Eye-Catching Trees

引人注目的樹These trees are so special that you’ll take another look! by Lisa Holl Chang
这些树真叫人不由得驻足，再三欣赏。

Henry Ward Beecher, a 19th century minister wrote, “Of all man’s works of art, a cathedral is the greatest. A vast and majestic tree is greater than that.” Whether majestic or simply unusual, these trees stand out.

Baobabs
Found on the plains of Africa, these trees appear upside down. Their branches, which look more like roots, grow out of abnormally thick trunks. The trunks hold water, sometimes up to 120,000 liters, which helps baobabs survive in Africa’s dry climates.

Banyans
Instead of growing up, these unique trees grow outward. From their branches hang aerial roots, which reach to the ground and eventually create new tree trunks. A large banyan tree may look like a forest. The world's largest such tree, the Great Banyan located in Kolkata, India, covers about one and a half hectares.

Redwoods and sequoias
These two related species, found mostly in California, literally stand out for their height and size.
Coastal redwoods commonly grow over 100 m tall. Their slightly shorter relatives, giant sequoias, are simply massive. General Sherman, the world's Largest tree, weighs in at 120,000 kg.

These eye-catching trees are indeed natural treasures worth admiring.

eye catching trees- the trees catch your eyes.
cathedral-great and big church, very beautiful and awe. grand = great.
Majestic (adj)-great and big and awesome.　雄伟的
Peter wants to travel to China so he can see the majestic Great Wall.
Stand out (phr.v)-special, catch people's eyes.　站出来的意思，此指突出的。长的特别高出
Gareth's strong reading skills make him stand out from his classmates.
stand out from someone-从一群体中或是一群东西中显得特别突出。
*Her looks really stood out from other beauty contestants.出众的外表使她在选美佳丽中显得特别突出。
upside down (adv.)-turn around, turn all the way down.　颠倒的，倒过来的。。
This book is turned upside down. You can't read it that way!
*The car landed upside down on the road.
*The books on the shelf were placed upside down.放颠倒。
*These naughtily kids turned my house upside down.　调皮孩子，一片混乱，乱七八糟
outward (adv)-spread from inside to outside.
Because of the heavy rain, the lake filled up and spread outward toward the nearby town.
slightly-just a little bid of.
My next trip to America will be slightly longer than my last one.
literally-really do.
The whole town was literally destroyed by the flood.按字面的意思，确实的，不夸张的，没有夸大其词的。
Our team literally sees each other every day of the week.
aerial root- root hanging in the air.
hectare-10,000 sq. m. land.

Grammar
These eye-catching trees are indeed natural treasures worth admiring.
indeed
The wedding is indeed cancelled.
The secretary did indeed send the proposal last week.
be-verb or helping verb+indeed. give certainly statement.
Is it raining outside? Yes, indeed. (indeed can also use in short sentence)
Gary is late again, right? Indeed, he is.
be-verb or helping verb + indeed.

Chat Room
work of the art-
cathedral 大教堂- is a big church统称的教堂。
towers塔楼, columns大圆柱, mosaic 马赛克and stained glass windows 彩色玻璃窗(some cut into different shape and put together)
chapel-is much smaller, a place for people to worship in Hospital, school, or airport...学校，医院里的小教堂。