How Do Plants Make Their Own Food?

课文

1. Plants don’t eat food like animals do—they create glucose using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide.

   植物不像动物那样进食，而是利用阳光、水和二氧化碳制造葡萄糖。

2. This process, called photosynthesis, happens mainly in leaf cells that contain a green pigment named chlorophyll.

   这一过程称为光合作用，主要发生在含有绿色色素叶绿素的叶肉细胞中。

3. Chlorophyll absorbs mostly blue and red light while reflecting green, which is why leaves appear green.

   叶绿素主要吸收蓝光和红光，反射绿光，因此叶子呈绿色。

4. Inside tiny structures called chloroplasts, light energy splits water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen.

   在名为叶绿体的微小结构内，光能将水分子分解为氧气和氢。

5. The plant then combines that hydrogen with carbon dioxide from the air to build glucose molecules.

   植物随后将氢与空气中的二氧化碳结合，合成葡萄糖分子。

6. Oxygen is released as a byproduct, and it’s the main source of breathable air for all land animals.

   氧气作为副产物释放，是陆地动物呼吸所需空气的主要来源。

7. On cloudy days, photosynthesis slows down because less light energy is available to drive the reactions.

   阴天时，因可用光能减少，光合作用速率下降。

8. Some desert plants open their stomata only at night to save water, performing a modified version of photosynthesis.

   一些沙漠植物仅在夜间打开气孔以节约水分，进行一种改良版的光合作用。

9. If you place a potted plant in total darkness for several days, its leaves will gradually lose color and energy.

   若将盆栽植物置于完全黑暗环境中数天，其叶片会逐渐褪色并丧失活力。

10. Interestingly, algae and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis too—and they produce over half the world’s oxygen.

    有趣的是，藻类和蓝细菌也能进行光合作用——它们贡献了全球一半以上的氧气。