There’s nothing better than a walk in the countryside for lifting our spirits. Connecting with nature can help our mental health. For many people, it feels great to take a walk through a forest, but as we admire the trees around us, it’s worth knowing these trees are doing more than just being nice things to look at.
We have already noticed that trees play an important role in taking care of our world—they produce oxygen and clean the air we breathe by taking in about a quarter of all human-caused carbon dioxide emissions（二氧化碳排放）.
But there’s more to these trees than we might think. Researchers have discovered that they are actually very smart.
It’s thought that trees use a fungal network（真菌网络）to talk and share resources right under our feet. Under the ground are tree roots, bacteria（细菌）and super fine threads of fungi（菌丝）. And research has shown that they are all mixed together. They can help each other by sharing “food”, and they can even tell them some coming dangers. Scientists say it’s like the trees are talking to one another.
Ecologist（生态学家）Suzanne Simard has called this network the Wood Wide Web. She discovered that parent trees use this network to help their children. She also found that trees are smart enough to change their behaviour to live in a changing environment.
So it seems trees really are the stars of our natural world, and with around three trillion of them on our planet, it’s time to show them some respect if we want them to grow better.
【小题1】The trees can take in about ________ carbon dioxide emissions caused by human.| A．10% | B．25% | C．50% | D．75% |
| A．human-caused emissions | B．underground tree roots |
| C．some coming dangers | D．a fungal network |
| A．An ecologist usually gives speeches for children. | B．An ecologist does something to cheer us up. |
| C．An ecologist helps people with mental problems. | D．An ecologist does some research about plants. |
| A．Animal World | B．Amazing Plants | C．Business Information | D．Sports Stars |
| A．Trees are actually very smart to live on the earth. |
| B．Trees provide resources for people in the world. |
| C．Connecting with nature can help our mental health. |
| D．Trees are in danger because of a changing environment. |
