spartina托福閱讀（附譯文）

中國教育在線外語頻道小編為大家整理了一篇托福TPO中的spartina托福閱讀，并附上了中文翻譯。建議正在備考托福閱讀的考生，多積累托福閱讀背景資料，適當運用托福TPO。

托福TPO閱讀：Spartina

第一段：

Spartina alterniflora,known as cordgrass,is a deciduous,perennial flowering plant native to the Atlantic coast and the Gulf Coast of the United States.It is the dominant native species of the lower salt marshes along these coasts,where it grows in the intertidal zone(the area covered by water some parts of the day and exposed others).

譯文：互花米草，俗稱網茅，是一種落葉的多年生開花植物，原產自美國大西洋沿岸和墨西哥灣地區(qū)。它是這些海岸下游地區(qū)鹽堿地的優(yōu)勢本地種，生長在潮間帶（有時淹沒在水中，有時暴露在空氣中的區(qū)域）。

第二段：

These natural salt marshes are among the most productive habitats in the marine environment.Nutrient-rich water is brought to the wetlands during each high tide,making a high rate of food production possible.As the seaweed and marsh grass leaves die,bacteria break down the plant material,and insects,small shrimplike organisms,fiddler crabs,and marsh snails eat the decaying plant tissue,digest it,and excrete wastes high in nutrients.Numerous insects occupy the marsh,feeding on living or dead cordgrass tissue,and redwing blackbirds,sparrows,rodents,rabbits,and deer feed directly on the cordgrass.Each tidal cycle carries plant material into the offshore water to be used by the subtidal organisms.

譯文：這些天然的鹽堿地位于海洋環(huán)境下最肥沃的生境中。漲潮時會給沼澤帶來營養(yǎng)豐富的海水，使得高產量成為可能。隨著海草和沼澤禾草葉子的死亡，細菌將植物體分解，昆蟲、小型蝦狀浮游生物、招潮蟹和沼澤蝸牛吃掉了腐爛的植物組織，消化后排出富含營養(yǎng)的排泄物。沼澤里生活著無數(shù)的昆蟲，它們以活著或死去的網茅組織為食，紅翼歌鶇、麻雀、嚙齒動物、兔子以及鹿都直接以網茅為食。每一個潮汐周期都會將植物帶到近海海水中，它們可以被潮水下的生物所利用。

第三段:

Spartina is an exceedingly competitive plant.It spreads primarily by underground stems;colonies form when pieces of the root system or whole plants float into an area and take root or when seeds float into a suitable area and germinate.Spartina establishes itself on substrates ranging from sand and silt to gravel and cobble and is tolerant of salinities ranging from that of near freshwater(0.05 percent)to that of salt water(3.5 percent).Because they lack oxygen,marsh sediments are high in sulfides that are toxic to most plants.Spartina has the ability to take up sulfides and convert them to sulfate,a form of sulfur that the plant can use;this ability makes it easier for the grass to colonize marsh environments.Another adaptive advantage is Spartina’s ability to use carbon dioxide more efficiently than most other plants.

譯文：米草屬植物是極具競爭力的植物。它主要通過地下莖向四周擴展；當根系或整株植物漂到一個地方扎了根，或者當種子漂到一個適合的地方發(fā)芽時，群落就形成了。從泥沙地到卵礫石地，米草屬植物都能生長，其耐鹽度在接近淡水（0.05%）和鹽水（3.5%）的范圍內。由于缺乏氧氣，沼澤沉積物里的硫化物含量很高，這些硫化物對多數(shù)植物而言是有毒的。米草屬植物具有能夠吸收硫化物并將其轉換成為硫酸鹽（一種植物可以利用的硫形式）的能力；這種能力使得米草屬植物更易在沼澤環(huán)境中生存。另一個適應性優(yōu)勢就是米草屬植物擁有比其它植物更能有效利用二氧化碳的能力。

第四段:

These characteristics make Spartina a valuable component of the estuaries where it occurs naturally.The plant functions as a stabilizer and a sediment trap and as a nursery area for estuarine fish and shellfish.Once established,a stand of Spartina begins to trap sediment,changing the substrate elevation,and eventually the stand evolves into a high marsh system where Spartina is gradually displaced by higher-elevation,brackish-water species.As elevation increases,narrow,deep channels of water form throughout the marsh.Along the east coast Spartina is considered valuable for its ability to prevent erosion and marshland deterioration;it is also used for coastal restoration projects and the creation of new wetland sites.

