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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  71
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).
What does Neurice project manager say about the giant apple snail?
选项 A、It can survive only on southern European wetlands.
B、It will invade other rice-growing regions of Europe.
C、It multiplies at a speed beyond human imagination.
D、It was introduced into the rice fields on purpose.
答案B
解析 推理题。原文第五段最后三句话指出，目前巨型苹果螺仅在欧洲的埃布罗三角洲一带出现。但是塞拉特表示，这种苹果螺正在继续向新的领地进军。问题不在于它是否会到达欧洲其他水稻种植区，而在于何时到达。由此可知，巨型苹果螺人侵欧洲其他水稻种植区只是时间问题，故答案为B。原文中提到苹果螺来自南美洲，在欧洲仅生存在埃布罗三角洲一带，但正在继续向新的领地进军，故排除A。C项原文未提及，故排除。D项与原文不符，苹果螺是从全球水产技术公司的淡水水族馆里逃跑的，并不是被故意放到稻田里的，故排除。
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