Reading
Passage 1
This passage tells the fungi reduction, especially in European and North America。
Netherlands is one of the most abundance area resources in Europe. People discussed the changes about the diversity of species and reduction of fungi in different regions and forests. Many trees and plants not only host mycorrhizal fungi, they have actually come to depend on them. Now, fungi are less raising up seed, notably those associated with trees more than 40 years old . It is argued that this decline in different parts is coincident with decreased numbers of mycorrhiza. Because some kinds of fungi are edible, people pick up them. There is a problem: What is the meaning of edible? Answer: Things that can be eaten. Then the passage argued that fungi changes due to picking. But it is not the main reason. The crucial reason is air pollution. There is a problem: What is the meaning of crucial? Answer: Important. If the air be polluted, amounts of CO2 will be increased. The elevated atmospheric CO2 could directly affect photosynthesis and respiration, as well as carbon that carried to roots, and finally the symbiosis of mycorrhizal fungi and plant roots.
The article used large parts tells the reduction in Europe. But at the end of the article, it mentioned the North American. In that area, fungi has a relatively short history and people eat less of them. Although fungi did not decline, the related line declined. People in North American think kinds of mushrooms belong to fungi. Though the reduction is not observably, it also has danger.
【相关背景知识补充】In this passage, we can find a lot of information about the article " The Arrival of Plant Life in Hawaii" from TPO9--3.
Such as:
Spores light enough to float on the breezes were carried thousands of miles from more ancient lands and deposited at random across the bare mountain flanks. A few of these spores found a toehold on the dark, forbidding rocks and grew and began to work their transformation upon the land. Lichens were probably the first successful flora. These are not single individual plants; each one is a symbiotic combination of an alga and a fungus. The algae capture the Sun's energy by photosynthesis and store it in organic molecules. The fungi absorb moisture and mineral salts from the rocks, passing these on in waste products that nourish algae. It is significant that the earliest living things that built communities on these islands are examples of symbiosis, a phenomenon that depends upon the close cooperation of two or more forms of life and a principle that is very important in island communities.
Passage 2
This passage tells us the industrial, transportation and civil war of American.
First, it tells us how industry developed from the northeast to west.At the end of the civil war, the south economy has a great development and political appears relative stable after the south reconstruction. At the same time, the second industrial revolution rapidly rise up and the United States began transform from agricultural country to industrial nations. There is a problem: Why develop industry? Answer: The western resources meet the industry development needs.
Second, It tells us the development of transportation. Because of the recourse development and utilization meet the progress of the industry, so that promote the traffic transportation rapidly. In the process of the development, railway transportation throughout the beginning to end. The laid of the railway drive coal transport from the northeast to the west.
The last, it tells the civil war and compares the south and the north. The south pay more attention to agriculture therefore the leading status established. There is a problem: Why mentioned the south? Answer: The south par more attention to agriculture. Then with the development of economy, the United States won much territory. They need more slaves. The contradiction between the free labor system of northern and the slave system of southern has not mediated. The slavery of southern became the major obstacle to the development of economy. There is a problem: What is the attitude of the slaveholders? Answer: They opposed to abolish slave owners system.
附件：地图
相关背景补充：
American industrialization was facilitated by a unique confluence of geographical, social, and economic factors. The post-Revolution American population remained low relative to its European counterparts and the demand for manual labor created strong incentives to mechanize labor-intensive tasks. The eastern seaboard of the United States, with a great number of rivers and streams along the Atlantic seaboard, provided many potential sites for constructing mills and infrastructure necessary for early industrialization. A vast supply of natural resources along with a large labor supply consisting of surplus domestic rural workers and massive immigration from European nations enabled industrialization. The ready supply of labor was an advantage American industrialism had over European.
Railroads have played a large role in the development of the United States of America, from the industrial revolution in the North-east to the colonization of the West. The American railway mania began with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad? in 1828 and flourished until the Panic of 1873 bankrupted many companies and temporarily ended all growth. Although the South started early to build railways, it concentrated on short lines linking cotton regions to oceanic or river ports, and the absence of an interconnected network was a major handicap during the Civil War.
Passage 3
This passage tells us human activity and archaeological records.
In ancient times, people used artifacts to bury the dead. There are two kinds of artifacts. One artifact is used before bury, another is used after. Generally speaking, the wife of the dead and attendants were placed in the grave; Animals and slaves were placed out the grave. Judge the value of the artifacts depending on the status of the dead. People used artifacts to commemorate the dead. There is a problem: Why people used artifacts? Answer:' They used them to commemorate the dead. I remember that there is an example says the pyramid of Egypt and the grave of Mexico. People used pyramid and grave to save the dead and prevent the body decomposed. There is a problem: Why people built graves? Answer: They used them to save the dead and prevent the body decomposed.
2012年3月18号词汇题：
crucial--important
moreover--in addition
whereas--however
edible--things that can be eaten