英语听力文摘 English Digest 169、What are fungi, plants or animals?

　　Well, mushrooms are merely one of many types of fungi¹. Not all fungi grow in soil. However, mushrooms and other fungi do resemble plants in many ways, so much so that scientists long classified fungi plants, but they know better now.
Eating Habits
Where it truly counts, fungi differ from plants significantly. One major difference lies in how they eat. Plants are characterized by their ability to make their own food, using chlorophyll, sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide.
Fungi cannot make their own food. They have to consume other living or once living organisms. Fungi aren’t animals either, but for what it’s worth, some scientists consider them more akin² to animals than plants. It’s even thought that fungi and animals may share a similar single-celled ancestor.
A major defining difference between the two kingdoms, however, is that while fungi do indeed have to consume other material, they don’t have stomachs like animals. Fungi have special cells that allow them to absorb their food.

1 fungi   

n.真菌，霉菌

参考例句：

• Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
• The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。

2 akin   

adj.同族的，类似的

参考例句：

• She painted flowers and birds pictures akin to those of earlier feminine painters.她画一些同早期女画家类似的花鸟画。
• Listening to his life story is akin to reading a good adventure novel.听他的人生故事犹如阅读一本精彩的冒险小说。