首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Gardening The technology of beauty Now, gardening was driven by three main trends: technological change, plant prospecti
Gardening The technology of beauty Now, gardening was driven by three main trends: technological change, plant prospecti
admin
2010-05-09
41
问题
Gardening
The technology of beauty
Now, gardening was driven by three main trends: technological change, plant prospecting and fashion. Of these, the most important was technology, whose advances made it possible for the middle classes to enjoy what had once been affordable only to the very rich.
The most dramatic example of popularizing technology was surely the invention of the lawnmower. Nothing was more labour-intensive, in the 18th century, than maintaining a large lawn. It would take three men with scythes (大镰刀) a whole day to cut an acre (two-fifths of a hectare) of grass; they would be followed by lawn women whose task was to gather up the cuttings.
Just one man went to mow
Then, in 1830, Edwin Beard Budding realised that the rotary blade used in the cloth industry to produce an even pile on textiles could be used on grass. The rotary lawnmower meant that suburban homes could afford the neat greensward (草皮) previously available only to the rich.
The other technology that transformed Victorian gardening was the development of the art of growing plants under glass. Importing plants from countries as distant as Australia became a commercial possibility once they were sealed in wooden boxes with glass tops. From the 1830s on, Victorian gardens, private and public, used masses of bedding plants. In 1877, 2 million plants were bedded out in London’s parks, often in elaborate geometric designs. Growing them under glass protected them both from frost and from pollution.
In the past century, technology has once again transformed and simplified gardening. Among the most significant advances is the growing of plants in containers. Instead of ordering plants grown in open fields and dug up bare-rooted for planting in autumn, gardeners now typically buy plants which, because they have been grown in containers, can be transplanted at almost any time of year. Container growing has in turn become possible largely because of the development of lighter composts.
Other men’s flowers
The past two centuries have seen an immense increase in the range of garden plants. Native species have been refined and developed; and explorers have brought back plants from all parts of the world. The passion for plant collecting sprang partly from the expansion of Catholic religious orders (神职) abroad in the 16th century, looking for medicinal plants as well as souls to convert. Many early plant-hunters are commemorated in plant names, such as the Tradescants, father and son; Sir Joseph Banks, who sailed with Captain Cook and brought home 3500 species from Australia.
Fashion is every bit as important in determining what people grow as in what they wear. The geometry, gravel and bedding plants of the mid-19th-cenmry town-house garden had given way, by the century’s end, to a passion for informality and English cottage gardens, fostered by two of the great designers of the age. Their influence has proved enduring. "All over the world, people want to rival English gardens, often in a climate that makes it very difficult," says Sarah Bond, an enthusiastic amateur gardener in Manhattan.
A growing business
Both gardening and looking at gardens are developing rapidly. Give people a piece of ground and they will buy something to put in it. Mark Bhatti and Andrew Church of Brighton University in England point to the fact that people now seem to spend far more on machinery and chemicals, and more again on benches, barbecues, pots and sun-loungers, than they spend on plants themselves.
Moreover, the range of places where people can buy gardening supplies has expanded. Supermarkets and general stores frequently carry plants and other gardening necessities. On the contrary, Britain’s Garden Centre Association says that around 12% of the typical turnover of a garden centre now comes from the cafe. A trip to a garden centre has become a favourite outing even for those who go to sniff (闻味) and look rather than to buy.
Lots of people now go to look at gardens too. Britain’s National Gardens Scheme now includes in its Yellow Book, staple of every garden-obsessed Brit, more than 3500 gardens that open at least one day a year. New entries are added only after serious scrutiny. Other countries have begun to copy: Australia launched its Open Garden Scheme in 1987, America’s Garden Conservancy was founded in 1989 and Japan’s version started in 2001: Nosing round other people’s gardens is a universal passion.
Why do people garden? One reason, perhaps, is economic. A number of attempts to measure the impact on property values of environmental amenities (休闲设施) suggests that, in moderation, nice trees add to a house’s market value. One study found that trees could boost a property’s value by up to 30%; the maximum effect was given by 67% tree cover. A landscaped patio (院子) was the best buy of all, adding 12.4% to the price. But then, early Victorian property developers also knew that a garden helped sell a house: some ran their own nurseries (苗圃), to provide the plants for instant gardens.
