陽臺園藝
——都市青年的田園生活

陜西 陳春曉

一天緊張的工作之后回到家中，如果見到陽臺上迎風搖曳的植物，你一定會感到心情舒暢。 這就是陽臺園藝的魅力!

篇幅：368詞 難度：★★★ 建議用時：7分鐘

1On the 5-square-meter balcony of Zhong Liu's apartment, there is a mini-farm crammed with lemons, tomatoes, eggplants, blueberries and mint.Zhong's idyllic urban lifestyle started in 2020 when residents were required to work from home due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

2“I grew garlic for the very first time as I didn't want to throw it away. It sprouted and grew roots in just seven or eight days. It opened up a brand new world to me,” said the young illustrator who lives in the city of Shenzhen,Guangdong Province.

3Zhong is not alone. An increasing number of urban youth have picked up the hobby of growing vegetables on their balconies， as working from home has changed many people's lives in the urban areas across the country.

4In the first quarter of this year, online sales of vegetable seeds rose dramatically year on year, and the number of seed buyers increased by more than 100 percent for three years non-stop, according to a report released by China's e-commerce platform giant.

5Zhong has started sharing her journey on social media platforms this year,which has brought her more than 100,000 followers. In a chat group consisting of over 100 young balcony green-thumbed gardeners across the country, they share the growth of their vegetables every day, discussing which plants are more suitable for balcony planting and how to fertilize and pollinate crops. “Balcony gardening can heal young people's busy urban lives. We sow and look forward to the harvest, and experience the happiness of the idyllic moments,” Zhong said.

6The municipal government of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, launched a city vegetable garden project last March, providing seeds and farm tools as well as organizing agricultural experts to provide online Q&A for local residents, in an effort to encourage urban children to get in touch with nature through balcony planting.

7“In cities, people need to get along with nature. They will be healed spiritually during the process of getting close to soil, seeds and plants. Parent-child relationships can also be strengthened by taking part in the activities together. Community gardening also promotes people-to-people communication, and makes neighborhoods harmonious,”said Li Xiangyang, a researcher of the Guangzhou Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Reading Check

Language Study

Ⅰ. Discover useful structures in the text

1. a number of表示“許多；大量的”，在句子中修飾主語時，謂語動詞用復數形式。

An increasing number of urban youth have picked up the hobby of growing vegetables on their balconies, as working from home has changed many people's lives in the urban areas across the country. 在全國各大城市里，居家辦公改變了很多人的生活，在陽臺上種菜的城市青年也越來越多。

2. which指代前面的整句話，引導非限制性定語從句，從句中的謂語動詞用單數形式。

Zhong has started sharing her journey on social media platforms this year, which has brought her more than 100,000 followers. 鐘今年開始在社交媒體平臺上分享她的種菜過程，這為她帶來了超過10萬名粉絲。

Ⅱ. Text-centered chunks

be required to 被要求

throw away 扔掉；丟棄

open up 打開；出現

year on year 與前一年同期比較

consist of 由……組成；由……構成

be suitable for 適合……的

get close to 靠近；接近