题材：科技 难度：★★★★ 字数：542 建议时间：15分钟

　　Biotechnologists have developed genetically modified rice that is fortified with beta-carotene which the body converts into vitamin A and additional iron,and they are working on three kinds of nutritionally improved crops.Biotech can also improve farming productivity in places where food shortages are caused by crop damage attributable to pests,drought,poor soil and crop viruses,bacteria or fungi.Damage ca

used by pests is incredible.The European corn borer,for example,destroys 40 million tons of the world’s corn crops annually,about 7% of the total. Incorporating pest-resistant genes into seeds can help restore the balance.In trials of pest-resistant cotton in Africa yields have increased significantly.So far,fears that genetically modified,pest-resistant crops might kill good insects as well as bad appear unfounded.Viruses often cause massive failure in staple crops in developing countries.Two years ago Africa lost more than half its cassava crop—a key source of calories—to the mosaic virus.Genetically modified,virus-resistant crops can reduce that damage,as can drought-tolerant seeds in regions where water shortage limit the amount of land under cultivation.Biotech can also help solve the problem of soil that contains excess aluminium,which can damage roots and cause many staple-crop failures.A gene that helps neutralize aluminium toxicity in rice has been identified.Many scientists believe biotech could raise overall crop productivity in developing countries as much as 25% and help prevent the loss of those crops after they are harvested.

　　Yet for all that promise,biotech is far from being the whole answer.In developing countries,lost crops are only one cause of hunger.Poverty plays the largest role.Today more than 1 billion people around the globe live on less than $1 a day.Making genetically modified crops available will not reduce hunger if farmers cannot afford to grow them or if the local population cannot afford to buy the food those farmers produce. Nor can biotech overcome the challenge of distributing food in developing countries.Taken as a whole,the world produces enough food to feed everyone but much of it is simply in the wrong place.Especially in countries with undeveloped transport infrastructures,geography restricts food availability as dramatically as genetics promises to improve it.Biotech has its own“distribution” problems.Private-sector biotech companies in the rich countries carry out much of the leading-edge research on genetically modified crops.Their products are often too costly for poor farmers in the developing world,and many of those products won’t even reach the regions where they are most needed.Biotech firms have a strong financial incentive to target rich markets first in order to help them rapidly recoup the high costs of product development.But some of these companies are responding to the needs of poor countries.A London-based company,for example,has announced that it will share with developing countries technology needed to produce vitamin-enriched“golden rice”.More and more biotech research is being carried out in developing countries.But to increase the impact of genetic research on the food production of those countries,there is a need for better collaboration between government agencies-both local and in developed countries-and private biotech firms.The ISAAA for example,is successfully partnering with the U.S.Agency for international Development,local researchers and private biotech companies to find and deliver biotech solutions for farmers in developing countries.

　　Biotech is not a panacea,but it does promise to transform agriculture in many developing countries if that promise is not fulfilled.The real losers will be their people,who could suffer for years to come.

　　1.According to the second paragraph,what is not the function of biotech?

　　［A］ The genetically modified,pest-resistant crops might kill good insects as well as bad ones.

　　［B］ It can help solve the problem of soil that contains excess Aluminium.

　　［C］ It could raise overall crop productivity in developing countries.

　　［D］ It can help prevent the loss of those crops after they are harvested.

　　2.By saying“but much of it is simply in the wrong place”,the author means

　　［A］ the food is produced mainly in developed countries.

　　［B］ the food is produced in the place where it is not so needed.

　　［C］ the food is produced in the remote area that is hard to be transported.

　　［D］ most of the food can’t reach the regions where they are most needed.

　　3.The problem of biotech is that

　　［A］ it can’t solve all the problems existed in developing countries.

　　［B］ the genetically modified crops in the rich countries are never responding to the needs poor countries.

　　［C］ it brings devastating effects along with advantages.

　　［D］ it can’t overcome the challenge of distributing food in developing countries.

　　4.The synonym of “panacea” in the last paragraph is

　　［A］ sole solution.［B］ omnipotence.

　　［C］ almighty.［D］ reality.

　　5.The text indicates that

　　［A］ biotech is the only solution of lack of food.

　　［B］although biotech is efficient in improving farming productivity,it is still very hard to be used by the poor farmers in the developing world.

　　［C］ biotech is more crucial to wealthy countries than developing countries.

　　［D］ the risks of biotech outweigh the benefits.