环球自然日®-故事播讲（2022年度）英文素材-9.Soybean is Ill

In a field outside the farm, somehow grows a small soybean. According to the vole, when he was stealing food, his accidentally dropped a soybean on the road. That’s why the soybean grew. His roots stretches deeply into the soil and absorbs the cool water. He spreads out pieces of green leaves and bathes in the warm sunlight. Life is quite pleasant.

One day, the soybean felt itchy on the roots, as if something was moving. The soybean asked: "Who is there?"

"It's me, I'm a little earthworm." A muffled voice came from the ground: "I'm loosening the soil for you, so that you can absorb water and nutrients better."

"So it is," the soybean said gratefully, "Thank you so much!"

On another day, the soybean felt itchy again: "Little earthworm, is that you? Are you tickling me?" they soybean asked.

"I don't have the mood to play with you today," the little earthworm replied from the underground: "I'm busy digging holes. But I can come over and talk to you for a few minutes." Then the earthworm crawled up, and suddenly, he yelled: "God! Soybean, there are so many tumors on your roots!"

"What? Tumors?" the soybean asked in a panic.

"Yes!" said the little earthworm: "I can see clearly that you have grown a lot of small bulges on your bare roots. They must be tumors!"

"Do I have tumors? Or is it an infectious disease?" the soybean shivered with fright.

"You are not sick." Suddenly a small voice came from under the ground.

"Who is talking?"the soybean asked.

"I am Rhizobium," the thin voice continued, "I live in the small bulges on your roots."

"Ew? You are a bacterium!" The little earthworm said in horror: "Abominable pathogenic bacteria, you are the culprit of the soybean's disease!"

"Don't worry," Rhizobium said in a soft voice: "I am a kind of bacteria indeed , but it is a kind of beneficial bacteria for soybeans. I can absorb nitrogen in the air and give them to you. Nitrogen is the raw material for the production of protein, and it is also an element that is difficult for plants to absorb. Each one of us is like a small nitrogen fertilizer plant. Therefore, you have great amounts of protein, for which we help a lot!"

The soybean was very surprised: "That is to say, because of you, i don't have to worry about the lack of fertilizer anymore?"

Rhizobium chuckled and laughed: "Yes! On the other side of the field, there is a large farmland full of soybeans. My brothers and sisters live together peacefully with your kinds. By the end of the year, we will fall off your body, the soil will become more fertile. Next year, the farmer will plant corn in the field. The nitrogen we prepared in the previous year will also make the corn grow stronger. "

"It’s great to have you." The soy bean was very happy. Now he relieved, not only because he is not sick, but also because he will grow stronger and stronger.