Lesson 2 California’s Giant

Sequoia National Park in California is the home of the oldest and biggest living things. They are the famous ‘‘big trees,” the giant sequoias.

At first, reports of these trees were thought to be tall tales. Imagine trees thirty feet thick at the bottom and three hundred feet high! And three thousand years old, maybe more. It was unbelievable.

In all, there are about seventy groves of giant sequoias. Thirty-two different groves stand within Sequoia National Park. The largest, the Giant Forest, contains the big trees in every stage of growth, from tiny seedlings to sky-piercing giants.

The giant sequoia produces seeds every year. It blooms during winter, when the ground is covered with snow. The flowers give way to bright green cones① containing tiny seeds. Millions of these seeds fall to the ground during autumn. If they fall on a grass-or trash-covered forest floor, they cannot sprout. But if they fall on freshly turned soil, they will begin to grow the next spring. Many birds and animals like to eat the tender② green sprouts, so that only a few of the sequoia seedlings manage to live through the first year.

As the sequoia grows, the lower branches drop off. Finally the nearest branch may be more than a hundred feet above the ground. The sequoia makes its most rapid growth before it is five hundred years old. After that the growth is very slow. When the tree rings of one-old giant were counted and its stump③ measured, it was found that the tree had increased its thickness by only ten feet in more than sixteen hundred years.

No other tree can put up such a terrific fight for life. When a big tree falls, it takes years for its needlelike leaves to wither④. The wood never seems to decay⑤ or become rotten.

Fire is the big tree’s worst enemy. Most groves have been swept by roaring flames again and again. Although other kinds of trees will die by the hundreds in a single blaze, no ordinary fire can kill a big tree. If given a chance before another fire comes,the tree will heal its own wounds. It will grow new bark over the burned part. One tree in the Giant Forest, the Black Chamber, has had its whole inside eaten out by fire. Yet each year this tree sends out new shoots.

Sometimes a burned tree is hollowed out all the way to the top. By standing at the bottom and looking up it is possible to see a patch of blue sky, as if you were looking through a telescope. Sometimes a fallen tree has been hollowed out by fire. Then it becomes a tunnel through which visitors can walk.

Most of the fires are caused by lightning. All of the very old big trees have been struck by lightning at least once. Many have had their heads cut off again and again.They simply grow new heads. The Stricken Tree in the Giant Forest was torn into hundreds of pieces by lightning, yet it is still alive.

Without doubt the most famous tree in the park is the General Sherman. It may be the biggest and oldest living thing in the world. This tree is as tall as a twenty-seven story skyscraper. It contains enough lumber to build a good-sized village. It would make a box large enough to hold the greatest ocean liner ever built. And at least forty loaded cars would be needed to haul⑥ away just its trunk.

How long can a big tree live? The age limit is unknown. Since some of the tree have already neared or reached four thousand years, it seems reasonably certain that they can live five or six thousand years. Perhaps they can live as long as ten thousand.They were old when Columbus discovered America. They were stately giants when Christ was born. Yet not many years ago the sequoias came close to being destroyed.

The destruction began soon after the big trees were discovered. Many of the forests were bought by private owners, and lumber companies. Thousands of the big trees were cut down and cut up. Often they were blasted⑦ with bombs into pieces small enough to handle.

During those terrible years, many people tried to get control of the forests so that they could save them. The best work was done by Colonel George W. Steward, the editor of a weekly newspaper printed not far from the forests. He wrote about the need for saving the forests and suggested the idea of a national park to preserve them. He and his friends wrote letters to every person in the United States who they knew wanted to save the trees.

On September 25, 1890, Congress created Sequoia National Park. Today more than three hundred thousand persons visit the park each year.

(809 words)

Ⅰ . How well did you read?

l. [Choose the fact.] Sequoia National Park contains___________ .

A. almost all the big trees

B. about 70 groves of sequoias C. almost half the sequoia groves

2. [Note the details.] The oldest sequoia in the forest is named the___________ .

A. Colonel Steward B. General Sherman C. Stricken Tree

3. [Judge from the details.] The Black Chamber is___________ .

A. the thickest part of the Giant Forest

B. a famous burned-out tree

C. the largest grove of sequoias

4. [Read between lines.] A sequoia seedling is most likely to be destroyed by___________ .

A. temperature B. fire C. birds and animals

5. [Draw a conclusion.] The most accurate way to tell the age of a sequoia is by the___________ .

A. height of the lower branches

B. number of tree rings

C. size of its head

6. [Give the conclusion.] The greatest danger to the big trees has come from ___________.

A. lightning B. disease C. man

7. [Read between lines.] The man most responsible for saving the sequoias was a___________ .

A. forest ranger B. newspaper editor C. lumber company owner

Ⅱ. Read for words.

Choose one best paraphrase for the underlined words.

1. In all, there are about seventy groves of giant sequoias. (Para. 3)

A. groups of trees B. parks C. tales

2. If they fall on a grass-or trash-covered forest floor, they cannot sprout. (Para. 4)

A. broom B. begin to grow C. grow seeds

3. But if they fall on freshly turned soil, they will begin to grow the next spring. (Para.4)

A. recently B. strongly C. cleanly

4. If given a chance before another fire comes, the tree will heal its own wounds.(Para. 7)

A. risk B. opportunity C. possibility

5. By standing at the bottom and looking up it is possible to see a patch of blue sky,as if you were looking through a telescope. (Para. 8)

A. round B. small piece C. square mile

6. They simply grow new heads. (Para. 9)

A. foolishly B. merely C. easily

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