Text 7 how a tree lives

Trees are woody plants, growing with a single stem. They are the largest members of the plant world. Trees consist of three parts:

• the roots which hold the tree in place and take up from the soil water and mineral substances;

• the trunk or stem which supports the crown and supplies it with water and food from the roots;

• the crown. In this part the most important processes take place.

The materials upon which a tree feeds are derived from the soil and the air.

The roots of a tree absorb water from the soil and with it the necessary nutrition and elements of the soil. In the leaves the food necessary for the trees’ growth is manufactured. The raw food materials which reach the tree through the roots and the leaves are digested in the leaves. They are then sent to all living parts of the roots, stem and crown where they are either used at once or stored away for later use.

Trees usually start from seeds. The evergreens, for example pines, have cones from which naked, nutlike winged seeds fall. The cottonwood and other poplars have very tiny seeds with fine silky hairs that become airborne and often land many miles from the parent tree. Birds and mammals may transport seeds great distances, carrying such fuits as pits from cherries, beans from the locust; nut like the soft-shelled acorns, fleshy, winged seeds of maples, and hard-shelled hickory nuts and walnuts. These carriers plus the winds and floodwaters help account for the widespread distribution of most species.

Trees grow from the top and in diameter; the side growth is also called secondary growth. Wood has layers of growth which appear as circles around the centre.

Like all other plants and like animals trees breathe. The breathing is done through the leaves and the bark.

Words to remember:

1. stem – ствол

2. to consist of – состоять из

3. to hold – держать

4. to supply – обеспечивать, снабжать

5. to support – поддерживать

6. to reach – достигать

7. to manufacture – производить

8. to digest – переваривать, усваивать

9. root – корень

10. crown – крона

11. bark – кора

12. nutrition – питание

Exercise 1. Answer the questions:

1. What kind of plant is a tree?

2. How many parts does a tree consist of?

3. What is the function of the roots?

4. What does the trunk do?

5. How does a tree get necessary nutrition?

6. Do trees breathe?

7. How do trees breathe?

8. Do trees grow in diameter?

Exercise 2. Choose the proper word. Read and translate the sentence.

1. Trees are woody (roots, plants, animals).

2. Stem (supports, breathes, reaches) the crown.

3. The (leaves, roots, branches) of a tree absorb water from the soil.

4. Trees (breathe, grow, consist ) through the leaves and the bark.

Exercise 3. Read, translate and learn the following sayings.

1. To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves. (Mahatma Gandhi)

2. When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them (Chinese proverb)

3. From a fallen tree, all make kindling. (Spanish proverb)