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The Nature and Importance of Plant
Unit 1
Nature and Importance of Plants
Pretext Exercises.
Translate the following international words.
nature, realize, primitive, produce, product, production, reproduction, form, structure, bacteria, diameter, classify, culture, organism, optimum, factor, process, dioxide, agronomical, chemical, biological
Define parts of speech and translate the words.
agronomy, agronomical, agronomically, agronomist;
botany, botanical, botanically, botanist;
experiment, experimental, experimentally, experimenter
Translate the words paying attention to vocabulary notes.
grow(v), growth(n), natural(a), valuable(a), realize(v), slowly(adv), produce(v), action(n), development(n), culture(n)
Vocabulary list.
1. importance – важность, значение
2. to be dependent(upon) –зависетьот
3. probably – вероятно
4. size – размер, величина
5. either…or – или…или
6. directly(indirectly) – прямо, косвенно
7. to exist – существовать
8. species – вид
9. to expect – ожидать
10. tovery(in) – изменяться, различаться
11. variable – изменчивый
12. to require – требовать(ся)
13. requirement – требование, потребность
14. usefulness – польза
15. as to – что касается
16. for instance – например
17. as well as – также как и
18. low – низкий, нижний
19. because of – из-за
20. to distinguish – различать
21. according to – согласно, в соответствии
22. similar – подобный
23. similarity – сходство, подобие
24. however – однако, тем не менее
25. source – источник
26. inturn– в свою очередь
27. value – ценность
28. valuable – ценный
Read and translate the text.
Text A
The Nature and Importance of Plant
Man has always lived with plants but most of us probably do not realize how important plants are in our daily life and that we are still as dependent upon plants as primitive man was thousands of years ago. All our food and clothing are produced either directly or indirectly by plants.
There exist more than 250000 species of plants on the Earth. When grouped together they are known as plant kingdom. As may be expected in so large a number many variable forms exist. Plants vary in size, structure, form, reproduction, in their requirements and their usefulness to man. As to the size, some plants such as bacteria are made up of only one cell and are so small that they can be distinguished only with the aid of a microscope. Others are very large, as for instance, redwood trees growing in California that may be 350 feet high with a diameter of 20 feet at the base. Fungi as well as algae are the lowest forms of plant life. Because of the large number of widely differing forms of plants, it has been necessary to place them into groups according to similarity of parts. The plant forms best known to most people are those that are useful to man.
Many of the farm crops are fed by animals which in turn produce valuable food products used by man. Certainly there may be plants the value of which has not been yet discovered. We do not yet know all the uses of plants, but as scientists continue their work many new uses will be found. As farm crops may be used for so many different purposes they were also classified agronomically according to their use rather than according to similarity of parts.