The Tallest Grass--Bamboo
Although bamboo is really a kind of grass, it looks more like tree -- a beautiful tree. It has long leaves that sway in the wind like slim fingers reaching to touch something. Chinese and Japanese poets write poems and songs about bamboo, the artists paint it in pictures.
Not all bamboo grows tall.Altogether there are more than 500 different kinds of bamboo, and some grow no higher them your ankles. Bamboo grows best in places where it is warm and where it rains often. Some kinds of bamboo grow very fast. If they are growing near a house, their slim leaves brush the roof gently and cool the house with their shade.
Some bloom and have seeds every year. Some never bloom at all. Some bloom only once, after living about 40 years, and then die. However, new shoots of bamboo will come up from around the roots of the old ones.
But the most interesting about this remarkable plant is what people do with it after it is cut down. As bamboo is hollow, it can be fitted together and used for pipes to carry water. At the same time it is so strong that people use it to build houses, and even high bridges over rivers. Bamboo is used for more then building.People can eat it.The tender young shoots of hamboo are crisp and tasty. They are often found in Chinese or Japanese dishes. Bamboo can also be made into a fine paper, good walking sticks and fishing poles.
Bamboo probably has more uses than any other plant in the world.
[點評]
竹子是人們所熟悉的植物，但鮮為人知的是：它是一種草，而不是樹。文章從各個方面描述了竹子的風姿，竹子的生長以及竹子的作用，讓我們對竹子有了全面的了解。此文是一篇非常好的背景材料。
[參考譯文]
最高的草——竹子
雖然竹子實際上是一種草，但它看上去更像樹——一種美麗的樹。它那修長的樹葉在風中搖動，好像伸出纖細的手指去觸摸什麼東西似的。中國和日本的詩人們經常以竹子為題材寫詩寫歌，畫家們為竹子作畫。
並非所有的竹子都長得那么高。總共有500種不同種類的竹子，而某些竹子長得只有腳踝那么高。溫暖而多雨的地方最適合竹子生長。某些竹子長得很快。如果竹子生長在房屋附近，它們那修長的葉子輕指著屋頂，竹蔭使房屋變得涼爽。
有些竹子每年都開花結子。有些竹子則從不開花。有些竹子只在存活了差不多40年後才開一次花，然後就死去。然而，從老桿的根部周圍又會長出新的幼芽來。
有關這種奇異的植物的最有趣的事是在被砍倒後人們對它的利用。由於竹子是空心的，人們把它們連線起來當作管子輸水。同時，它又非常堅固，因而人們可以用它建造房屋，甚至可以在河上架起高高的橋樑。竹子不僅用於建築，還可供人們食用。竹子的幼芽脆嫩可口，經常是中國人
與日本人的盤中菜。竹子也可用來造成一種優質紙。還可以用來做成很好的手杖和魚竿。
竹子大概比世界上任何其它植物的用途都廣泛。