A small taste of freedom
Gardening seems to affect health and behaviour. Those who look after the ill and elderly get less tired if they walk or cycle through greenery; cancer patients go back to work sooner after treatment if they walk in natural surroundings or gardens; tenants in bad housing show less aggression and violence if their flats overlook something natural; girls with greener views from home are more self-disciplined and concentrate better. None of these findings would have surprised the Victorians, who laid out public parks in their cities because they believed the poor would thereby learn better behaviour and enjoy better health. Sadly, as spending on private gardens has soared, spending on public parks has generally declined.
Most of all, though, people garden because it makes them happy. Don’t be surprised if Paradise turns out to be one vast pleasure garden, with perhaps a comer set aside for freedom-loving and vegetable-growers too.
The progress of technology makes it possible for the middle classes to derive more pleasure from gardening which only the rich had once afforded.
选项
A、Y
B、N
C、NG
答案
A
解析
文章第一段最后一句话提到了“…the most important was technology;whose advances made it possible for the middle classes to enjoy what had once been affordable only to the very rich.”最重要的是科技的进步使得中产阶层支付得起过去只有富人才能享受的园艺业。因此,该句话的意思是正确的。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/vBKK777K
0
大学英语六级
相关试题推荐
Forjourneysofupto550kilometers,planesareinferiorto______.WiththeserviceofRailteam,Whatcouldatravelerdoifh
A、Theybecamemorepopular.B、Theyweremoreregulated.C、Theybecamelesshonest.D、Theybecamebetterproduced.BHowdidgreen
A、Someinterestingcommercials.B、Someperfectlookingwomancomplainedaboutthetribulations.C、Somestupidsitcom.D、Somewom
A、Hethinkspeopleshouldcarrygunstopreventthemselves.B、Hedoesnotthinkthatcarryinggunswillreducecrimerate.C、He
A、Aplatformworker.B、Acomputer.C、Thecommandspot.D、Amachine.DWhodoesallthecheckingandcollectingticketsontheVic
ClimateChangeScientistspredictincreasingdroughts,floodsandextremeweatherandsaythereisgrowingevidencethathuma
Everhearofthelemming(旅鼠)?Lemmingsarearcticrat-likeanimalswithaveryoddhabit:periodically,forunknownreasons,th
Todefinesciencewemaysimplycallit______.Ascientistinterestedinaddingtoourgeneralknowledgeaboutoxygenwouldpr
A、Ridingahorse.B、Shootingamovie.C、Playingagame.D、ApplyforthejobDW:Raiseyourhatalittlebitandholdthesaddlea
A、Gotobedalittleearlierthanusual.B、Talkwithfriendsafterdinner.C、Takesleepingpills.D、Dosomephysicalexercises.
随机试题
金属烤瓷全冠制作完成后,临床试冠时颈缘崩瓷,而金属基底冠边缘长短合适,分析造成的原因主要是
牛的瘤胃不具有的结构有
在计量组织的三种类型(监理独立计量、承包商独立计量、联合计量)中承包商独立计量就是指由承包商自行进行的计量。()
“备案号”栏应填:“收货单位”栏应填:
根据下面材料,回答问题。1961年春天,我买了自己的第一辆车,当时我还是个高中生。最吸引我眼球的二手汽车广告大致如下:“1955年产双门庞蒂克,V8发动机,带收音机、加热器,手动变速,售价375美元,可议价。”在1955年,庞蒂克的V8是买家通常
心理评估是什么?有什么意义?
一位清洁工人坐拥千万房产,却仍坚持从事清洁工作。并且教育子女自食其力。你对这种现象有什么看法?
某品牌的葛粉进价为20元,现降价20%卖出,结果还获得进价52%的利润,那么,该葛粉的定价是多少元?
随着我国进入全面建设小康社会新的发展阶段,统一战线也进入一个新的发展阶段,呈现出新的阶段性特征:空前的广泛性、巨大的包容性、鲜明的多样性和显著的社会性。统一战线发展呈现出新的阶段性特征表明()。
A、Theuniversityregardschemistryasunimportant.B、TheChemistrydepartmentisunder-funded.C、Thereisnotenoughspaceinth
最新回复
(
0
)