雅思阅读真题（Part 1）
芸薹属蔬菜家族：卷心菜西兰花的前世今生
本篇也叫：西兰花家族、卷心菜家族、甘蓝家族、芸薹属、花椰菜家族、十字花科蔬菜
Part 1 · 最近考试：2026.10.24河北工业大学
本篇为雅思阅读真题（Part 1）《Brassica》，共 13 题，2026.10.24河北工业大学雅思考试真题回忆，页面提供完整原文、题目、答案与解析，并支持在线机考模式免费练习。本页同时提供 Markdown 版本 供 AI 助手与搜索引擎直接读取。
文章介绍芸薹属（Brassica）蔬菜家族，包括卷心菜、羽衣甘蓝、西兰花、花椰菜、苤蓝、抱子甘蓝、辣根、芝麻菜和芥菜等常见蔬菜。讲述它们如何由一种野生卷心菜经不同文化选择性培育而来，涉及达尔文对作物起源的研究，以及羽衣甘蓝在东亚的驯化、结球卷心菜对北欧寒冷气候的适应。
A
The group of plants known as Brassicas comprises a wide range of common vegetables including cabbages, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, horseradish, rocket and mustard. Some are so familiar that they have come to be seen as rather boring vegetables. But the Brassicas provide much more than the greens on our plates, and have played their part in plant-breeding, medicine and warfare.
B
The diversity of Brassicas we see today is the result of selective breeding at different times by different cultures, but they are all ultimately descended from one type of wild cabbage. The ease with which wild cabbage can be adapted by selective breeding was demonstrated in 1860, when researchers at Cirencester Agricultural College in the UK used simple selection experiments to produce broccoli and other cabbage-like species from wild cabbages found on the English coast. Variations in leaf form produced the tightly packed heads of today's cabbages and also other species with loose heads, while the development through selective breeding of various flower formations resulted in cauliflowers and broccolis.
C
When the British naturalist Charles Darwin came to investigate crop origins in the mid-nineteenth century, he complained that botanists had generally neglected cultivated varieties. The leafy parts of plants tend to be poorly preserved in archaeological remains, but in the course of the past hundred years or so, developments in areas as diverse as physics, genetics and computing have all contributed data to the search for the origins of Brassicas.
D
Kales, with their dark green, loose leaves, are the most ancient Brassica species. They were among the first to have been cultivated in the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor, where they are thought to have originated. However, early Brassica domestication also appears to have extended into the southern parts of China, to provide the origin of Chinese kale and the multitude of oriental variations.
E
However, kales are not well suited to the continental climates of northern Europe, where headed cabbages, in which the leaves are tightly packed together in the form of a ball, were found to be better at tolerating cold conditions. Headed cabbages were apparently unknown in the ancient world, and since no accurate descriptions have survived, it is difficult to be sure whether or not they were known in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. But in 1536, the Frenchman Jean Ruel wrote about a species that was clearly a headed cabbage, and its western migration started soon after, when the French navigator Jacques Cartier introduced it to Canada in 1541. By the mid-seventeenth century, headed cabbage was being cultivated in the English colonies of North America.
F
Kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts are much more recent cultivated forms. Kohlrabi, which is distinguished from other forms of Brassica by the greater width of its stem, was known in late-fifteenth-century northern Europe, and was first described by the Italian botanist Pierandrea Mattioli. By the end of the sixteenth century, it was being cultivated from the Iberian Peninsula in the west, Libya in the south and across the eastern Mediterranean, but it was not found extensively in England until the late nineteenth century. Broccoli has become extremely popular in recent years; today the Calabrese type, with its large green head, is the type of broccoli most frequently consumed by westerners. Brussels sprouts, of which the part of the plant consumed are the large lateral buds on the plant stems, only became widely known during the twentieth century.
G
Many people are surprised to find that the diverse Brassica genus includes such uncabbage-like members as turnip, horseradish, rocket and mustard. This last is a clue to their common ancestry: it is the chemicals in mustard oils, which were evolved to protect the Brassicas from attack by insects, that give them their distinctive smell and taste.
H
One last member of this varied genus remains: oilseed rape. A crop in Europe since medieval times, oilseed rape emerged as a twentieth-century global industrial commodity for oil and fodder, and fields of rape, with its bright yellow flowers, are now common in Europe. In the early 1960s, global oilseed rape production was just under 4 million tonnes; by 2012 this had risen to approximately 65 million tonnes. Furthermore, oilseed rape has become important in research being carried out in the area of plant breeding.
