2017考研英语拓展阅读：我们能在火星上种植土豆吗？

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    　　2017考研英语拓展阅读：我们能在火星上种植土豆吗？
    In the Hollywood science fiction movie "The Martian," the astronaut
stranded on the Red Planet lives on potatoes he grows there for more than 500
days while awaiting rescue.
    在好莱坞科幻片《火星救援》当中，着陆在火星上的宇航员在等待救援的同时，他还吃了500余天的自己种植的土豆。
    But will potatoes really grow on Mars one day? Although humans haven’t set
foot on Mars, astronauts have tasted lettuce grown on the International Space
Station.
    但是真的有一天能够在火星上种植土豆吗?虽然人类尚未踏上火星，宇航员们已经品尝过了在国际空间站生长的莴笋。
    On Tiangong-2, China’s first space lab which was launched in September, an
experiment is underway to grow rice and Arabidopsis thaliana.
    在天宫二号(于9月份发射的中国首个太空实验室)上，种植水稻和拟南芥的实验正在进行当中。
    Chinese scientists hope the plants will go through the whole cycle, from
seed to seed.
    中国的科学家们希望这些植物将经历所有环节，从播种到结实。
    Scientists are eager to know whether plants in space still blossom
according to an Earth-based cycle, and yield the same seeds.
    科学家们渴望知道太空中的植物是否会依照地球上的环节仍旧开花结果。
    "We want to study the growth rhythm and the flowering of plants in
micro-gravity conditions," says Zheng Huiqiong, chief scientist in charge of
plant research on Tiangong-2, and a researcher with the Institute of Plant
Physiology and Ecology of the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences under
the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
    中国科学院(CAS)上海生命科学研究院植物生理生态研究所首席科学家郑慧琼表示：“我们想要研究生长节律以及在微重力条件下植物的开花情况。”
    "So far, the plants on Tiangong-2 have been growing well. Some Arabidopsis
thaliana are blooming, and the rice is about 10 centimeters tall," Zheng
says.
    她说道：“到目前为止，天宫二号上的植物生长得很好。一些拟南芥正在开花，水稻约10厘米高了。”
    "We cannot avoid the issue of growing crops and vegetables, if we want to
live on Mars. Only when we grow plants well in space, can we go deeper into
space," Zheng says.
    她说道：“如果我们想要在火星上生活的话，我们就无法避免种植水稻和蔬菜的问题。只有当能够在太空种植植物时，我们才能够更加深入太空。”
    "If we can conduct research on Mars, potatoes are a good choice. We could
also try growing tomatoes, cucumbers, rice and wheat," Zheng says.
    她说道：“如果我们要在火星上展开研究，土豆是个不错的选择。我们还可以尝试种植西红柿、黄瓜、水稻和小麦。”