答案1

Questions1 – 8

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1

The name of interrupted brome came from the unprepossessing grass disappeared from places in the world for a period.

TRUEFALSENOT GIVEN

2

Interrupted brome became extinct because they were kept accidentally in room temperature.

TRUEFALSENOT GIVEN

3

Philip Smith works at University of Manchester.

TRUEFALSENOT GIVEN

4

Kew Botanic Gardens will operate English Nature.

TRUEFALSENOT GIVEN

5

Interrupted brome grew poorly at the sides of sainfoin.

TRUEFALSENOT GIVEN

6

Legumes were used for feeding livestock and enriching the soil.

TRUEFALSENOT GIVEN

7

The spread of seeds of interrupted brome depends on the harvesting of the farmers.

TRUEFALSENOT GIVEN

8

Only the weed killers can stop interrupted brome from becoming an invasive pest.

TRUEFALSENOT GIVEN

Questions9 – 13

Look at the following opinions or deeds (Questions 9-13) and the list of people below.

Match each opinion or deed with the correct person, A-F.

Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.

A A.M. Barnard B Philip Smith C George Claridge Druce D Joan Thirsk E Professor Hackel F Nathaniel Fiennes

 

9 identified interrupted brome as another species of brome. E

10 convinced others about the status of interrupted brome in the botanic world. C

11 found interrupted brome together with sainfoin. D

12 helped farmers know that sainfoin is useful for enriching the soil. F

13 collected the first sample of interrupted brome. A

翻译1

 

The”Extinct” Grass in Britain

 

A

The British grass interrupted brome was said to be extinct,just like the Dodo.

据说，英国的“中断雀麦草”，要像渡渡鸟一样即将要灭绝了。

Called interrupted brome because of its gappy seed-head, this unprepossessing grass was found nowhere else in the world.

它之所以被称为“中断雀麦草”，是因为它的种子穗上有缺口。世界上除了英国以外，其他任何地方都没有这种其貌不扬的杂草。

Gardening experts from the Victorian Era were first to record it.

维多利亚时期的植物学家们是第一批注意到它的人。

In the early 20th century, it grew far and wide across southern England.

到了20世纪初期，这种草已经遍布了英国南部的大部分地区。

But it quickly vanished and by 1972 was nowhere to be found.

然而，它却很快消失了，到1972年，哪里也找不到它的踪影了。

Even the seeds stored at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden as an insurance policy were dead, having been mistakenly kept at room temperature.

为了避免物种灭绝，草种被保存在剑桥大学植物园里，但因为保存不当，在室温状态下它们也失去了生机。

Fans of the grass were devastated.

“中断雀麦草”的钟爱者，对于这件事极为震惊。

B

However,reports of its decline were not entirely correct.

不过，有关于“中断却麦草”灭绝的报告并不完全正确。

Interrupted brome has enjoyed a revival,one that’s not due to science.

“中断雀麦草”死而复生了，只不过它用的不是科学手段，

Because of the work of one gardening enthusiast, interrupted brome is thriving as a pot plant.

而是多亏了一位精通园艺的植物学家，使得“中断雀麦草”以盆栽植物的身份复活了。

The relaunching into the wild of Britain’s almost extinct plant has excited conservationists everywhere.

这种英国野生草的重生，让世界各地的自然资源保护者都非常兴奋。

C

Originally, Philip Smith didn’t know that he had the very unusual grass at his own home.

起初，菲利普·史密斯(Philip Smith)并没有意识到生长在他家中的草的奇特之处。

When he heard about the grass becoming extinct, he wanted to do something surprising.

当他听说“中断雀麦草”将要绝种时，他就决定要做一件出人意料的事。

He attended a meeting of the British Botanical Society in Manchester in 1979, and seized his opportunity.

1979年他参加了不列颠群岛植物学会在曼彻斯特召开的一场学术会议，并抓住了这次机会。

He said that it was so disappointing to hear about the demise of the interrupted brome.

他说“中断雀麦草物种”的灭绝是可悲的。

“What a pity we didn’t research it further!” he added.

并补充道：“多么遗憾啊！我们还没有对这一物种进行更深一步的研究。”

Then, all of a sudden he displayed his pots with so called”extinct grass” for all to see.

然后他突然亮出两大罐子，里面就是所谓“灭绝了”的“中断雀麦草”。

D

Smith had kept the seeds from the last stronghold of the grass, Pamisford in 1963.

原来早在1963年，史密斯就在其最后的生长地庞贝斯福德收集了种子。

It was then when the grass started to disappear from the wild.

也就是从那时起，野生雀麦草开始逐渐消失之后，

Smith cultivated the grass,year after year.