譯文：這些特征使得在河口處自然生長的米草屬植物成為了該地重要的組成部分。植物起到了穩(wěn)定器和沉積物收集器的作用，而且還充當了河口魚類和貝類的溫床。一旦落地生根，米草屬植物就開始截留沉積物，改變基質的海拔高度，最終這片米草屬植物會逐漸被更高海拔的微咸淡水植物所取代，發(fā)展成了一個高海拔的沼澤系統(tǒng)。隨著海拔高度的增加，沼澤中會遍布狹窄深凹的水道。在東海岸，人們認為米屬草非常有用，因為它有防止侵蝕和沼澤退化的能力，而且它還被用于海岸恢復計劃和構筑新的濕地。

第五段:

Spartina was transported to Washington State in packing materials for oysters transplanted from the east coast in 1894.Leaving its insect predators behind,the cordgrass has been spreading slowly and steadily along Washington’s tidal estuaries on the west coast,crowding out the native plants and drastically altering the landscape by trapping sediment.Spartina modifies tidal mudflats,turning them into high marshes inhospitable to the many fish and waterfowl that depend on the mudflats.It is already hampering the oyster harvest and the Dungeness crab fishery,and it interferes with the recreational use of beaches and waterfronts.Spartina has been transplanted to England and to New Zealand for land reclamation and shoreline stabilization.In New Zealand the plant has spread rapidly,changing mudflats with marshy fringes to extensive salt meadows and reducing the number and kinds of birds and animals that use the marsh.

譯文：1894年，為了將牡蠣從東海岸轉移到華盛頓州，米草屬植物被打包運往華盛頓州。由于將天敵甩在了身后，網茅沿著西海岸華盛頓州的潮汐河口緩慢而穩(wěn)定地傳播開來，擠走了本地植物，并通過截留沉積物極大地改變了當?shù)氐木坝^。米草屬植物改造了沿海灘涂，將其轉變成高海拔沼澤，這些沼澤對很多依賴灘涂生活的魚類和水禽并不適合。米草屬植物已經妨礙了牡蠣的打撈以及珍寶蟹的養(yǎng)殖，它干擾了海灘和海濱的娛樂用途。人們將米草屬植物移栽到英國和新西蘭，用于改良土地以及穩(wěn)定海岸線。在新西蘭，米草屬植物迅速蔓延，它改變了沼澤，將沼澤地的邊緣變成了廣闊的鹽漬草地，并減少了在沼澤生活的鳥類和動物的數(shù)量。

第六段:

Efforts to control Spartina outside its natural environment have included burning,flooding,shadingplants with black canvas or plastic,smothering the plants with dredged materials or clay,applying herbicide,and mowing repeatedly.Little success has been reported in New Zealand and England;Washington State’s management program has tried many of these methods and is presently using the herbicide glyphosphate to control its spread.Work has begun to determine the feasibility of using insects as biological controls,but effective biological controls are considered years away.Even with a massive effort,it is doubtful that complete eradication of Spartina from nonnative habitats is possible,for it has become an integral part of these shorelines and estuaries during the last 100 to 200 years.

譯文：為了控制米草屬植物在自然生境以外的擴散，人們嘗試了焚燒、水淹、用黑色的帆布或塑料布遮擋陽光、用疏浚物料或者粘土使其窒息、噴撒除草劑以及反復割草的方法。在新西蘭和英國卻鮮有成效，華盛頓州的管理項目嘗試了很多此類方法，目前正在使用除草劑草甘膦控制它的傳播。相關工作開始確定用昆蟲進行生物防止的可行性，但是有效的生物防治還需要很多年。即使是付出巨大的努力，我們仍然懷疑完全從非原生境中根除米草屬植物的可能性，因為在過去的100到200年間，它已經成為這些海岸線地帶和河口的主要組成部分了。

以上就是spartina托福閱讀真題的原文和譯文內容，希望能幫助大家增添閱讀材料，積累閱讀基礎。如果想要了解更多托福備考攻略，歡迎關注中國教育在線外語頻道！

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