{{B}}Plants and Mankind{{/B}} Botany, the study
of plants, 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. They have always been
enormously important to the welfare of people, not only for food, but also for
clothing, weapons, 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 our 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.
botany植物学
marvel令人惊奇的事(人)，奇迹
单选题
It is logical that a detailed learning of plants and their properties must be extremely ancient.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 问题句说“‘关于植物及其特征的详细知识一定由来已久’这种说法是合乎逻辑的。”利用“detailed learning of plants and their properties(关于植物及其特征的洋细知识)”作为答案线索短语，于是在文章第1段第2句话中发现含有该短语的句子。而在接下来的一句中发现“合乎逻辑的”这个问题句中的关键词。对比问题句和答案相关句，我们发现问题句是一个句子，而原文采用了2个句子。比较它们语意上的差异：原文中代词“This”回指上一句话中的陈述，即指代“关于植物及其特征的详细知识一定由来已久”。可见原文的说法与问题句的说法一致。所以该题是考察代词this的指代关系。
单选题
Tribes living today in the jungle of the Amazon teach botany to their children at school.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 利用“in the jungle of Amazon(亚马逊从林中的部落)”作为答案线索词，于是在第一段结尾部分找到答案相关句。该句提到现今仍生活在亚马逊丛林中的部落能识别成百上千种植物及具特征，但在他们的词汇山还没有“植物学”这个词，甚至有时能不承认“植物学”是专门的知识，因此在学校中不可能设该课。
单选题
Our direct contact with plants grows with the process of industrialization.