Plants and Mankind
　　Botany，the study of pants，occupies a peculiar position in the history of human knowledge.We don't know what our stone Age ancestors knew about plants，but from what we can observe of preindustrial societies that still exist，a detailed learning of plants and their properties must be extremely ancient.This is logical.Plants are the basis of the food pyramid for all living things，even for other plants.They have always been enormously important to the welfare of people，not only for food，but also for clothing，weapon，tools，dyes，medicines，shelter，and many other purposes.Tribes living today in the jungle of the Amazon recognize hundreds of plants and know many properties of each.To them botany has no name and is probably not even recognized as a special branch of"knowledge"at all.
　　Unfortunately，the more industrialized we become the farther away we move from direct contact with plants，and the less distinct out knowledge of botany grows.Yet everyone comes unconsciously on an amazing amount of botanical knowledge，and few people will fail to recognize a rose an apple or an orchid.When our Neolithic ancestors，living in the Middle East about 10，000 years ago，discovered that certain grasses could be harvested and their seeds planted for richer yields the next season，the first great step in a new association of plants and humans was taken.Grains were discovered and from them flowed the marvel of agriculture：cultivated crops.From then on，humans would increasingly take their living from the controlled production of a few plants，rather than getting a little here and a little there from many varieties that grew wild and the accumulated knowledge of tens of thousands of years of experience and intimacy with plants in the wild would begin to fade away.
　　1.It is logical that a detailed learning of plants and their properties must be extremely ancient.
　　A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
　　参考答案：A
　　2.People cannot survive without plants.
　　A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
　　参考答案：A
　　3.Tribes living today in the jungle of the Amazon teach botany to their children at school.
　　A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
　　参考答案：B
　　4.Our direct contact with plants grows with the process of industrialization.
　　A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
　　参考答案：B
　　5.Today people usually acquire a large amount of botanical knowledge from textbooks.
　　A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
　　参考答案：B
　　6.People living in the Middle East first learned to grow plants for food about 10，000 years ago.
　　A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
　　参考答案：A
　　7.Once mankind began farming，they no longer had to get food from many varieties that grew wild.
　　A.Right B.Wrong C.Not mentioned
　　参考答案：B
　　参考译文：植物与人类
　　植物学是研究裤子的学科，在人类知识史上占有特殊的地位。我们不知道我们石器时代的祖先对植物的了解，但从我们对仍然存在的工业前社会的观察来看，对植物及其特性的详细了解必须是极其古老的。这是合乎逻辑的。植物是食物金字塔的基础，所有生物，甚至其他植物。它们一直对人民的福祉非常重要，不仅是为了食物，也为了衣服、武器、工具、染料、药品、庇护所和许多其他目的。如今生活在亚马逊丛林中的部落能辨认出数百种植物，并了解每种植物的许多特性。对他们来说，植物学没有名字，甚至可能根本不被认为是“知识”的一个特殊分支。
　　不幸的是，工业化程度越高，我们越远离与植物的直接接触，植物学知识的增长就越不明显。然而，每个人都会无意识地掌握大量的植物学知识，很少有人会认不出玫瑰、苹果或兰花。当我们生活在中东的新石器时代的祖先大约在10000年前发现，某些草可以被收割，它们的种子可以在下一个季节更丰产，这是植物和人类新结合的第一大步。谷物被发现了，由此产生了农业的奇迹：种植作物。从那时起，人类将越来越多地从少数植物的控制性生产中获得生活，而不是从许多野生植物品种中得到一点点，积累了数万年的经验和与野生植物的亲密关系的知识将开始消失。