史密斯就年复一年地种植着“中断雀麦草”。

Ultimately, it was his curiosity in the plant that saved it,not scientific or technological projects that aim to conserve plants.

最终，他的好奇心拯救了这种植物，而不是通过专门的科学或者生物遗传处理的方式将这一物种保留了下来。

E

For now, the bromes future is guaranteed.

现如今，“中断雀麦草”的未来看来是不用担心了。

The seeds from Smith ‘s plants have been securely stored in the cutting edge facilities of Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place in Sussex.

从史密斯种植的“中断雀麦草”植株上获取的种子，已经被安全地储存在苏塞克斯的韦克赫斯特庄园的千禧种子银行。

And living plants thrive at the botanic gardens at Kew, Edinburgh and Cambridge.

而且鲜活的雀麦草在英国皇家植物园、爱丁堡和剑桥的植物园里茁壮地成长着。

This year,seeds are also saved at sites all across the country and the grass now flourishes at several public gardens too.

今年，“中断雀麦草”的种子已经存放在全国各地的战略基地，而且“中断雀麦草”现在也在几家公共花园茂盛生长着。

F

The grass will now be reintroduced to the British countryside.

中断雀麦草将重返英国乡村。

As a part of the Species Recovery Project,the organisation English Nature will reintroduce interrupted brome into the agriculturallandscape, provided willing farmers are found.

作为 “物种恢复项目 “的一部分，英国自然组织将把“中断雀麦草”重新引入到农业景观中，前提是要能找到有意愿的农民。

Alas, the grass is neither beautiful nor practical, it is undoubtedly a weed, a weed that nobody cares for these days.

唉，这种草既不美观也不实用，它无疑是一种杂草，一种如今无人问津的杂草。

The brome was probably never widespread enough to annoy farmers and today, no one would appreciate its productivity or nutritious qualities.

可能“中断雀麦草”过去从未广泛传播到足以让农民烦恼的地步；但直到如今，也没有人会看重它的生产力或营养品质。

As a grass, it leaves a lot to be desired by agriculturalists.

但是作为一种草类植物，它还有许多东西值得农学家们去探究。

G

Smith’s research has attempted to answer the question of where the grass came from.

史密斯的研究试图回答了“中断雀麦草”来自何方。

His research points to mutations from other weedy grasses as the most likely source.

他的研究指出“中断雀麦草”是由另外一种名叫“大麦状雀麦”的毛雀麦杂草变异而来的。

So close is the relation-ship that interrupted brome was originally deemed to be a mere variety of soft brome by the great Victorian taxonomist Professor Hackel.

它们之间的物种关系非常密切，起初在维多利亚时代，伟大的分类学家哈克尔教授认为“中断雀麦草”只是“毛雀麦”的一种变体。

A botanist from the 19th century, Druce, had taken notes on the grass and convinced his peers that the grass deserved its own status as a species.

19世纪，一位名叫德鲁斯的植物学家已经记录了这种草的生长，并且认为“中断雀麦草”应该要有自己的物种地位，同时也说服了当时的植物学界认可了这一观点。

Despite Druce growing up in poverty and his self-taught profession, he became the leading botanist of his time.

尽管德鲁斯从小家境贫寒，他的专业也是自学成才，但他还是成为了当时顶尖的植物学家。

H

Where the grass came from may be clear,but the timing of its birth may be tougher to find out.

“中断雀麦草”从哪里来可能很明确了，但它出生的时间可能比较难确定。

A clue lies in its penchant for growing as a weed in fields shared with a fodder crop, in particular nitrogen-fixing legumes such as sainfoin, lucerne or clover.

一个线索是：它喜欢在与饲料作物，特别是固氮豆科植物（如莎草、苜蓿或三叶草）共生的田地里作为杂草生长。

According to agricultural historian Joan Thirsk,the humble sainfoin and its company were first noticed in Britain in the early 17th century.

据农业历史学家琼-瑟斯克（Joan Thirsk）介绍，17 世纪初，英国人首次注意到了不起眼的红豆杉及其与中断雀麦草之间的陪伴。 。

Seeds brought in from the Continent were sown in pastures to feed horses and other live-stock.

从欧洲大陆运来的种子被播撒在牧场上，用来喂养马匹和其他牲畜。

However, back then,only a few enthusiastic gentlemen were willing to use the new crops for their prized horses.

然而，在当时，只有少数热衷于马的人，愿意用这种新的作物来饲养他们珍贵的马匹。

I

Not before too long though, the need to feed the parliamentary armies in Scotland, England and Ireland was more pressing than ever.

但不久之后，苏格兰、英格兰和爱尔兰的议会军队比以往任何时候都更迫切需要粮食。

Farmers were forced to produce more bread,cheese and beer.

