Scientists at the University of Florida (UF) have grown plants in soil that came from the Moom. The plants didn’t grow as well as those grew in soil from Earth, but the experiment marks an important step towards growing plants on the Moon.

The Moon’s soil is called“regolith (风化层)”, and there’s not a lot of it on Earth. NASA (美国国家航空航天局) has most of it, which was collected over 50 years ago. Because the regolith is so valuable, it took the UF scientists 11 years to persuade NASA to allow them to use it.

NASA didn’t give them much soil. The regolith came from three different NASA space flights —Apollo 11,12 and 17. The soil from Apollo 11 was taken from the top layer(层) of the Moon’s surface. The rest came from deeper layers of the Moon’s soil.

The scientists chose a special plant for their experiment. It’s a small plant related to broccoli (西兰花) that can grow in very little soil. Scientists know a lot about the DNA of this plant, which helps them understand how it grows in the soil it’s planted in.

By studying changes in the DNA of the plants growing in the Moon’s soil, scientists may one day find out new ways to help plants grow better in the Moon’s soil.

“The ability to take plants successfully with us to the Moon is how we’ll grow our own food.” said Dr. Rober Ferl, one of the researchers. “Showing that plants will grow in the Moon’s soil is actually a huge step in that direction.”

【小题1】What can we learn from Paragraph 1?

A．There is a lot of Moon’s soil at the UF.

B．Scientists at the UF have grown plants on the Moon.

C．The experiment carried out by scientists at the UF achieved nothing.

D．The plants in the Moon’s soil grew worse than those in Earth’s soil.

【小题2】It took the UF scientists 11 years to be allowed to use “regolith” because ________.

A．it is very valuable	B．it was kept by NASA
C．it was gotten from the Moon	D．it cannot be used to grow plants

【小题3】What does the underlined word “persuade” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Argue with others.	B．Make sb. do sth.
C．Show sth. to others.	D．Sell sth. to others.

【小题4】Why did scientists choose a plant related to broccoli?

A．Because it needed little soil.

B．Because it would change its DNA.

C．Because it could grow well in the regolith.

D．Because scientists know little about its DNA.

【小题5】What is the best title for the passage?

A．Explorers grew food on the Moon	B．Astronauts returned to Earth safely
C．NASA collected soil from the Moon	D．Scientists grew plants in the Moon’s soil