【TOEFL托福背景知識】熱帶雨林土壤的奧秘

托福（TOEFL iBT）考試內容包羅萬象，舉凡生物學、天文學、文學和歷史等等。所以，在準備托福考試的時候，多讀一些不同領域的英文文章可是相當重要！

和大家分享地質學（Geology）相關的背景知識，認識熱帶雨林土壤的奧秘！閱讀本篇文章，可以幫助考生增加相關單字量，對該主題有更多的認識。

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主題摘要與托福單字

Leaching and Low Nutrient Content（浸出和低營養成分）:

Abundant rainfall in tropical rainforests causes leaching, washing away mineral nutrients into streams.Resulting in most tropical rainforest soils having low to very low mineral nutrient content, contrasting with grassland soils.（熱帶雨林中豐富的降雨會導致礦物質營養物質淋濾、衝入溪流。與草原土壤相比，導致大多數熱帶雨林土壤的礦物質營養成分含量較低至極低。）

leaching (n.) – 浸出

nutrient (n.) – 養分，營養物質

mineral (n.) – 礦物質

Closed Nutrient Systems（封閉式營養系統）:

Tropical rainforests overcome poor soil conditions through closed nutrient systems.This internal recycling minimizes nutrient leakage, involving microbes, mycorrhizal relationships, and the living biomass of trees and plants.（熱帶雨林中豐富的降雨會導致礦物質營養物質淋濾、衝入溪流，使得大多數熱帶雨林土壤的礦物質營養成分含量相較於草原土壤低至極低，形成對比。）

minimizes (v.) – 減到最小，最小化

leakage (n.) – 洩漏，滲漏

biomass (n.) – 生物量，生物質

Adaptation to Heavy Rainfall（適應強降雨）:

Closed nutrient systems in tropical rainforests are an adaptation to heavy rainfall.This strategy prevents minerals from staying in the soil for too long, reducing the risk of being washed away into streams.（熱帶雨林的封閉養分系統是對強降雨的適應。這種策略可以防止礦物質在土壤中停留太久，從而降低被沖入溪流的風險。）

tropical (adj.) – 熱帶的

rainforests (n.) – 雨林

adaptation (n.) – 適應

延伸閱讀：Unveiling Tropical Rainforest Soils

On viewing the lush plant growth of a tropical rainforest, most people would conclude that the soil beneath it is rich in nutrients. However, although rain forest soils are highly variable, they have in common the fact that abundant rainfall washes mineral nutrients out of them and into streams. This process is known as leaching. Because of rain leaching, most tropical rain forest soils have low to very low mineral nutrient content, in dramatic contrast to mineral-rich grassland soils.

Given such poor soils, how can lush tropical forests exist?The answer is that the forest's minerals are held in its living biomass—the trees and other plants and the animals—which hold onto the essential minerals needed for growth.

These tropical rainforests, famous for their diverse wildlife, manage to overcome the hurdle of lousy soil through something called closed nutrient systems. It's like a nifty internal recycling program where minerals smoothly move from one organism to another, hardly leaking into the ground. Microbes play a big part by quickly breaking down dead stuff, releasing important minerals that tree roots eagerly slurp up. On top of that, partnerships between plants and fungi, like mycorrhizal relationships, also help shuffle nutrients around. This closed-loop system prevents nutrients from escaping into the soil, allowing the rainforest to keep its lush greenery and diverse mix of critters. The ability of these ecosystems to adapt showcases nature's knack for handling tough challenges.

So, why do tropical rainforests go for closed nutrient systems? It's all about dealing with the heavy rainfall. When minerals spend less time in the soil, they're less likely to wash away into streams. This smart adaptation can be seen in the varying openness of nutrient systems. Rich tropical soils have more open systems, while the poorest soils stick to tight nutrient cycles. Basically, the rainforest has figured out a clever way to hold onto its nutrients and keep things flourishing, even when the conditions are a bit rough.

資料來源：TPO053 <Rain Forest Soils>

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延伸閱讀中文翻譯

過去，基因編輯通常是一項耗時且複雜的過程。科學家需要耗費大量時間和精力進行基因修改實驗，且可能需要多次嘗試才能達到精確的修改效果。然而，隨著CRISPR-Cas9技術的出現，一切都翻轉了。這種技術的簡單性和高效性使科學家能夠更快速地進行基因實驗，迅速獲得實驗結果。

CRISPR-Cas9的工作原理類似於一把精密的基因剪刀。科學家只需設計目標基因序列，然後將這項技術應用於生物體的基因組中。通常，僅需數天或幾週，就能完成基因的修改，使科學家更迅速地探索不同基因修改對生物體的影響，加速生物學研究的進展。

科學家能夠快速生成多種不同基因型的生物，並比較它們之間的差異，深入理解基因在特定特性和功能方面的作用。這種迅速探索的能力對生物學研究和應用至關重要，幫助我們更深刻理解生物運作方式，並為未來醫學和農業創新提供無限可能。

在醫學領域，科學家能夠利用這種技術對病原體進行基因修改，創造更有效的治療方法，甚至修改癌症相關基因，減弱癌細胞的惡性特性。這不僅可能帶來更安全和精準的癌症治療，還可能為罕見疾病的治療提供新的解決方案。

在農業領域，基因編輯技術為增強作物的抗病性、耐旱性和營養價值提供了可能性。科學家能夠修改作物基因，使其能夠在惡劣環境下生長，從而提高農作物的產量和品質。這對於滿足全球不斷增長的食品需求和改善農業的可持續性具有重要意義。然而，基因編輯技術的發展需要更多的討論、倫理審查和規範，確保其應用是明智和可持續的，尊重生物的本質和生態平衡，為我們的世界帶來真正的益處。