hce_tcu
114年
英文
第 42 題
📖 題組：
Seed plants are the foundation of human diets across the world. In many societies, vegetarians fare almost exclusively and depend solely on seed plants for their nutritional needs. A few crops (rice, wheat, and potatoes) dominate the agricultural landscape. Many crops were developed during the agricultural revolution when human societies made the transition from nomadic hunter-gatherers to horticulture and agriculture. Cereals, rich in carbohydrates, provide the staple of many human diets. Beans and nuts supply proteins. Fats are derived from crushed seeds or fruits such as olives. Staple crops are not the only foods derived from seed plants. Fruits and vegetables provide nutrients, vitamins, and fiber. Sugar, to sweeten dishes, is produced from sugarcane and sugar beets. Drinks are made from infusions of tea leaves, chamomile flowers, crushed coffee beans, or powdered cocoa beans. Spices come from many different plant parts: saffron and cloves are stamens and buds, black pepper and vanilla are seeds, the bark of a bush in the Laurales family supplies cinnamon, and the herbs that flavor many dishes come from dried leaves and fruit, such as the red chili pepper. Additionally, no discussion of seed plant contribution to the human diet would be complete without the mention of alcohol. Fermentation of plant-derived sugars and starches is used to produce alcoholic beverages in all societies. In some cases, the beverages are derived from the fermentation of sugars from fruit, as with wines, and in other cases, they’re derived from the fermentation of carbohydrates from seeds, as with beers. Seed plants have many other uses, including providing wood as a source of timber for construction and material to build furniture. Most paper is derived from the pulp of coniferous trees. Fibers of seed plants, such as cotton, flax, and hemp, are woven into cloth. Textile dyes, such as indigo, were mostly of plant origins until the advent of synthetic chemical dyes. The medicinal properties of plants have been known to human societies since ancient times. There are references to the use of plants’ curative properties in Egyptian, Babylonian, and Chinese writings from 5,000 years ago. Biodiversity ensures a resource for new food crops and medicines. Plant life balances ecosystems, protects watersheds, mitigates erosion, moderates climates and provides shelter for many animal species. Threats to plant diversity, however, come from many angles. The explosion of human population, especially in tropical countries where birth rates are highest and economic development is in full swing, is leading to human encroachment into forested areas. To feed the larger population, humans need to obtain arable land, so there is a massive clearing of trees. The need for more energy to power larger cities and economic growth therein leads to the construction of dams, which may bring about the consequent flooding of ecosystems and increased emissions of pollutants. The number of plant species becoming extinct is increasing at an alarming rate. Because ecosystems are in a delicate balance, and seed plants maintain close symbiotic relationships with animals, the disappearance of a single plant can lead to the extinction of connected animal species. A real and pressing issue is that many plant species have not yet been cataloged, and so their place in the ecosystem is unknown. These unknown species are threatened by logging, habitat destruction, and loss of pollinators. They may become extinct before we have the chance to begin to understand the possible impact of their disappearance. Efforts to preserve biodiversity take several lines of action, from preserving heirloom seeds to barcoding species. Heirloom seeds come from plants that were traditionally grown in human populations, as opposed to the seeds used for large-scale agricultural production. Barcoding is a technique in which one or more short gene sequences, taken from a well-characterized portion of the genome, are used to identify a species through DNA analysis.
