Unit 1A and B.docx

Unit 1A and B.docx

《Unit 1A and B.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《Unit 1A and B.docx（16页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

Unit1AandB

Unit1.WillFrankenfoodFeedTheWorld?

WillFrankenfoodFeedTheWorld?

Geneticallymodifiedfoodhasmetfierceoppositionamongwell-fedEuropeans,butit'sthepoorandthehungrywhoneeditmost.ByBillGates

1.Ifyouwanttosparkaheateddebateatadinnerparty,bringupthetopicof

geneticallymodifiedfoods.Formanypeople,theconceptofgeneticallyaltered,high-techcropproductionraisesallkindsofenvironmental,health,safetyandethicalquestions.Particularlyincountrieswithlongagrariantraditions—andvocalgreenlobbies—theideaseemsagainstnature.

2.Infact,geneticallymodifiedfoodsarealreadyverymuchapartofourlives.Athird

ofthecornandmorethanhalfthesoybeansandcottongrownintheU.S.lastyearweretheproductofbiotechnology,accordingtotheDepartmentofAgriculture.Morethan65millionacresofgeneticallymodifiedcropswillbeplantedintheU.S.thisyear.Thegeneticgenieisoutofthebottle.

3.Yetthereareclearlysomeveryrealissuesthatneedtoberesolved.Likeanynew

productenteringthefoodchain,geneticallymodifiedfoodsmustbesubjectedtorigoroustesting.Inwealthycountries,thedebateaboutbiotechistemperedbythefactthatwehavearicharrayoffoodstochoosefrom—andasupplythatfarexceedsourneeds.Indevelopingcountriesdesperatetofeedfast-growingandunderfedpopulations,theissueissimplerandmuchmoreurgent:

Dothebenefitsofbiotechoutweightherisks?

4.Thestatisticsonpopulationgrowthandhungeraredisturbing.Lastyearthe

world'spopulationreached6billion.Andby2050,theU.N.estimates,itwillprobablynear9billion.Almostallthatgrowthwilloccurindevelopingcountries.Atthesametime,theworld'savailablecultivablelandperpersonisdeclining.Arablelandhasdeclinedsteadilysince1960andwilldecreasebyhalfoverthenext50years,accordingtotheInternationalServicefortheAcquisitionofAgri-BiotechApplications（ISAAA）.

5.TheU.N.estimatesthatnearly800millionpeoplearoundtheworldare

undernourished.Theeffectsaredevastating.About400millionwomenofchildbearingageareirondeficient,whichmeanstheirbabiesareexposedtovariousbirthdefects.Asmanyas100millionchildrensufferfromvitaminAdeficiency,aleadingcauseofblindness.Tensofmillionsofpeoplesufferfromothermajorailmentsandnutritionaldeficienciescausedbylackoffood.

6.Howcanbiotechhelp?

Biotechnologistshavedevelopedgeneticallymodifiedrice

thatisfortifiedwithbeta-carotene--whichthebodyconvertsintovitaminA--andadditionaliron,andtheyareworkingonotherkindsofnutritionallyimprovedcrops.Biotechcanalsoimprovefarmingproductivityinplaceswherefoodshortagesarecausedbycropdamageattributabletopests,drought,poorsoilandcropviruses,bacteriaorfungi.

7.Damagecausedbypestsisincredible.TheEuropeancornborer,forexample,

destroys40milliontonsoftheworld'scorncropannually,about7%ofthetotal.Incorporatingpest-resistantgenesintoseedscanhelprestorethebalance.Intrialsofpest-resistantcottoninAfrica,yieldshaveincreasedsignificantly.Sofar,fearsthatgeneticallymodified,pest-resistantcropsmightkillgoodinsectsaswellasbadappear

unfounded.

