人教全日制普通高中英语（必修）高三UNIT4-1

  Before the eighteenth century, botany was merely a branch of medicine. Until then, mostly doctors and surgeons studied herbs. Attempts had been made by others to classify plant species¹ into groups, but the breakthrough came with the work of Carl Linnaeus. Showing how plants were related was a complex and strange thing before Linnaeus developed his system. The idea to give each species two names was not new, but names were not truly fixed² and accepted. Some scientists classified plants into herbs and trees, or according to the shape of the fruit, or whether they had flowers or not. But Linnaeus' idea of grouping plants in families was unique. In his system the identification³ of different species was based on the arrangement of the male and female organs in the flowers. As a result, fruits such as peaches and pears are in fact related, although they are different at first sight.
 
      Linnaeus' system soon conquered the world. In 1759, Linnaeus' student, Daniel Solander, traveled to England to promote the new system. In London, Solander developed a lifelong friendship with Joseph Banks, who would later ask him to join his team of botanical explorers on the Endeavour in 1768.
 
      Born into a life of privilege, Joseph Banks was the son of a wealthy family. When his father died in 1761, Banks was only eighteen years old. Many young men in his position would lead a cosy⁴ life, but young Banks had an appetite for knowledge. Despite his wealth, he worked to make a career in science. He made a first journey to study wild plants in 1766. His next expedition was the great voyage with James Cook to Oceania.
 
      In 1768, the Royal Navy appointed James Cook as the commander of the Endeavour to take members of the Royal Society on an expedition to Tahiti. According to the instructions given to Captain Cook, the expedition had three goals. The primary goal was to study the passing of the planet Venus across the sun. This would give astronomers⁵ a chance to calculate the distance between the earth and the sun. Secondly⁶, the purpose of the expedition was to record, classify and describe all plant and animal life observed during the trip. Thirdly, Captain Cook received secret instructions to search for an unknown southern continent.
 
      As astronomy⁷ was one of the most important branches of science, it was the British government that paid for all the equipment and expenses for that part of the expedition. Since the government would not pay for such a new field of science as botany, Joseph Banks, at the age of 25, had to supply about ￡10,000 of his own money to equip the expedition.
 
      On their three-year voyage, Joseph Banks not only studied and described new plants he found, but also looked out for new economic species: plants that could be grown in England or other parts of the world to produce crops that could be sold. Banks was the first to move crops from one continent to another on a large scale, helping⁸ to develop local economies with these new imports. Some plants that were spread over the globe in this way include cocoa, hemp⁹ and tea.
 
      The Endeavourretumed to England in 1771. The voyage had been a great success. Wonderful discoveries had been made of strange new lands, cultures, animals and plants. After that Captain Cook made two more voyages around the world, but Joseph Banks never undertook another. From behind his desk, however, he was involved in enterprises¹⁰ such as the exploration of Africa and the settlement of Australia. In 1778, Banks was elected president of the Royal Society, a position he held for 42 years. During these years Banks helped to develop the royal gardens at Kew into one of the greatest botanical gardens in the world. He accumulated a great deal of knowledge about plants and agriculture. In growing strawberries Banks went back to the abandoned practice of spreading straw under the fruit to reduce the necessary amount of watering. He also built a greenhouse to experiment with growing pineapples. It was Joseph Banks who made Kew a centre of scientific and economic research.

1 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

2 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

3 identification   

n.视为同一，证明同一，确认

参考例句：

• He's made a formal identification of the body.他正式确认了死者身份。
• We should have identification card on the person when we go out.我们外出时应随身携带身份证。

4 cosy   

adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的

参考例句：

• We spent a cosy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。
• It was so warm and cosy in bed that Simon didn't want to get out.床上温暖而又舒适，西蒙简直不想下床了。

5 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

7 astronomy   

n.天文学

参考例句：

• Mathematics is connected with astronomy.数学与天文学有联系。
• Astronomy is an abstract subject.天文学是一门深奥的学科。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 hemp   

n.大麻；纤维

参考例句：

• The early Chinese built suspension bridges of hemp rope.古代的中国人建造过麻绳悬索桥。
• The blanket was woven from hemp and embroidered with wool.毯子是由亚麻编织，羊毛镶边的。

10 enterprises   

事业( enterprise的名词复数 )； 事业心； 企[事]业单位； 企业发展

参考例句：

• In capitalist society,big enterprises always try to freeze out the smaller ones. 在资本主义社会，大企业总是千方百计地排挤小企业。
• Big transcontinental enterprises jostle with one another for world markets. 巨大的跨国公司[企业]互相争夺国际市场。