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  3. The Ebro Delta, in Spain, famous as a battleground during the Spanish Civil War, is now the setting for a different contest, one

The Ebro Delta, in Spain, famous as a battleground during the Spanish Civil War, is now the setting for a different contest, one

admin2021-01-08  34
问题    The Ebro Delta, in Spain, famous as a battleground during the Spanish Civil War, is now the setting for a different contest, one that is pitting rice farmers against two enemies: the rice-eating giant apple snail, and rising sea levels. What happens here will have a bearing on the future of European rice production and the overall health of southern European wetlands.
   Located on the Mediterranean just two hours south of Barcelona, the Ebro Delta produces 120 million kilograms of rice a year, making it one of the continent’ s most important rice-growing areas. As the sea creeps into these fresh-water marshes, however, rising salinity (盐分) is hampering rice production. At the same time, this sea-water also kills off the greedy giant apple snail, an introduced pest that feeds on young rice plants. The most promising strategy has become to harness one foe against the other.    The battle is currently being waged on land, in greenhouses at the University of Barcelona. Scientists working under the banner "Project Neurice" are seeking varieties of rice that can withstand the increasing salinity without losing the absorbency that makes European rice ideal for traditional Spanish and Italian dishes.
   "The project has two sides," says Xavier Serrat, Neurice project manager and researcher at the University of Barcelona, " the short-term fight against the snail, and a mid-to long-term fight against climate change. But the snail has given the project greater urgency. "
   Originally from South America, the snails were accidentally introduced into the Ebro Delta by Global Aquatic Technologies, a company that raised the snails for fresh-water aquariums (水族馆) , but failed to prevent their escape. For now, the giant apple snail’ s presence in Europe is limited to the Ebro Delta. But the snail continues its march to new territory, says Serrat. "The question is not whether it will reach other rice-growing areas of Europe, but when. "
   Over the next year and a half investigators will test the various strains of salt-tolerant rice they’ ve bred. In 2018, farmers will plant the varieties with the most promise in the Ebro Delta and Europe’ s other two main rice-growing regions—along the Po in Italy, and France’ s Rh6ne. A season in the field will help determine which, if any, of the varieties are ready for commercialization.
   As an EU-funded effort, the search for salt-tolerant varieties of rice is taking place in all three countries. Each team is crossbreeding a local European short-grain rice with a long-grain Asian variety that carries the salt-resistant gene. The scientists are breeding successive generations to arrive at varieties that incorporate salt tolerance but retain about 97 percent of the European rice genome (基因组).
Why does the author mention the Spanish Civil War at the beginning of the passage?
选项 A、It had great impact on the life of Spanish rice farmers.
B、It is of great significance in the records of Spanish history.
C、Rice farmers in the Ebro Delta are waging a battle of similar importance.
D、Rice farmers in the Ebro Delta are experiencing as hard a time as in the war.
答案C
解析 细节题。原文第一段指出，西班牙的埃布罗三角洲是西班牙内战期间一个著名的战场，现在，另一场战役将在这片土地上展开，即稻农对抗以大米为食的巨型苹果螺以及不断上升的海平面的战役。这里所发生的一切将对未来欧洲水稻产量和南欧湿地的整体健康状况产生影响。由此可知，现在埃布罗三角洲的稻农正面临很重要的战争，这个战争对他们的重要性堪比西班牙内战，故答案为C。A项和B项都属于答非多问，本题讨论的不是西班牙内战的影响或意义，而是为了强调由西班牙内战引出的另一场同样重要的战役，故排除。D项原文未提及，现在稻农所处的环境是否很艰难在原文中并没有说明，故排除。
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