with their flowers.

Plants have family values, too; it seems, with new research suggesting they can recognize close relatives in order to work together.
An ability to tell family from strangers is well known in animals, allowing them to cooperate and share resources, but plants may possess similar social skills, scientists believe.
Susan Dudley and Amanda File of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, report they have demonstrated for the first time that plants can recognize their kin.
This suggests that plants, though lacking recognition and memory, are capable of complex social interactions.
“Plants have this kind of hidden but complicated social life，” Dudley said.
The study found plants from the same species of beach­-dwelling wildflower grew aggressively alongside unrelated neighbors but were less competitive when they shared soil with their families.
Sea rocket, a North American species, showed stronger and healthier root growth when planted in pots with strangers than when raised with relatives from the same maternal(母系的) family, the study found.
This is an example of kin selection, a behavior common in animals in which closely related individuals take a group approach to succeeding in their environment, the researchers said.
Kin selection also applies to competition, because if family members compete less with each other, the group will do better overall. “Everywhere you look, plants are growing right up next to other plants，” Dudley said，“ Usually it’s a case of each plant for itself. But sometimes those plants are related, and there are benefits to not wasting resources on being competitive, and there is not really a cost to not being competitive as long as your neighbor is also not being competitive.”
Learning and memory appear to be important for kin recognition in animals, but this isn’t an option for plants, she noted.
Some researchers speculate(猜测) that plants communicate through their roots, identifying themselves using tiny chemical signatures specific to each plant’s family.
【小题1】What’s the main idea of the message?

. If plants from one habit were moved to the other type of habit, they changed their appearance and _____ the new environment.

A. adapted                B adapted to               C. suited to                D. fit