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
It is the world’s fourth-most-important food crop, after maize, wheat and rice. It provides more calories, more quickly, using l
It is the world’s fourth-most-important food crop, after maize, wheat and rice. It provides more calories, more quickly, using l
admin
2014-06-13
26
问题
It is the world’s fourth-most-important food crop, after maize, wheat and rice. It 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. 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. 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. 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 1million Irish perished when the potato crop on which they subsisted succumbed to blight. 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. "
In the form of French fries, served alongside burgers and Coca-Cola, potatoes are now an icon of globalisation. This is quite a turnaround given the scepticism which first greeted them on their arrival in the Old World in the 16th century. Spuds were variously thought to cause leprosy, to be fit only for animals, to be associated with the devil or to be poisonous. They took hold in 18th century Europe only when war and famine meant there was nothing else to eat; people then realised just how versatile and reliable they were. As Adam Smith, one of the potato’s many admirers, observed at the time, "The very general use which is made of potatoes in these kingdoms as food for man is a convincing proof that the prejudices of a nation, with regard to diet, however deeply rooted, are by no means unconquerable. " Mashed, fried, boiled and roast, a humble tuber changed the world, and free-trading globalisers everywhere should celebrate it.
According to the text, what are the features of potatoes?
选项
A、Lower price, quicker growing speed, less land required, and wider range of climate.
B、More calories, quicker growing speed, less labor required in growing and processing, and wider range of climate.
C、More calories, quicker growing speed, less land required, and wider range of climate.
D、More calories, quicker growing speed, less land required, and wider range of products to be made of.
答案
C
解析
本题需要仔细阅读第一段第二句“It provides more calories,more quickly,using less land and in a wider range of climates than any other plant”这便说的是马铃薯的特点。那么结合选项,A项的lower price文中没有提及,B项的less labor in processing未有提及,D项中的wider range of products to be made of也未有提及,故选C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/nsK4777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
Theproducedepartmentsofthefuturemaylooklikenothingonearth,andwithgoodreason.Chinesescientistshavebeengrowing
WecanlearnfromthetextthatThepassageismainlyabout
Insomeearlyattemptsbypsychologiststodescribethebasiclearningprocess,theterms’stimulus’,’response’and’reinforcem
Insomeearlyattemptsbypsychologiststodescribethebasiclearningprocess,theterms’stimulus’,’response’and’reinforcem
SaudiArabia,theoilindustry’sswingproducer,hasbecomeitsflip-flopper.InFebruary,itpersuadedOPECtocutitstotalpr
Atthebeginningofthecentury,medicalscientistsmadeasurprisingdiscovery:thatweare(1)_____notjustoffleshandbloo
Atthebeginningofthecentury,medicalscientistsmadeasurprisingdiscovery:thatweare(1)_____notjustoffleshandbloo
Everylivingthinghasaninnerbiologicalclockthatcontrolsbehavior.Theclockworksallthetime;evenwhentherearenoou
Itisoftenobservedthattheagedspendmuchtimethinkingandtalkingabouttheirpastlives,【C1】______aboutthefuture.Thes
随机试题
_______由域名空间、域名服务器和地址转换请求程序三部分组成。
男,32岁,右腰部外伤伴血尿3小时,经保守治疗后血尿消失,但血压持续下降达80/45mmHg,血红蛋白及血细胞比容继续降低,右腰部出现肿块,下一步最重要的治疗措施是
战国时期,各国纷纷制定新法,韩国制定了:()。
我国的行政法制监督体系中,下列属于司法机关监督的是()
基准收益率是企业或行业投资者以动态观点确定的、可接受的投资项目______的收益水平。()
为旅游者提供导游服务时,导游人员的头等重要责任是()。
下图是世界地震带分布示意图,读图完成下面问题。图中世界地震带的名称分别是I__________,Ⅱ__________,Ⅲ__________,Ⅳ__________。
汉代著名文献《对贤良策》的作者是谁?()
有没有专门的统一的制式服装是近代警察与古代警察区别之一。()
商品最本质的因素是使用价值。()
最新回复
(
0
)