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
Passaae One Can eating a cheeseburger be considered an act of war? Yes, but only if you understand the delicate and intricat
Passaae One Can eating a cheeseburger be considered an act of war? Yes, but only if you understand the delicate and intricat
admin
2022-09-27
60
问题
Passaae One
Can eating a cheeseburger be considered an act of war? Yes, but only if you understand the delicate and intricate relationship of the many living creatures on Earth.
Consider first the place humans occupy in the food chain. We think of ourselves as being on top, right? We are not, generally speaking, hunted and consumed by other animals and being humans, we like to think we’re king of the hill, A-number-one.
But according to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Homo sapiens (人类) are at roughly the same level as pigs and anchovies. If it’s any consolation, the report says our species is moving up in the rankings—but that could be seriously bad news for the planet.
Biologists don’t really like the term food chain anymore. Chains are linear, while nature is multidimensional, to say the least. Instead they speak of food webs, often with vast numbers of different trophic (营养的) levels shared by different organisms, like neighbors in a New York high-rise. The living things that used to occupy the bottom of the food chain—algae and multicellular plants—are now said to inhabit "trophic level 1. " They are autotrophs, manufacturing their own food through photosynthesis. Trophic level 2 consists of rabbits and other basic herbivores, which get their energy by eating plants.
Simple, right? From there, however, the trophic numbers get complicated. Many species subsist (维持生活 ) on mixed diets of animal and vegetable protein. Take foxes: If they ate nothing but rabbits, you could call them level 3. Unfortunately, they also eat fruit, so their trophic score might be less than a full 3. At the same time, some animals prey on other predators. You might be tempted to call them "trophic level 4" and be done with it—but again, take foxes. Besides eating fruit and herbivores, they also catch and consume level-3 animals like moles and other insectivores.
So how do scientists even begin to crunch the fox’s trophic numbers? First they need an army of graduate students and a calculator with plenty of decimal places. Field zoologists are a tough and determined breed. Species by species, they are mapping the global food web, all the way up to the "apex predators" at trophic level 5 (or higher, depending on who’s keeping score)—tigers, killer whales, and the like—what everyone once called the top of the food chain.
Science had never settled on a trophic level for humans—until now. It’s not easy to quantify the eating habits of the most diverse, widespread, and omnivorous species of all. But the newly published study, led by fisheries scientist Sylvain Bonhommeau of the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea, attempts to change that. Using the most recent data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Bonhommeau and his team have estimated that as of 2009, humanity’s worldwide median trophic level was approximately 2.21—"closer to a herbivore than a carnivore," as Bonhommeau told Nature. "It changes the preconception of being top predator. "
The worrisome part is what else they discovered: Our global population is growing more and more carnivorous, and that trend threatens to send us off an environmental precipice. Humanity’s meat market has more than quadrupled since 1961, from about 70 million tons back then to almost 300 million tons in 2010, according to the FAO. Much of that increase has come from those countries once relying mostly on rice and vegetables to feed their people. Now their booming economies are enabling them to buy meat, and vast tracts of Amazon rainforest are being clear-cut to satisfy the unprecedented demand for corn and soybeans as animal feed.
And that’s not all that humanity’s appetite for meat is doing to the world. The livestock industry accounts for some 18 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2006 FAO study. Then there’s the grain and water it takes to raise cattle. NPR ran the numbers and found that it takes 6. 7 pounds of grain and forage and 52.8 gallons of water to produce a single quarter-pound ground-beef patty—hold the pickle, the lettuce and the bun.
And Americans are in no position to wag a finger. Despite the incessant claims on talk shows that they’re eating healthier these days, Americans remain among the most voraciously (贪婪的) carnivorous people on the planet, devouring 270. 7 pounds of meat a year per capita. That’s way more than double the world average of 102.5 pounds.
It’s worth remembering that we’re all part of the food web. If it were a chain, humans might be able to keep up our predatory ways with impunity (不受损失). But in a web, what goes around is likely to come around.
In the last paragraph, "what goes around is likely to come around" means that________.
选项
A、animal predators who go away will come back to prey on humans
B、different species will be connected in a multidimensional food web
C、humans’ carnivorous eating habit will change back to be herbivorous
D、the damages humans do to the planet will bring troubles to humans
答案
D
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/nLBK777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
AdviceforStudents:HowtoTalktoProfessorsI.IntroductionA.Professors:normalpeople,justlikeeveryoneelseB.Student
A、Sheistheleaderofthesorority.B、Sheisalwayshavingherowndramas.C、SheisthebestfriendofKappaD、Sheisapartya
SomeTheoriesofHistoryI.TheproblemsofunderstandinghistoryHistorywithwrittenrecords:therecordsmaybe【T1】______
Alow-contextcultureisoneinwhichthemessage,theeventortheactionis【T1】______,havingmeaningontoitself,regardless
FiveCommonMistakesinConversationandTheirSolutionsI.NotlisteningA.Problem:mostpeopledon’tlisten—waiteagerlyf
A、Notassumingeveryonewillbehaveinthesamewayasyoudo.B、Tryingtorespecttheculturaltraditionsofyourcounterparts.
CulturalDifferencesbetweenEastandWestI.FactorsleadingtotheculturaldifferencesA.Differentculture【T1】______【T1】_
(1)OneschoolnightthismonthIsidleduptoAlexander,my15-year-oldson,andstrokedhischeekinamannerIhopedwouldsee
(1)ThatisalessonScottSpector,15,learnedthehardway,whenhisphonestartedblastinghis"AmericanIdolTheme"ringtone
PASSAGETHREEWhydidGooglebidforsomeofNortel’spatents?
随机试题
社会主义初级阶段最基本的特征是()
A.导管内乳头状瘤B.乳管阻塞的导管内乳头状瘤C.终止哺乳后D.正常月经期,早期妊娠或囊性增生病(2012年)乳头鲜红色血性溢液多见于
下列不属于组织计划制订要注意的问题是()。
部门编码级次为2-2-2,则下列部门编码中正确的是()。
根据《民法通则》的规定,在诉讼时效期间的最后6个月内,发生法定事由,诉讼时效期间暂时停止计算。从中止时效的原因消除之日起,诉讼时效期间继续计算。该法定事由是指()。
对外地来本辖区从事临时经营活动的纳税人申请领购发票,主管税务机关可以要求其提供担保人,并且以所购发票面额及数量缴纳不超过10000元的保证金,并限期缴销发票。()
购买方(企业)索取增值税普通发票时,应向销售方提供纳税人识别号或统一社会信用代码。()
美国心理学家孟禄认为,模仿心理是教育的基础。但“模仿心理学”抹杀了教育的()。
Whydoesn’tMarklikeLondon?
You’refiveminuteslate.Isuggestthat______________________(你不应该这样不顾后果).
最新回复
(
0
)