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
Some of the world’s most significant problems never hit headlines. One example comes from agriculture. Food riots and hunger mak
Some of the world’s most significant problems never hit headlines. One example comes from agriculture. Food riots and hunger mak
admin
2019-03-20
71
问题
Some of the world’s most significant problems never hit headlines. One example comes from agriculture. Food riots and hunger make news. But the trend lying behind these matters is rarely talked about. This is the decline in the growth in yields of some of the world’s major crops. A new study by the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal looks at where, and how far, this decline is occurring.
The authors take a vast number of data points for the four most important crops: rice, wheat, corn and soyabeans(大豆). They find that on between 24% and 39% of all harvested areas, the improvement in yields that took place before the 1980s slowed down in the 1990s and 2000s.
There are two worrying features of the slowdown. One is that it has been particularly sharp in the world’s most populous(人口多的)countries, India and China. Their ability to feed themselves has been an important source of relative stability both within the countries and on world food markets. That self-sufficiency cannot be taken for granted if yields continue to slow down or reverse.
Second, yield growth has been lower in wheat and rice than in corn and soyabeans. This is problematic because wheat and rice are more important as foods, accounting for around half of all calories consumed. Com and soyabeans are more important as feed grains. The authors note that " we have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars rather than on crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world. "
The report qualifies the more optimistic findings of another new paper which suggests that the world will not have to dig up a lot more land for farming in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050, as the Food and Agriculture Organisation has argued.
Instead, it says, thanks to slowing population growth, land currently ploughed up for crops might be able to revert(回返)to forest or wilderness. This could happen. The trouble is that the forecast assumes continued improvements in yields, which may not actually happen.
Why does the author mention India and China in particular?
选项
A、Their self-sufficiency is vital to the stability of world food markets.
B、Their food yields have begun to decrease sharply in recent years.
C、Their big populations are causing worldwide concerns.
D、Their food self-sufficiency has been taken for granted.
答案
A
解析
推理判断题。由第三段第二句可知,研究发现印度和中国粮食产量增速下降尤其剧烈。第三句进一步解释这一点为什么令人担心,原因在于这两个国家人口众多,它们养活自己的能力是保证两国内和世界粮食市场相对稳定的重要来源,故答案为A)“他们的自给自足对世界粮食市场的稳定性至关重要”。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/GbZ7777K
0
大学英语四级
相关试题推荐
TVLinkedtoLowerMarksA)Theeffectoftelevisiononchildrenhasbeendebatedeversincethefirstsetswereturnedon.Nowt
A、Whoarethebetterlanguagelearners,childrenoradults?B、Whydoadultslearnaforeignlanguage?C、Whataretheadvantages
A、Bettermemories.B、Betterstudyhabits.C、Moreefficientwaysofconveyinginformation.D、Greaterabilitiestodealwithcompl
Differentthingsusuallystandfordifferentfeelings.Red,forexample,isthecoloroffire,heat,bloodandlife.Peoplesay
元代(theYuanDynasty)是中国瓷器(porcelain)发展史上一个重要的时期。基于先前朝代的烧制技术,景德镇成功地制作出青花瓷(theblueandwhiteporcelain)。元青花瓷富丽雄浑,其风格与传统的瓷器大相径庭。元青
历史记载表明筷子的使用已有3000年的历史。
很多人将烟花(fireworks)和节庆联系起来。放烟花是中国庆祝新年重要的一部分。在中国传统文化中,烟花被用以驱赶邪恶的鬼魂。烟花在中国的发展历史悠久,其发明可以追溯到2000年前。传说有个厨师在烹饪时偶然弄出了有趣的火花,通过数代中国人的努力,最终把烟
石狮(stonelion)是中国传统建筑中常见的装饰,于汉朝(theHanDynasty)传入中国。在中国文化中,狮子被当成神兽。所以人们喜欢在户院大门前摆放石狮来驱邪,并且摆放的位置是相对固定的。根据传统,门前摆放的石狮应为一对,雄狮在左而雌狮在右
A、HowmuchaTVsetcosts.B、ThequalityofTVprograms.C、Howpeopleputittouse.D、ThenumberofpeoplewatchingTV.C文章最后说:
A、Professorsandresearchers.B、Foreignguestsandstudents.C、Newspeopleandentertainers.D、Professorsandleaders.C文中谈到,“常常
随机试题
患畜流铁锈色鼻液,见于
属于季节性发情的动物是
企业某时点所有者权益资本为1000万元,企业长期债务资本为800万元,短期负债为500万元,则应列人资本结构管理范畴的金额为()万元。
气体灭火系统由灭火剂不同其适用范围也各不相同,其中二氧化碳灭火系统和七氟丙烷灭火系统均可扑灭的是()。
下列会计活动中,属于会计记录方法的是()。
内部控制无论如何设计和执行只能对财务报告的可行性提供合理保证,其原因是()。在了解控制环境时,C注册会计师通常考虑的因素是()。
2016年3月初,家住A县的顾某采取暴力方式胁迫家住B县的高某分别在B县、C县采取反复纠缠、强行讨要的手段进行乞讨。3月8日,高某在C县强行对正在执行巡逻任务的便衣警察包某、张某进行乞讨时,被包某、张某盘问检查。根据掌握的情况,C县公安机关于3月9日依法传
关于十进制的说法正确的是()。
Morethan30,000driversandpassengerswhositinthefrontofthevehiclesarekilledorseriouslyinjuredeachyear.Ataspe
A、PeopleknowalmostnothingaboutShakespeare’searlylife.B、ShakespearewasalreadywellknownbeforehewenttoLondon.C、Pe
最新回复
(
0
)