Trees give us many treats: dry leaves to run through, fresh apples and sweet pears to eat, cool cover on hot days. They can be ____21____ for birds and insects, too. Even a stump (树桩) is not just a piece of wood! Some stumps make ____22____ places for kids. Other stumps are wonderful for little animals and insects. They can also tell you the ____23____ of a tree. When you look at the top, you will see light and dark rings. If they are thick, the tree grew ____24____; thin rings mean growth was slow. To ____25____ the age of the tree, count the pairs of light and dark rings. Thank you, trees, and tree stumps, too!

1.21.

A markets

B homes

C museums

D schools

解析：选B。名词词义辨析。选项：A.markets 市场；B.homes 家园；C.museums 博物馆；D.schools 学校句意：树木也可以成为鸟类和昆虫的____。根据常识，树木是鸟、昆虫栖息生活的地方，homes（家园）符合语境。其余名词语义和 “鸟与昆虫” 不匹配。

2.22.

A strange

B far

C fun

D ancient

解析：选C。形容词词义辨析。选项：A.strange 奇怪的；B.far 遥远的；C.fun 有趣的；D.ancient 古老的句意：一些树桩是孩子们____的地方。fun 表示 “好玩的、有趣的”，树桩可以供孩子玩耍，符合生活逻辑。strange（怪异）、far（遥远）、ancient（古老）代入原文语义不通顺。

3.23.

A name

B place

C look

D secret

解析：选D。名词词义辨析。选项：A.name 名字；B.place 地点；C.look 外貌；D.secret 秘密句意：树桩还可以告诉你树木的____。下文介绍依靠年轮判断树木生长快慢、年龄，这些属于树木藏在树桩里的秘密。name 名字、place 地点、look 外貌均和后文年轮信息无关。

4.24.

A quickly

B quietly

C safely

D widely

解析：选A。副词词义辨析。选项：A.quickly 快速地；B.quietly 安静地；C.safely 安全地；D.widely 广泛地句意：如果年轮宽厚，树木生长____；细的年轮代表生长缓慢。分号前后是对比关系，后文growth was slow生长缓慢，对应前面 thick rings 厚年轮代表长得快。slow 的反义词是 quickly。quietly、safely、widely 不能描述树木生长速度。

5.25.

A change

B forget

C know

D hide

解析：选C。动词词义辨析。选项：A.change 改变；B.forget 忘记；C.know 了解，知道；D.hide 隐藏句意：数深浅年轮的圈数，来____树的年龄。数年轮的目的就是知晓树木年龄。know（得知、了解）符合句意；change 改变年龄、forget 忘记年龄、hide 隐藏年龄均不符合科学常识与文本逻辑。