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
Every second, 1 hectare of the world’s rainforest is destroyed. That’s equivalent to two football fields. An area the size of Ne
Every second, 1 hectare of the world’s rainforest is destroyed. That’s equivalent to two football fields. An area the size of Ne
admin
2010-11-29
80
问题
Every second, 1 hectare of the world’s rainforest is destroyed. That’s equivalent to two football fields. An area the size of New York City is lost every day. In a year, that adds up to 31 million hectares — more than the land area of Poland. This alarming rate of destruction has serious consequences for the environment; scientists estimate, for example, that 137 species of plant, insect or animal become extinct every day due to logging. In British Columbia, where, since 1990, thirteen rainforest valleys have been clearcut, 142 species of salmon have already become extinct, and the habitats of grizzly bears, wolves and many other creatures are threatened. Logging, however, provides jobs, profits, taxes for the government and cheap products of all kinds for consumers, so the government is reluctant to restrict or control it.
Much of Canada’s forestry production goes towards making pulp and paper. According to the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association, Canada supplies 34% of the world’s wood pulp and 49% of its newsprint paper. If these paper products could be produced in some other way, Canadian forests could be preserved. Recently, a possible alternative way of producing paper has been suggested by agriculturalists and environmentalists: a plant called hemp.
Hemp has been cultivated by many cultures for thousands of years. It produces fiber which can be made into paper, fuel, oils, textiles, food, and rope. According to its proponents, four times as much paper can be produced from land using hemp rather than trees, and many environmentalists believe that the large-scale cultivation of hemp could reduce the pressure on Canada’s forests.
However, there is a problem: hemp is illegal in many countries of the world. This plant, so useful for fibre, rope, oil, fuel and textiles, is a species of cannabis, related to the plant from which marijuana is produced. In the late 1930s, a movement to ban the drug marijuana began to gather force, resulting in the eventual banning of the cultivation not only of the plant used to produce the drug, but also of the commercial fiber-producing hemp plant. Although both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew hemp in large quantities on their own land, any American growing the plant today would soon find himself in prison — despite the fact that marijuana cannot be produced from the hemp plant, since it contains almost no THC (the active ingredient in the drug).
In recent years, two major movements for legalization have been gathering strength. One group of activists believes that ALL cannabis should be legal — both the hemp plant and the marijuana plant — and that the use of the drug marijuana should not be an offense. They argue that marijuana is not dangerous or addictive, and that it is used by large numbers of people who are not criminals but productive members of society. They also point out that marijuana is less toxic than alcohol or tobacco. The other legalization movement is concerned only with the hemp plant used to produce fibre; this group wants to make it legal to cultivate the plant and sell the fiber for paper and pulp production. This second group has had a major triumph recently: in 1997, Canada legalized the farming of hemp for fiber. For the first time since 1938, hundreds of farmers are planting this crop, and soon we can expect to see pulp and paper prod-uced from this new source.
Why was hemp banned?
选项
A、It is related to the marijuana plant.
B、It can be used to produce marijuana.
C、It was no longer a useful crop.
D、It was destructive to the land.
答案
A
解析
细节题。禁种的原因从第四段前半部分可以看出,是因为“hemp”和“marijuana”相关。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/ht1K777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
AfterTomhadboughthiscomputerforafewmonths,hejust______ofallthepamphletsandbrochuresonit.
VirusesFindNewWaystoWormintoComputersJustwhenyouthoughtyouknewacomputervirusorwormwhenyousawone,seve
FewplacesaresoawashininformationtechnologyastheU.S.collegecampuses.AndthankstotheexplosivegrowthoftheInter
Formanycountriestherearetwolegalmeansforobtainingtechnology.topermitmultinationalcompaniestoconductbusinesswit
Accordingtothenews,whetherthebirdfluwillcauseagreatcasualtydependson______.
Youmightthinkthatborrowingamatchuponthestreetisasimplething.Butanymanwhohasevertrieditwillassureyouthat
Thegreatestrecentsocialchangeshavebeen【C1】______thelivesofwomen.Duringthe20thcenturytherehasbeenaremarkable
Unlikemostsports,whichevolvedovertimefromstreetgames,basketballwasdesignedbyonemantosuita【C1】______purpose.
DecadesafterMarilynMonroe’sdeath,therewasaburstofspeculationaboutwhatshemighthavebeendoingif(anditisavery
HowlongistheNorthernEuropeanPipeline?
随机试题
女婴,10个月。腹泻每日5~7次,水样便。伴呕吐2次。每日尿量较平日略少些。体检:前囟平,哭有泪。口唇略干,四肢温暖,无腹胀。皮肤弹性尚可。该儿腹泻病情为轻型与重型的区别点主要是
在通行字的控制措施中,限制通行字至少为________字节以上。()
患者四肢抽搐,项背强急,伴头痛如针刺,痛有定处,形体消瘦。舌质紫暗,边有瘀斑,脉细涩。最佳治法是
中药注射剂在当前存在的质量问题有
下列选项中不属于投资项目核准申请报告应包含的内容是()。
投资转出的固定资产,按()借记“长期股权投资”。
城市好比一个巨大的海绵,劳动力就像城乡之间流动的水,当经济处于上行期,经济扩张会吸纳更多的劳动力:当经济处于下行期,经济衰退又将这些劳动力挤回了农村。正是中国城乡二元结构所引发的海绵效应,在此次会融毹机中发挥着就业缓冲器的作用。但这种海绵效应是不可持续的,
Anewtaskfacingbiologicalsecurityistoprevent______diseasesandmisuseofdeadlyagents.
1957年整风运动采取的形式是()
Anorator,whosepurposeistopersuademen,mustspeakthethingstheywishtohear,anorator,whosepurposeistomovemen,m
最新回复
(
0
)