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
考研
【F1】It is the world’s fourth-most-important food crop, after maize, wheat and rice, which provides more calories, more quickly,
【F1】It is the world’s fourth-most-important food crop, after maize, wheat and rice, which provides more calories, more quickly,
admin
2016-03-22
75
问题
【F1】
It is the world’s fourth-most-important food crop, after maize, wheat and rice, which provides more calories, more quickly, using less land and in a wider range of climates than any other plant.
It is, of course, the potato.
The United Nations has declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato. It hopes that greater awareness of the merits of potatoes will contribute to the achievement of its Millennium Development Goals, by helping to alleviate poverty, improve food security and promote economic development. It is always the international year of this or month of that.【F2】
But the potato’s unusual history means it is well worth celebrating by readers of The Economist because the potato is intertwined with economic development, trade liberalisation and globalisation.
Unlikely though it seems, the potato promoted economic development by underpinning the industrial revolution in England in the 19th century. It provided a cheap source of calories and was easy to cultivate, so it liberated workers from the land. Potatoes became popular in the north of England, as people there specialised in livestock farming and domestic industry, while farmers in the south(where the soil was more suitable)concentrated on wheat production.【F3】
By a happy accident, this concentrated industrial activity in the regions where coal was readily available, and a potato-driven population boom provided ample workers for the new factories.
Friedrich Engels even declared that the potato was the equal of iron for its "historically revolutionary role".
The potato promoted free trade by contributing to the abolition of Britain’s Corn Laws—the cause which prompted the founding of The Economist in 1843. The Corn Laws restricted imports of grain into the United Kingdom in order to protect domestic wheat producers.【F4】
Landowners supported the laws, since cheap imported grain would reduce their income, but industrialists opposed them because imports would drive down the cost of food, allowing people to spend more on manufactured goods.
Ultimately it was not the eloquence of the arguments against the Corn Laws that led to their abolition—and more’ s the pity. It was the tragedy of the Irish potato famine of 1845, in which 1 million Irish perished when the potato crop on which they subsisted succumbed to blight.【F5】
The need to import grain to relieve the situation in Ireland forced the government, which was dominated by landowners who backed the Corn Laws, to reverse its position.
This paved the way for liberalisation in other areas, and free trade became British policy. As the Duke of Wellington complained at the time, "rotten potatoes have done it all."
【F2】
选项
答案
但是马铃薯不寻常的历史意味着它非常值得《经济学人》读者们赞美——因为马铃薯的历史与经济发展、贸易自由化及全球化是交织在一起的。
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/EpsZ777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
[A]BrokebackMountainisfinanciallyasuccess[B]Criticalacclaimhasbeenwon[C]Adaringbutseriousmovie[D]Agaywesterna
Lessthanayearago,anewgenerationofdietpillsseemedtoofferthelong-soughtanswertoourchronicweightproblems.Hund
Whiletravelingforvariousspeakingengagements,Ifrequentlystayovernightinthehomeofafamilyandamassignedtooneof
Cardiologistshavepioneeredtheworld’sfirstnon-surgicalbypassoperationtoturnaveinintoanarteryusinganewtechnique
Itwassupposedtobethenew-mediaelection.E-mail,blogging,socialnetworkingandtweetingwereexpectedtosurgeinimporta
Moveover,organic,fairtradeandfreerange—thelatestinenlightenedediblesishere:foodwith"embedded"positiveintention
Parentslookingtosteertheirteensawayfromdrugsmaywanttoencouragethemstayinbedlonger.Lackofsleepseemstolead
Technologyissupposedtomakeourliveseasier,allowingustodothingsmorequicklyandefficiently.Buttoooftenitseemst
Prewritingreferstostrategiesyoucanusetogenerateideasbeforestartingthefirstdraftofapaper.Prewritingtechniques
"Poverty",wroteAristotle,"istheparentofcrime."Butwasheright?Certainly,povertyandcrimeare【C1】______.Andtheidea
随机试题
关于闭经,下列叙述正确的是
A.X线B.USC.CTD.MRIE.肝动脉造影脾破裂首选的诊断方法是
栓剂与口服药剂相比,其主要优点为
男,48岁。一年来每于剧烈活动时或饱餐后发作剑突下疼痛,向咽部放射,持续数分钟可自行缓解。2周来发作频繁且有夜间睡眠中发作。2小时来疼痛剧烈,不能缓解,向胸部及后背部放射。伴憋闷,大汗。[假设信息]该患者在心肌梗死后4周,心电图ST段仍持续升高,未回到
在大脑里对已有表现进行加工改造并形成新形象的心理过程称为
在采用成本加酬金合同价时,为了控制投资,最好采用()。
利润表的格式主要有多步式利润表和单步式利润表两种。我国企业的利润表采用_______。
“战国七雄”是指()。
存储信息要方便利用,而方便利用的关键是要()。
张某于2007年1月3日应聘进入一家机械加工厂,任数控机床高级技工,企业与其签订了2年期劳动合同。在此期间,张某工作踏实、认真,多次在厂内技术评比中获奖。车间主任对张某的评价是“工作表现突出,非常胜任本岗位工作”。2009年1月份张某劳动合同到期后,人力资
最新回复
(
0
)