Tip：人物傳記是記敘文的一種，主要描寫人物的生平事蹟、趣聞軼事、成長奮鬥歷程等。其特點是以時間的先後或事件的發展為主線，空間或邏輯線索貫穿文章始終，脈絡清楚，可讀性較強。閱讀這類文章時，我們需要注意時間、地點、人物和事件這四大要素。
Pre-reading
Think about the following questions:
1. What do you like to do in your free time?
2. Have you ever thought of making a living by it in the future? How long have you enjoyed it?
Theme: Hobbies
California garden pioneer Ruth Petersson was born in 1908. She showed a great interest in plants at an early age. She studied architecture (建築學) at the university. At that time, the stock market fell sharply. Uncertain she could get work as an architect during so difficult a time, Ruth changed her major and graduated with a teaching degree. While teaching in Merced, she met Philip Bancroft, Jr. and married him in 1939 and then moved to the family farm in Walnut Creek.
Ruth began gardening and planted a large garden around the main house in 1950. Her interest in different plant groups evolved over time to include roses, herbs, alpine plants and more. In the 1950s, Ruth bought her first succulent (多肉植物). She was very attracted to it and began collecting these water-conserving plants. She had a huge collection of potted succulents, which were grown in greenhouses around her house.
In 1971, Philip offered Ruth three acres of land to begin a new garden using her large collection of succulents, which had outgrown their space. Ruth, then in her 60s, seized this opportunity. She got help from Lester Hawkins to design the pathways and garden beds. Ruth herself chose the plants from her collection.
By trial and error (反覆試驗), Ruth discovered how to use succulents better in the garden and how to protect the plants from winter rains and extreme cold. Ruth’s garden began to attract a great deal of attention from other gardeners. In 1988, Frank and Anne Cabot visited Ruth and were troubled when hearing that there were no plans to protect the garden. They were encouraged to start the Garden Conservancy, a nonprofit to protect important American gardens, and the Ruth Bancroft Garden became the first project of the new organization. The garden was thrown open to the public in the early 1990s.
Today , the garden has be come an outstanding example of a water-conserving garden. The garden also houses important collections of succulents, including the first succulent in Ruth’s collection.
涉及知識點，大家要掌握哦！
evolve /ɪ'vɒlv/ v. （使）逐漸形成；進化
eg. The school has evolved its own style of teaching.
a great deal of 大量；很多
eg. It took a great deal of time and effort.
Post-reading
Reading test 閱讀理解
( ) 1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A. Ruth changed her major to gardening in college.
B. Ruth got married when she was 31 years old.
C. Ruth began planting when she was young.
D. Ruth had a hard time at an early age.
( ) 2. Which of the following might Ruth like best?
A. Roses. B. Herbs. C. Succulents. D. Alpine plants.
( ) 3. What does the underlined word “seized” in Paragraph 3 most probably mean?
A. Took. B. Created. C. Offered. D. Missed.
( ) 4. Which is the right order according to the passage?
a. Anne Cabot visited Ruth’s garden.
b. Philip provided more space for Ruth to plant succulents.
c. Ruth developed some methods for using succulents in the garden.
d. The Garden Conservancy was set up to protect important American gardens.
A. a-c-b-d B. b-d-a-c C. d-c-b-a D. b-c-a-d
Mind map 思維導圖
根據以上語篇內容，在下圖的空格里填入一個最恰當的單詞。
參考答案：
Reading test
1-4 BCAD
Mind map
1. began / started
2. love
3. husband
4. ways
5. open
編者寄語
《新課標》和《英語能力等級量表》的落實對中學生的英語閱讀量提出了更高的要求。為此，《學英語》與《環球時報》（ 英文版） 精心策劃了GlobalReading（ 《環球閱讀》），力求以地道的英語、敏銳的視角和精準的信息，為同學們獻上豐富多彩、視聽結合的多模態語篇，幫助同學們提升英語學科核心素養！新學期，新起點，G l o b a l Reading 與你同行、為你加油！
內容精選自《學英語》報
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