I
Through generations of selection, we have changed almost every part of wild cabbages to meet our varying needs. The fact that cabbage can be developed in this way means that it is likely to remain an important food source as climates change and new means of producing food must be found.
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答案：TRUE
原文定位：The diversity of Brassicas we see today is the result of selective breeding at different times by different cultures, but they are all ultimately descended from one type of wild cabbage
同义替换：「Every kind of Brassica now available」↔「The diversity of Brassicas we see today」，「has been developed from」↔「are all ultimately descended from」，「the same wild cabbage species」↔「one type of wild cabbage」
答案：buds
原文定位：Brussels sprouts, of which the part of the plant consumed are the large lateral buds on the plant stems, only became widely known during the twentieth century
同义替换：「Brussels sprouts」↔「Brussels sprouts」，「consist of」↔「the part of」，「only became widely known in the 20th century」↔「only became widely known during the twentieth century」
答案：insects
原文定位：it is the chemicals in mustard oils, which were evolved to protect the Brassicas from attack by insects, that give them their distinctive smell and taste
同义替换：「mustard」↔「mustard」，「defend」↔「protect」
答案：production
原文定位：In the early 1960s, global oilseed rape production was just under 4 million tonnes; by 2012 this had risen to approximately 65 million tonnes
同义替换：「oilseed rape」↔「oilseed rape」，「bright yellow flowers」↔「bright yellow flowers」，「has recently increased」↔「had risen」
答案：research
原文定位：Furthermore, oilseed rape has become important in research being carried out in the area of plant breeding
同义替换：「oilseed rape」↔「oilseed rape」，「plant breeding」↔「plant breeding」
答案：NOT GIVEN
原文定位：Variations in leaf form produced the tightly packed heads of today's cabbages and also other species with loose heads, while the development through selective breeding of various flower formations resulted in cauliflowers and broccolis
同义替换：「Today's cabbages」↔「today's cabbages」，「leaves」↔「leaf form」，「larger」↔「」
答案：TRUE
原文定位：Variations in leaf form produced the tightly packed heads of today's cabbages and also other species with loose heads, while the development through selective breeding of various flower formations resulted in cauliflowers and broccolis
同义替换：「flower formations」↔「flower formations」，「cauliflowers and broccolis」↔「cauliflowers and broccolis」，「produced by」↔「resulted in」，「selective breeding」↔「selective breeding」
答案：FALSE
原文定位：When the British naturalist Charles Darwin came to investigate crop origins in the mid‑nineteenth century, he complained that botanists had generally neglected cultivated varieties
同义替换：「Charles Darwin」↔「Charles Darwin」，「botanists」↔「botanists」，「cultivated plants」↔「cultivated varieties」，「more to wild plants」↔「」
答案：TRUE
原文定位：but in the course of the past hundred years or so, developments in areas as diverse as physics, genetics and computing have all contributed data to the search for the origins of Brassicas
同义替换：「Over the last century」↔「in the course of the past hundred years or so」，「knowledge about the history of Brassicas」↔「data to the search for the origins of Brassicas」，「come from a number of different sources」↔「areas as diverse as physics, genetics and computing」
答案：cultivated
原文定位：Kales, with their dark green, loose leaves, are the most ancient Brassica species. They were among the first to have been cultivated in the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor, where they are thought to have originated
同义替换：「kales」↔「kales」，「one of the earliest species」↔「among the first」
答案：descriptions
原文定位：Headed cabbages were apparently unknown in the ancient world, and since no accurate descriptions have survived, it is difficult to be sure whether or not they were known in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. But in 1536, the Frenchman Jean Ruel wrote about a species that was clearly a headed cabbage
同义替换：「headed cabbages」↔「Headed cabbages」，「no correct」↔「no accurate」
答案：stem
原文定位：Kohlrabi, which is distinguished from other forms of Brassica by the greater width of its stem, was known in late‑fifteenth‑century northern Europe, and was first described by the Italian botanist Pierandrea Mattioli
同义替换：「kohlrabi」↔「Kohlrabi」，「thick」↔「greater width」
答案：westerners
原文定位：today the Calabrese type, with its large green head, is the type of broccoli most frequently consumed by westerners
同义替换：「Calabrese broccoli」↔「Calabrese type」，「has a large green head」↔「with its large green head」，「most popular variety」↔「most frequently consumed」