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  3. Sustainable development is applied to just about everything from energy to clean water and economic growth, and as a result it h

Sustainable development is applied to just about everything from energy to clean water and economic growth, and as a result it h

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问题     Sustainable development is applied to just about everything from energy to clean water and economic growth, and as a result it has become difficult to question either the basic assumptions behind it or the way the concept is put to use. This is especially true in agriculture, where sustainable development is often taken as the sole measure of progress without a proper appreciation of historical and cultural perspectives.
    To start with, it is important to remember that the nature of agriculture has changed markedly throughout history, and will continue to do so. Medieval agriculture in northern Europe fed, clothed and sheltered a predominantly rural society with a much lower population density than it is today. It had minimal effect on biodiversity, and any pollution it caused was typically localized. In terms of energy use and the nutrients captured in the product, it was relatively inefficient.
    Contrast this with farming since the start of the industrial revolution, competition from overseas led farmers to specialize and increase yields. Throughout this period food became cheaper, safe and more reliable. However, these changes have also led to habitat loss and to diminishing biodiversity.
    What’s more, demand for animal products in developing countries is growing so fast that meeting it will require an extra 300 million tons of grain a year by 2050, yet the growth of cities and industry is reducing the amount of water available for agriculture in many regions.
    All this means that agriculture in the 21st century will have to be very different from how it was in the 20th. This will require radical thinking, for example, we need to move away from the idea that traditional practices are inevitably more sustainable than new ones. We also need to abandon the notion that agriculture can be "zero impact". The key will be to abandon the rather simple and static measures of sustainability, which center on the need to maintain production without increasing damage. Instead we need a more dynamic interpretation, one that looks at the pros and cons of all the various way land is used.
    There are many different ways to measure agricultural performance besides food yield: energy use, environmental costs, water purity, carbon footprint and biodiversity. It is clear, for example, that the carbon of transporting tomatoes from Spain to the UK is less than that of producing them in the UK with additional heating and lighting, but we do not know whether lower carbon footprints will always be better for biodiversity. What is crucial is recognizing that sustainable agriculture is not just about sustainable food production.
What does the author think of medieval farming practices?
选项 A、They have remained the same over the centuries.
B、They have not kept pace with population growth.
C、They are not necessarily sustainable.
D、They are environmentally friendly.
答案C
解析 细节题。根据题干中的medieval fanning定位到原文第二段。该段开头提到，纵观历史，农业的性质发生了显著的变化，并将继续发生变化，由此可知A项表述有误：该段第二句提到北欧中世纪的农业为以农村为主导的社会提供了衣食住行，可知中世纪的农业能够满足人口增长的需要，故也排除B项；该段第三句提到，中世纪的农业造成的任何污染通常都是小范围的，可见其并不环保，只是污染范围较小而已，故可排除D项。该段最后一句提到，就能源利用和食品中所含的营养而言，其效率相对较低，可见其并不一定具有可持续性，C项表述正确，故选C。
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