Seed plants are the foundation of human diets across the world. In many societies, vegetarians fare almost exclusively and depend solely on seed plants for their nutritional needs. A few crops (rice, wheat, and potatoes) dominate the agricultural landscape. Many crops were developed during the agricultural revolution when human societies made the transition from nomadic hunter-gatherers to horticulture and agriculture. Cereals, rich in carbohydrates, provide the staple of many human diets. Beans and nuts supply proteins. Fats are derived from crushed seeds or fruits such as olives. Staple crops are not the only foods derived from seed plants. Fruits and vegetables provide nutrients, vitamins, and fiber. Sugar, to sweeten dishes, is produced from sugarcane and sugar beets. Drinks are made from infusions of tea leaves, chamomile flowers, crushed coffee beans, or powdered cocoa beans. Spices come from many different plant parts: saffron and cloves are stamens and buds, black pepper and vanilla are seeds, the bark of a bush in the Laurales family supplies cinnamon, and the herbs that flavor many dishes come from dried leaves and fruit, such as the red chili pepper. Additionally, no discussion of seed plant contribution to the human diet would be complete without the mention of alcohol. Fermentation of plant-derived sugars and starches is used to produce alcoholic beverages in all societies. In some cases, the beverages are derived from the fermentation of sugars from fruit, as with wines, and in other cases, they’re derived from the fermentation of carbohydrates from seeds, as with beers. Seed plants have many other uses, including providing wood as a source of timber for construction and material to build furniture. Most paper is derived from the pulp of coniferous trees. Fibers of seed plants, such as cotton, flax, and hemp, are woven into cloth. Textile dyes, such as indigo, were mostly of plant origins until the advent of synthetic chemical dyes. The medicinal properties of plants have been known to human societies since ancient times. There are references to the use of plants’ curative properties in Egyptian, Babylonian, and Chinese writings from 5,000 years ago. Biodiversity ensures a resource for new food crops and medicines. Plant life balances ecosystems, protects watersheds, mitigates erosion, moderates climates and provides shelter for many animal species. Threats to plant diversity, however, come from many angles. The explosion of human population, especially in tropical countries where birth rates are highest and economic development is in full swing, is leading to human encroachment into forested areas. To feed the larger population, humans need to obtain arable land, so there is a massive clearing of trees. The need for more energy to power larger cities and economic growth therein leads to the construction of dams, which may bring about the consequent flooding of ecosystems and increased emissions of pollutants. The number of plant species becoming extinct is increasing at an alarming rate. Because ecosystems are in a delicate balance, and seed plants maintain close symbiotic relationships with animals, the disappearance of a single plant can lead to the extinction of connected animal species. A real and pressing issue is that many plant species have not yet been cataloged, and so their place in the ecosystem is unknown. These unknown species are threatened by logging, habitat destruction, and loss of pollinators. They may become extinct before we have the chance to begin to understand the possible impact of their disappearance. Efforts to preserve biodiversity take several lines of action, from preserving heirloom seeds to barcoding species. Heirloom seeds come from plants that were traditionally grown in human populations, as opposed to the seeds used for large-scale agricultural production. Barcoding is a technique in which one or more short gene sequences, taken from a well-characterized portion of the genome, are used to identify a species through DNA analysis.
Which of the statement about “spices” is TRUE?
- A They are made by infusions of crushed beans and olives.
- B They all come from seeds that are ground down.
- C They are mostly from sugarcane and sugar beets.
- D They are sourced from a variety of parts of the plant.
思路引導 VIP
如果你在文章中讀到一連串關於某類物品的具體實例（例如 saffron, cinnamon, black pepper），請試著找出緊接在這些名稱後面的描述詞。觀察一下，這些描述詞是指向植物的「單一構造」，還是涉及了許多不同的構造？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
恭喜你精準地鎖定了正確答案 D！這顯示你具備了優異的細節定位能力，能夠在長文中快速提取關鍵資訊。這題的答案核心隱藏在文章第二段，文中詳細列舉了各種調味品的來源：番紅花與丁香是雄蕊和花蕾（stamens and buds）、黑胡椒是種子（seeds）、肉桂來自樹皮（bark），而香草植物則來自葉子或果實（leaves and fruit）。
文本細節的歸納與辨析
這道題目具有不錯的鑑別度，其難度切入點在於考驗學生是否會被「部分資訊」誤導。例如選項 B 提到的「種子」雖然出現在文中，但它加上了「all（全部）」這個絕對化修飾語，這正是閱讀測驗中常見的陷阱。你能夠避開這些片面的干擾項，並成功從文中繁瑣的例子中歸納出「多樣化來源（variety of parts）」這個核心概念，表現得非常專業且細心！