8.Virusesoftencausemassivefailureinstaplecropsindevelopingcountries.Twoyearsago,Africalostmorethanhalfitscassavacrop--akeysourceofcalories--tothemosaicvirus.Geneticallymodified,virus-resistantcropscanreducethatdamage,ascandrought-tolerantseedsinregionswherewatershortageslimittheamountoflandundercultivation.Biotechcanalsohelpsolvetheproblemofsoilthatcontainsexcessaluminum,whichcandamagerootsandcausemanystaple-cropfailures.Agenethathelpsneutralizealuminumtoxicityinricehasbeenidentified.

9.Manyscientistsbelievebiotechcouldraiseoverallcropproductivityindeveloping

countriesasmuchas25%andhelppreventthelossofthosecropsaftertheyareharvested.

10.Yetforallthatpromise,biotechisfarfrombeingthewholeanswer.Indeveloping

countries,lostcropsareonlyonecauseofhunger.Povertyplaysthelargestrole.Todaymorethan1billionpeoplearoundtheglobeliveonlessthan$1aday.Makinggeneticallymodifiedcropsavailablewillnotreducehungeriffarmerscannotaffordtogrowthemorifthelocalpopulationcannotaffordtobuythefoodthosefarmersproduce.

11.Norcanbiotechovercomethechallengeofdistributingfoodindeveloping

countries.Takenasawhole,theworldproducesenoughfoodtofeedeveryone—butmuchofitissimplyinthewrongplace.Especiallyincountrieswithundevelopedtransportinfrastructures,geographyrestrictsfoodavailabilityasdramaticallyasgeneticspromisestoimproveit.

12.Biotechhasitsown"distribution"problems.Private-sectorbiotechcompaniesin

therichcountriescarryoutmuchoftheleading-edgeresearchongeneticallymodifiedcrops.Theirproductsareoftentoocostlyforpoorfarmersinthedevelopingworld,andmanyofthoseproductswon'tevenreachtheregionswheretheyaremostneeded.Biotechfirmshaveastrongfinancialincentivetotargetrichmarketsfirstinordertohelpthemrapidlyrecoupthehighcostsofproductdevelopment.Butsomeofthesecompaniesarerespondingtotheneedsofpoorcountries.ALondon-basedcompany,forexample,hasannouncedthatitwillsharewithdevelopingcountriestechnologyneededtoproducevitamin-enriched"goldenrice."

13.Moreandmorebiotechresearchisbeingcarriedoutindevelopingcountries.But

toincreasetheimpactofgeneticresearchonthefoodproductionofthosecountries,thereisaneedforbettercollaborationbetweengovernmentagencies--bothlocalandindevelopedcountries—andprivatebiotechfirms.TheISAAA,forexample,issuccessfullypartneringwiththeU.S.AgencyforInternationalDevelopment,localresearchersandprivatebiotechcompaniestofindanddeliverbiotechsolutionsforfarmersindevelopingcountries.

14.Will"Frankenfoods"feedtheworld?

Biotechisnotapanacea,butitdoespromise

totransformagricultureinmanydevelopingcountries.Ifthatpromiseisnotfulfilled,therealloserswillbetheirpeople,whocouldsufferforyearstocome.

NewWords

1.genetically[dVi5netikEli]ad.基因地，遗传性地

2.modify[5mCdifai]vt.makechangesin;makedifferent修改，变更，改变

3.ethical[5eWikEl]adj.ofmoralsormoralquestions道德的；伦理的；道德问题的

4.agrarian[E5^rZEriEn]adj.ofland（espfarmland）orlandownership土地的；（尤指）耕地的；土地所有权的

5.vocal[5vEukl]adj.of,for,withorusing,thevoice嗓音的；声音的；使用嗓音的

6.genie[5dVi:

ni]n.（inArabicstories）spiritorjinniwithstrangepowers（阿拉伯故事中的）神怪；妖怪

7.subject[5sQbdVikt]vt.causetoundergoorexperience;expose使遭受；使经历；使蒙受

8.rigorous[5ri^ErEs]adj.stern;strict;severe严格的；严厉的

9.temper[5tempE]vt.softenormodify;mitigate使软化；调剂；缓和

10.outweigh[aut5wei]vt.begreaterinweight,valueorimportancethan比…更重；比…更有价值；比…更重要

11.cultivable[5kQltivEbl]adj.thatcanbecultivated可耕种的；可培养的

12.arable[5ArEbl]adj.（ofland）suitableforploughing;usuallyploughed（指土地）可耕的；适于耕种的；经常被耕种的

