首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Genetically Modified Foods—Feed the World? A)If you want to spark a heated debate at a dinner party, bring up the topic of genet
Genetically Modified Foods—Feed the World? A)If you want to spark a heated debate at a dinner party, bring up the topic of genet
admin
2016-05-26
82
问题
Genetically Modified Foods—Feed the World?
A)If you want to spark a heated debate at a dinner party, bring up the topic of genetically modified foods. For many people, the concept of genetically altered, high-tech crop production raises all kinds of environmental , health, safety and ethical questions. Particularly in countries with long agrarian traditions— and vocal green lobbies—the idea seems against nature.
B)In fact, genetically modified foods are already very much a part of our lives. A third of the corn and more than half the soybeans and cotton grown in the U.S. last year were the product of biotechnology, according to the Department of Agriculture. More than 65 million acres of genetically modified crops will be planted in the U.S. this year. The genetic is out of the bottle.
C)Yet there are clearly some very real issues that need to be resolved. Like any new product entering the food chain, genetically modified foods must be subjected to rigorous testing. In wealthy countries, the debate about biotech is tempered by the fact that we have a rich array of foods to choose from—and a supply that far exceeds our needs. In developing countries desperate to feed fast-growing and underfed populations, the issue is simpler and much more urgent: do the benefits of biotech outweigh the risks?
D)The statistics on population growth and hunger are disturbing. Last year the world’s population reached 6 billion. And by 2050, the U. N. estimates, it will probably near 9 billion. Almost all that growth will occur in developing countries. At the same time, the world’s available cultivable land per person is declining. Arable land has declined steadily since 1960 and will decease by half over the next 50 years, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications(ISAAA).
E)The U. N. estimates that nearly 800 million people around the world are undernourished. The effects are devastating. About 400 million women of childbearing age are iron deficient, which means their babies are exposed to various birth defects. As many as 100 million children suffer from vitamin A deficiency, a leading cause of blindness. Tens of millions of people suffer from other major ailments and nutritional deficiencies caused by lack of food.
F)How can biotech help? Biotechnologists have developed genetically modified rice that is fortified with beta-carotene—which the body converts into vitamin A—and additional iron, and they are working on other kinds of nutritionally improved crops. Biotech can also improve farming productivity in places where food shortages are caused by crop damage attribution to pests, drought, poor soil and crop viruses, bacteria or fungi(真菌).
G)Damage caused by pests is incredible. The European corn borer, for example, destroys 40 million tons of the world’s corn crop annually, about 1% of the total. Incorporating pest-resistant genes into seeds can help restore the balance. In trials of pest-resistant cotton in Africa, yields have increased significantly. So far, fears that genetically modified, pest-resistant crops might kill good insects as well as bad appear unfounded.
H)Viruses often cause massive failure in staple crops in developing countries. Two years ago, Africa lost more than half its cassava(木薯)crop—a key source of calories—to the mosaic virus. Genetically modified , virus-resistant crops can reduce that damage, as can drought-tolerant seeds in regions where water shortages limit the amount of land under cultivation. Biotech can also help solve the problem of soil that contains excess aluminum, which can damage roots and cause many staple-crop failures. A gene that helps neutralize aluminum toxicity in rice has been identified.
I)Many scientists believe biotech could raise overall crop productivity in developing countries as much as 25% and help prevent the loss of those crops after they are harvested.
J)Yet for all that promise, biotech is far from being the whole answer. In developing countries, lost crops are only one cause of hunger. Poverty plays the largest role. Today more than 1 billion people around the globe live on less than $ 1 a day. Making genetically modified crops available will not reduce hunger if farmers cannot afford to grow them or if the local population cannot afford to buy the food those farmers produce.
K)Nor can biotech overcome the challenge of distributing food in developing countries. Taken as a whole, the world produces enough food to feed everyone—but much of it is simply in the wrong place. Especially in countries with undeveloped transport infrastructures, geography restricts food availability as dramatically as genetics promises to improve it.
L)Biotech has its own "distribution" problems. Private-sector biotech companies in the rich countries carry out much of the leading-edge research on genetically modified crops. Their products are often too costly for poor farmers in the developing world, and many of those products won’t even reach the regions where they are most needed. Biotech firms have a strong financial incentive to target rich markets first in order to help them rapidly recoup the high costs of product development. But some of these companies are responding to needs of poor countries. A London-based company, for example, has announced that it will share with developing countries technology needed to produce vitamin-enriched "golden rice".
