Part II Reading Comprehension (20 分 ) Two Passage One Short, unattractive, dwarfed by the grand oaks and poplars nearby and unnoticed by the tourists passing in horse-drawn carriages, it's a tree that only birds and nut-hungry squirrels could love. But on Thursday, the 100-year-old European beech ( 山毛榉树 ) on Central Park's Cherry Hill was the center of attention — chosen by New York city officials as the first of 25 "historical" trees to be cloned as part of a plan announced last year to add a million new trees to streets, parks and public spaces over the next decade. Agriculture students from a Queens high school rode tree-trimmers' buckets to upper branches of the 60-foot tree and cut off 6- to 12-inch sections of new growth, to be sent to a scientific tree nursery in eastern Oregon. If all goes well, the genetic copies will be sent back in two years to New York for replanting. "We want to break the stereotype of New York as skyscrs and sidewalks," Parks Commissioner Adrian Benape said. "New York abounds in historical trees." The target trees include nine different species. All were selected by borough foresters ( 护林员 ) as historical for having existed for at least a century — either as the landscape or as having special significance to local communities. City partners in the cloning effort include the Central Park Conservancy, a private group that manages the 840-acre park; Bartlett Tree Experts, a century-old Connecticut-based company that has tree care contracts in New York, 25 other states, Canada, England and Ireland; the nonprofit Tree Fund, and the Coleman Co., a camping equipment maker, whose coolers would be used to ship the cuttings to Oregon. David Mc, a Bartlett vice president, said the cloning would target several "Olmsted trees," dating from the creation of Central Park by famed architect Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 1850s. Benape said being less than beautiful did not affect the European beech tree's potential contribution to a greener New York. "Like the other trees to be cloned, it has withstood( 经受 ) the test of time and the indignities of life," he said. "These trees as a result tend to be hardier species, inherently disease resistant. They are a great reaffirmation( 重申 ) of the importance of nature in New York City — trees so good that people are looking to clone them." Questions11 to 20 are based on the following passage. 11. Why did the 100-year-old European beech on Central Park's Cherry Hill become the center of attention?