13.devastating[5devEsteItIN]adj.ruining;makingdesolate破坏性极大；毁灭性的

14.childbearing[5tFaIldbeErIN]adj.生育的；能生育的

15.ailment[5eilmEnt]n.illness疾病

16.fortify[5fC:

tifai]vt.（加入维生素和矿物质）强化（食品）；提高（食品）的营养价值

17.fungi[5fQndVai]n.（fungus的复数）真菌类

18.incorporate[in5kC:

pEreit]vt.make,become,unitedinonebodyorgroup使结合；使合并

19.unfounded[5Qn5faundid]adj.withoutfoundation无根据的；无稽的

20.cassava[kE5sB:

vE]n.tropicalplantwithstarchyrootsfromwhichtapiocaisextracted参茨；木薯

21.drought-tolerantadj.耐干旱的

22.aluminum[E5lju:

minEm]n.（化学元素）铝

23.neutralize[5nju:

trElaIz]vt.takeawaytheeffectorspecialqualityof,bymeansofsthwithanoppositeeffectorquality使无效；中和

24.toxicity[tCk5sisiti]n.qualityordegreeofbeingtoxic毒性；毒力

25.private-sector（社会经济中的）私营部分

26.leading-edgeadj.占领先地位的

27.incentive[in5sentiv]n.thatwhichincites,rousesorencouragesaperson刺激；动机；鼓励；诱因

28.recoup[ri5ku:

p]vt.（for）compensate（sb,oneself,foraloss,etc）;makeupfor赔偿；补偿

29.collaboration[kE7lAbE5reiFEn]n.collaborating合作；合著

30.partner[5pB:

tnE]vt.personwhotakespartwithanotherorothersinsomeactivity,esponeoftheownersofabusiness伙伴；合作者；（尤指经商之）合伙人

31.panacea[7pAnE5siE]n.remedyforalltroubles,disease,etc.解决一切弊病的方法；万灵药

Notes

1.Frankenfood即转基因食品。

“Franken”源自英国女作家MaryShelley的小说

“Frankenstein”，此处可引申理解为转基因食品或许会危及其创造者——人类。

2.geneticallymodifiedfoods转基因食品

3.vocalgreenlobbies主张环保的游说团体。

Vocal原指与嗓音的有关的。

此处引申用言辞表达。

Lobby原指下议院或参议院等中的民众接待厅，后引申为游说议员的群体。

4.DepartmentofAgriculture（美国）农业部

5.Thegeneticgenieisoutofthebottle“genie”原指神话故事中从魔瓶中用魔法召来的魔仆。

此句暗含神奇的转基因食品的诞生或许会给人类带来福祉。

6.InternationalServicefortheAcquisitionofAgri-BiotechApplications（ISAAA）

国际农业生物工程应用技术采购管理局。

7.birthdefects（医）先天缺失，先天缺陷

8.beta-caroteneß-胡萝卜素

9.cornborer（昆）玉米螟

10.staplecrops一国家或地区的最主要的农作物

11.mosaicvirus（植）导致植物花叶病的花叶病毒

12.U.S.AgencyforInternationalDevelopment美国国际发展署

Self-Checkingup

Readthefollowingstatementsanddecidewhethertheyaretrueorfalse.WriteTfortrueandFforfalseinfrontofeachstatement.

1.Manypeopleholddoubtfulideasagainstgeneticallymodifiedfoodsbecausetheythinkthosefoodsmayimposealotofproblems.

_2.InregardtotheplantationofgeneticallymodifiedcropsintheU.S.,itseemsthatGMfoodsarefarfromourlives.

_3.Inwealthycountries,thedebateaboutbiotechismuchmoreheatedthanindevelopingcountriesbecausepeopleinthewealthycountries