M)More and more biotech research is being carried out in developing countries. But to increase the impact of genetic research on the food production of those countries, there is a need for better collaboration between government agencies—both local and in developed countries—and private biotech firms. The ISAAA, for example, is successfully partnering with the U. S. Agency for International Development, local researches and private biotech companies to find and deliver biotech solutions for farmers in developing countries.
N)Will "frankenfoods" feed the world? Biotech is not a panacea, but it does promise to transform agriculture in many developing countries. If that promise is not fulfilled, the real losers will be their people, who could suffer for years to come.
Better cooperation between government agencies of developing countries and private biotech firms will help boost the impact of genetic research on the food production.
选项
答案
M
解析
定位句提到“为扩大遗传学研究对这些国家的粮食生产的影响,政府各部门(包括当地政府部门和发达国家的政府部门)与私营生物技术公司之间需要更好的合作”,题干中的cooperation是对论述中的collaboration的同义转述。因此选项M)正确。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/zoY7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
ResearcherssayextravitaminEfedtoturkeysappearstohelpcontrolinfectionsfromlisteria(李氏杆菌).Peoplewhoeatfoodsthat
BritishpsychologistshavefoundevidenceofalinkbetweenexcessiveInternetuseanddepression,aresearchhasshown.Lee
Consumersarebeingconfusedandmisledbythehodge-podge(大杂烩)ofenvironmentalclaimsmadebyhouseholdproducts,accordingto
Tallmenaremorelikelytohavechildrenthantheirverticallychallengedfriendsbecausewomenfindheightattractive,anews
Tallmenaremorelikelytohavechildrenthantheirverticallychallengedfriendsbecausewomenfindheightattractive,anews
Frenchfries,washeddownwithapintofsoda,areafavoritepartoffast-foodlunchesanddinnersformillionsofAmericanyou
Frenchfries,washeddownwithapintofsoda,areafavoritepartoffast-foodlunchesanddinnersformillionsofAmericanyou
Geneticallymodified(GM)foodstuffsareheretostay.That’snottosaythatfoodproducedby【C1】______agriculturewilldisappea
Faces,likefingerprints,areunique.Didyoueverwonderhowitispossibleforustorecognizepeople?Evenaskilledwriterp
Faces,likefingerprints,areunique.Didyoueverwonderhowitispossibleforustorecognizepeople?Evenaskilledwriterp
随机试题
菱脑泡可演变为()
足月顺产男婴,出生后4小时突发黑便,伴呕吐、口腔持续渗血;实验室检查:Hb9g/dL,PLT80×109/L,出、凝血时间正常范围,PT、APTT时间延长。该患儿最可能的诊断是
甲状腺功能亢进病人神经系统症状有()
A.皮肤发红B.皮肤青紫C.皮肤发白D.皮肤发黄E.皮肤发黑一氧化碳中毒表现为
腰椎间盘突出症的典型症状是
学校社会工作者小金设计了一项旨在减少校园暴力的服务方案,该方案应包括的内容有()
某专业课规定若交作业,期末考试成绩占总成绩的80%,平时作业占20%;若不交作业,期末考试成绩占总成绩的100%。五人参加该专业课考试,其中一人因为平时未交作业发挥不理想。考后这人去问成绩,老师只告诉他平均分是80.8,最高分90。若每个人得分都是整数且各
法律不是从来就有的,也不是永恒存在的,在法律发展史上先后产生了奴隶制法律、封建制法律、资本主义法律和社会主义法律。社会主义法律的基本属性是
A、AtLeech’sschool.B、Inthepolicestation.C、Onthephone.D、AtMrs.Smith’shome.CWheredoesthisconversationmostprobabl
雅鲁藏布江大峡谷(theYarlungZangboGrandCanyon)是西藏最神秘的角落。它距离最近的公路也有两天的路程,直到20世纪90年代,世人才发现这一隐秘而美丽的地方。从印度洋上吹来的温暖而湿润的季风(monsoon)使这个地方郁郁葱葱
最新回复
(
0
)