农民必须生产更多的面包、奶酪和啤酒。

And by 1650 the legumes were increasingly introduced into arable rotations,to serve as green nature to boost grain yields.

到 1650 年，越来越多的豆科植物被引入到耕地轮作中，成为提高粮食产量的绿色肥料。

A bestseller of its day, Nathaniel Fiennes’s Sainfoin Improved, published in 1671, helped to spread the word.

1671年纳塞尼尔·费因斯发表的《改良的红豆草》成为当时的畅销书，促使它传播开来。

With the advent of sainfoin, clover and lucerne,Britain’s very own rogue grass had suddenly arrived.

随着红豆草、三叶草和苜蓿的出现，英国自己的 “流氓草（本土间苗草）”自然就出现了。

J

Although the credit for the discovery of interrupted brome goes to a Miss A.M.Barnard, who collected the first specimens at Odsey, Bedfordshire, in 1849,the grass had probably lurked undetected in the English countryside for at least a hundred years.

虽然“中断雀麦草”的发现归功于巴纳德(A.M.Barnard)小姐，她于1849年在贝德福德郡奥德赛采集了第一批植物标本。但在此之前，这种草可能已经在英国乡村默默无闻地生长了至少百年。

Smith thinks the plant—-the world’s version of the Dodo-probably evolved in the late 17th or early 18th century, once sainfoin became established.

史密斯认为，这种植物学界的渡渡鸟（“雀麦草”）很可能是在 17 世纪末或 18 世纪初，也就是在红豆草开始盛行之后进化而来的。

Due mainly to the development of the motor car and subsequent decline of fodder crops for horses, the brome declined rapidly over the 20th century.

由于电动汽车的普及，继而严重冲击了马匹饲料作物的市场，使得“雀麦草”的数量在20世纪的百年时间里迅速下降。

Today, sainfoin has almost disappeared from the countryside, though occasionally its colourful flowers are spotted in lowland nature reserves.

如今，虽然偶尔能在丘陵自然保护区看到“雀麦草”色彩斑斓的花朵，但红豆草可以说是已经从乡村里完全消失了。

More recently artificial fertilizers have made legume rotations unnecessary.

近年来，人工肥料的普遍应用使得豆科植物轮作变得多余。

K

The close relationship with out-of-fashion crops spells trouble for those seeking to re-establish interrupted brome in today’s countryside, Much like the once common arable weeds,such as the corncockle, its seeds cannot survive long in the soil.

与过时农作物的这种亲密关系，给任何一个热衷于在现今农村重新种植“中断雀麦草”的人带来了麻烦。就像许多曾经常见的耕地杂草如瞿麦一样，它的种子不能长期待在土壤中。

Each spring,the brome relied on farmers to resow its seeds; in the days before weed killers and advanced seed sieves, an ample supply would have contaminated supplies of crop seed.

每年春天，“中断雀麦草”都要依靠农民重新播种；在不使用除草剂和成熟种子筛的年代里，大量的雀麦草籽掺杂在库存的粮食种子当中。

However fragile seeds are not the brome’s only problem:this species is also unwilling to release its seeds as they ripen.

然而，脆弱的种子本身，并不是“雀麦草”唯一的问题：这种草即使成熟了，它也不愿意脱落出来。

According to Smith, the grass will struggle to survive even in optimal conditions.

史密斯认为，即使在最佳的生存条件下，这种草也很难存活。

It would be very difficult to thrive amongst its more resilient competitors found in today’s improved agricultural landscape.

在现今改善过的耕地中，它很难与生命力更顽强的竞争对手一起茁壮成长。

L

Nonetheless,interrupted brome’s reluctance to thrive independently may have some benefits.

然而，“中断雀麦草”“不愿意”靠自己的精力去繁殖，这一特性可能也有好处。

Any farmer willing to foster this unique contribution to the world’s flora can rest assured that the grass will never become an invasive pest.

任何愿意为世界植物区系做出独特贡献的农民，都可以彻底放心引进和种植，这种草永远不会成为外来有害物种。

Restoring interrupted brome to its rightful home could bring other benefits too, particularly if this strange species is granted recognition as a national treasure.

一旦这种古怪的草被认为是国家瑰宝，让“中断雀麦草”回归属于自己的家园，还能带来其他积极的好处。

Thanks to British farmers, interrupted brome was given the chance to evolve in the first place.

多亏了英国农民，“中断雀麦草”才有机会优先进化发展。

Conservationists would like to see the grass grow once again in its natural habitat and perhaps, one day, seeing the grass become a badge of honour for a new generation of environmentally conscious farmers.

自然资源保护主义者们希望看到这种草在其自然栖息地里再次生长，也许有一天，这种草会成为新一代具有环保意识的新农民的荣誉勋章。