《Exploring plants》文字素材2（人教版选修9）.docVIP

普通高中课程标准实验教科书英语选修9 Unit 4 Exploring plantsPLANT EXPLORATION IN THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURIES ??????? The plants in our gardens look so familiar that often we do not realize that many of them actually come from countries far away. Collecting exotic plants, as they are called, dates back to the earliest times. Many ancient civilisations saw the value of bringing back plants from distant lands. The first plant collecting expedition recorded in history was around 1500 BC when the Queen of Egypt sent ships away to gather plants, animals and other goods. ??????? ?However, it was not until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that the exploration of the botanical world began on a large scale. Europe had become interested in scientific discovery and the European middle classes took great interest in collecting new plants. This attraction to exotic plants grew as European nations, like the Netherlands, Britain and Spain, moved into other parts of the world like Asia and Australia. Brave young men took the opportunity of going on botanical expeditions, often facing many dangers including disease,near-starvation, severe environments and conflicts with the local people.???????? ??? ?????? ?An important group of collectors were Frencn Catholic missionaries who, by the middle of the 18th century, were beginning to set themselves up in China. One such missionary, Father dIncarville, was sent to Beijing in the 1740s. He collected seeds of trees and bushes including those of the Tree of Heaven. Just before he died, he sent some Tree of Heaven seeds to England. They arrived in 1751 and plants from these seeds were grown throughout Europe and later, in 1784, the species was introduced in North America. ??? ?? Sir Joseph Banks was a very famous British plant collector, who accompanied James Cook on his first voyage from England to Oceania. The purpose of the trip for Banks was to record the plant and animal life they came across. He and his team collected examples whenever they went