Passage 3
体裁：说明文 话题：科学研究 时间：7分钟
(2014·广州调研)Imagine putting a seed in a freezer，waiting 30,000 years，and then taking the seed out and planting it.Do you think a flower would grow?
Amazingly，scientists have just managed to do something very similar.They found the fruit of an ancient plant that had been frozen underground in Siberia—a region covering central and eastern Russia—for about 31,800 years.Using pieces of the fruit，the scientists grew plants in a lab.The new blooms have delicate white petals.They are also the oldest flowering plants that researchers have ever revived from a deep freeze.
“This is like regenerating a dinosaur from tissues of an ancient egg，” said Jane ShenMiller，a biologist of University of California，Los Angeles.
The plant has a long history.Back when mammoths and woolly rhinoceroses walked on the land，an Arctic ground squirrel buried seeds and fruits in an underground chamber near the Kolyma River in northeastern Siberia.The ground became permafrost，a layer of soil that stays frozen for a long time.
Recently，Russian scientists dug out the old squirrel hole and found the plant remains 38 meters below the surface.Back at the lab，the team fed nutrients to tissue from three of the fruits to grow shoots.Then the scientists transferred the shoots to pots filled with soil.The plants produced seeds that could be used to grow even more of them.
It's important for scientists to know that plant tissues can still be revived after being frozen for a long time.That's because many researchers are trying to preserve the seeds of modern plants by freezing them and then storing them in giant lockers at various spots around the globe.One such endeavor，an underground facility in Norway，is called the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.It stores hundreds of thousands of frozen seeds.If a plant ever goes extinct，scientists could bring it back by taking its seeds from the Svalbard or other storage lockers.
“No one knows how long they are able to live for，but freezing is basically the format for many plant conservation attempts nowadays，” Jane ShenMiller said.It's a good thing that at least some plants are tough enough to survive in the experience.
【语篇导读】 本文是一篇科普文字，介绍一个科研项目，一个对数万年种子的实验。
1.How were seeds and fruits originally in the underground chamber?
A.They were placed there by an animal.
B.They were trapped there during the Ice Age.
C.They were planted there by ancient farmers.
D.They were buried there after the earthquake.
解析 细节理解题。由第四段的第二句可知，当初是松鼠把它们埋在地下的，故选A项。
答案 A
2.Which of the following was NOT used to recreate the ancient plant?
A.Modern nutrients. B.Parts of the fruits.
C.Its frozen seeds. D.Plant pots with soil.
解析 细节理解题。由第五段可知，在培育新苗时没有用冷冻的种子。
答案 C
3.Why are scientists interested in this discovery?
A.It helps them learn how plant life has changed in the past 30,000 years.
B.It can help guide future efforts to protect endangered plants' life.
C.It can provide directions for where to 1ook for other ancient plants.
D.It proves that all plant life can survive for thousands of years when frozen.
解析 推理判断题。由第六段的第二句可推知，这一发现对于保存濒危植物种子的研究有着重大意义。
答案 B
4.The underlined word “they” in the final paragraph refers to________.
A.plants B.seeds
C.scientists D.storage lockers
解析 代词指代题。联系上文，尤其是上一段的内容可以看出they指代的是种子，故选B。
答案 B
5.The purpose of the passage is to________.
A.discuss a plant conservation effort
B.introduce some ancient plants
C.outline some causes of global warming
D.describe a scientific research project
解析 写作意图题。通读全文可知，本文意在介绍一个科研项目，故答案为D项。
答案 D
