Question

Millions of people die of hunger in southern Africa every year, but when Zambia was offered thousands of tons of free maize by the US, the government politely said no.

    “We don’t know whether the food is safe,” said Zambia’s commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Dipak Patel.

His worries are shared by countries around the world that are in two minds about America’s genetically modified（GM,轉(zhuǎn)基因的）crops．Just last week, EU（歐盟）member nations were discussing whether or not to import GM sweet corn from the US．

Ever since people started farming, they have tried to crossbreed（雜交）plants to make them stronger or better tasting. At one time, only related plants could be crossed with each other．

But when GM techniques were developed in the 1970s, scientists were able to put a single gene from a living creature into an unrelated creature.

This means they can make crops more productive and resistant to disease by adding genes from other species．They can also create food with special characteristics, such as “golden rice”, which is enriched with vitamin A. But many people believe GM foods are a health risk.

At the moment, the official argument is that GM foods “are not likely to present risks for human health”. But there are still many questions to be answered as the foods are produced in different ways.

    Some experts believe the genetic material added to plants can transfer to humans and give damage to our bodies. Further harm could be caused by the genes from GM plants crossbreeding with naturally produced crops．

    People in China are also getting worried about GM foods. More than 70 percent of the

country’s soybean oil is produced from imported GM soybeans. Meanwhile, an investigation last November found that 12 of 60 famous foods sold across the country were GM products. The government has begun to introduce a marking system for GM goods so that people can choose whether or not to eat them.

1.Which is the best title for the passage?

A. Harmful GM foods                                 B. Advantages of GM foods

C. GM foods, a health risk?                            D. the Techniques of GM foods

2.Why has Zambia refused the American free maize?

A. they decide to follow EU member’s advice

B. they are concerned about the safety of GM foods

C. they care little about the problem of starvation  

D. they are too proud to accept free offer

3.It has been proved that _________.

A. GM foods are harmful to people’s health   

B. GM food is no better than naturally produced foods

C. only related plans could be crossed with each other

D. GM techniques can increase the production of crops

4.Which of the following statement is TRUE?

A. GM foods are a health risk.

B. Only Zambia worries about the safety of GM foods .

C. China’s government hasn’t taken any action about GM foods. 

D. Some experts believe human bodies can absorb genetic material from GM foods.

5.What’s the author’s attitude towards GM foods?

A. Supportive.        B. Neutral.         C. Doubtful.        D. Critical.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.D

5.B

【解析】

試題分析：文章大意：每年有數(shù)百萬非洲人死于饑餓，但是贊比亞拒絕了美國無償贊助的玉米，這是為什么呢？原來那是美國生產(chǎn)的轉(zhuǎn)基因食品，世界上有很多人對這種食品持懷疑態(tài)度。

1.C主旨大意題。根據(jù)第一段并瀏覽全文不難看出本文的中心是在講轉(zhuǎn)基因食品，但并沒有證據(jù)證明轉(zhuǎn)基因食品的確危害人的健康。作者也只是客觀地陳述人們和各個國家的態(tài)度和看法。所以選擇C、“轉(zhuǎn)基因食品，對健康有危害嗎？”。

2.B 細(xì)節(jié)推斷題。 根據(jù)文章第二段答語，“We don’t know whether the food is safe,”推斷贊比亞政府關(guān)心轉(zhuǎn)基因食品的安全問題。

3.D 細(xì)節(jié)推斷題。根據(jù)第二段內(nèi)容when GM techniques were developed in the 1970s, scientists were able to put a single gene from a living creature into an unrelated creature.及第三段內(nèi)容 This means they can make crops more productive and resistant to disease by adding genes from other species．推斷出轉(zhuǎn)基因技術(shù)能夠增產(chǎn)已經(jīng)被證明。所以選擇D。根據(jù)第四段內(nèi)容可知，爭議說“轉(zhuǎn)基因食品對人類不可能有危害，”但人們依然質(zhì)疑一些有關(guān)問題，所以A項說，轉(zhuǎn)基因食品對人體有害，這一點(diǎn)并沒有得到充足證明，所以選項錯誤。

4.D 細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章倒數(shù)第二段Some experts believe the genetic material added to plants can transfer to humans and give damage to our bodies.一些專家相信加入到農(nóng)作物中的轉(zhuǎn)基因物質(zhì)會滲入人體，對我們的身體造成危害，所以答案選D。

5.B 作者意圖題�？v觀全文，作者只是客觀地敘述了很多人和國家的態(tài)度和看法，自己并沒有發(fā)表任何見解，故應(yīng)該是持中立的態(tài)度(neutral)。A 支持的；C懷疑的；D批判的，所以答案選B。

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