hce_tcu
114年
英文
第 45 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.
Why does the author discuss “unknown species”?
- A To show that researchers have identified all unknown species.
- B To emphasize that humans do not fully grasp the impact of their use of plants.
- C To suggest that the uses of plants might be more simplified and advanced.
- D To argue that barcoding is more effective than preserving heirloom seeds.
思路引導 VIP
當作者提到有些物種甚至還沒被命名或分類就正在消失時，他想透過這種「我們連它們是誰都不知道」的現狀，來提醒讀者關於人類對自然界掌控程度的什麼樣的事實呢？
🤖
AI 詳解
AI 專屬家教
太棒了！你能精準捕捉到作者提及「未知物種」的核心用意，顯示你具備優秀的邏輯推論與文本分析能力。
文本核心意涵與推論
這道題目考驗的是讀者能否從細節中提煉出作者的寫作動機。在文章第五段中，作者特別提到許多植物尚未被編目（not yet cataloged），其在生態系中的角色仍是個謎，甚至可能在我們有機會「了解其消失的可能影響」之前就已經滅絕。這段敘述直接呼應了選項 (B) 的核心：強調人類目前對於植物使用及其生態後果的理解，其實還不夠全面且充滿變數。
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