Fill in each gap with a suitable word to complete the following passage
The oldest living things on Earth (46) ………trees. Some of California's sequoias have for four thousand years looked down on the changes in the landscape and the comings and goings of humans. (47) ………… sprouted from tiny seeds about the time the Egyptian pyramids (48) ………… being built. Today these giant patriarchs seem as re-mote and inaccessible (49) …………the rocks and mountain cliffs on which they grow, like cathedral columns holding up the sky. It is hard to imagine them playing any part in the lives of (50)……….. mere humans (50)……….. doing in any way affected by the creatures that pass at their feet.
Lesser trees, however, have played an important and intimate (51) ……….. in the lives of people since they first appeared on(52) ………… . Trees fed the fires that warmed humans: they provided shelter, food, medicine and even clothing. They also shaped people's spiritual horizons. Trees expressed the grandeur and mystery of life, as they moved through the cycle of seasons, from life to death and back to (53) ………. again.
Trees were the largest (54) ………… things around humans and they knew that some trees had been standing on the same spot in their parent's and grandparents' time, and would continue to stand long after they were gone. No wonder these (55) ………… became symbols of strength, fruitfulness, and everlasting life.
The oldest living things on Earth (46) .....are……trees. Some of California's sequoias have for four thousand years looked down on the changes in the landscape and the comings and goings of humans. (47) They…… sprouted from tiny seeds about the time the Egyptian pyramids (48) ...were…… being built. Today these giant patriarchs seem as re-mote and inaccessible (49) …as……the rocks and mountain cliffs on which they grow, like cathedral columns holding up the sky. It is hard to imagine them playing any part in the lives of (50)…mere….. mere humans (50)…or….. doing in any way affected by the creatures that pass at their feet.
Lesser trees, however, have played an important and intimate (51) …role…….. in the lives of people since they first appeared on(52) …Earth……… . Trees fed the fires that warmed humans: they provided shelter, food, medicine and even clothing. They also shaped people's spiritual horizons. Trees expressed the grandeur and mystery of life, as they moved through the cycle of seasons, from life to death and back to (53) ……life …. again.
Trees were the largest (54) ……living…… things around humans and they knew that some trees had been standing on the same spot in their parent's and grandparents' time, and would continue to stand long after they were gone. No wonder these (55) ……trees…… became symbols of strength, fruitfulness, and everlasting life.