More Rural Research Is Needed
1 Agricultural research funding is vital if the world is to feed itself better than it does now. Dr. Tony Fischer, crop scientist, said demand was growing at 2.5% per year, but with modern technologies and the development of new ones, the world should be able to stay ahead1。
2 “The global decline in investment in international agricultural research must be reversed if significant progress is to be made towards reducing malnutrition and poverty,” he said.
3 Research is needed to solve food production, land degradation2 and environmental problems. Secure local food supplies3 led to economic growth which, in turn, slowed population growth. Dr. Fischer painted a picture of the world’s ability to feed itself in the first 25 years, when the world’s population is expected to rise from 5.8 to 8 billion people. He said that things will probably hold or improve4 but there’ll still be a lot of hungry people. The biggest concentration of poor and hungry people would be in sub-Saharan Afiica and southern Asia in 2020, similar to the current pattern. If there is any change, a slight improvement will be seen in southern Asia, but not in sub-Saharan Afiica. The major inqjrovement will be in East Asia, South America and South-East Asia.
4 The developing world was investing about 0.5%, or $8 billion a year, of its agricultural gross domestic product(GDP)on5 research, and the developed world was spending 2.5% of its GDP. Dr. Fischer said more was needed from all countries.
5 He said crop research could produce technologies that spread across many countries, such as wheat production research having spin-offs for Mexico, China or India6.
6 “Technologies still need to be refined for the local conditions but a lot of the strategic research can have global application, so that money can be used very efficiently,” Dr. Fischer said.
7 Yields of rice, wheat and maize have grown impressively in the past 30 years, especially in developing countries. For example, maize production rose from 2-8 tonnes per hectare between 1950 and 1995. But technologies driving this growth, such as high-yield varieties, fertilisers, and irrigation, were becoming exhausted. “If you want to save the land for non-agricultural activities, for forests and wildlife, you’re going to have to increase yield,” Dr. Fischer said.
词汇:
funding 为……提供资金,拨专款 moder 调制解调器
malnutrition 营养不良 degradation 降级,(土地)贫瘠化
gross 总的,全部的 domestic 国内的
gross demostic product国内生产总值 spin-off 有用的副产品
strategic 战略的 application 应用 hectare 公顷
注释:
1.... but with modern technologies and the development of new ones, the world should be able to stay ahead:……但由于有了现代技术和新技术的开发,世界应该能够不断前进。ones指代前面的technologies。
2.land degradation:土地贫瘠化
3.secure local food supplies:稳定的当地粮食供应
4.He said that things will probably hold or improve …:他说情况很可能保持现状或有所改善……hold:保持。
5.invest ... on:这是一个固定动词用法,意思是“把……投资于”。
6.He said crop research could produce technologies that spread across many countries, such as wheat production research having spin-offs for Mexico, China or India:他说粮食研究会开发出新技术,这些新技术又会传播到许多国家,例如小麦生产研究的成果已经在墨西哥、中国或印度得到应用。spread across:传播到。having spin-offs for ...是现在分词短语,修饰wheat production research。
练习:
1.Paragraph 1 _____
2.Paragraph 3 _____
3.Paragraph 4 _____
4.Paragraph 7 _____
A The Same or Improved Food Supply Situation in 2020
B Research Focus on Increased Yield
C More Research Funding Needed
D Local Situations Analyzed
E Increase in Investment on Agricultural Research
F Sustained Development of Modem Technologies
5.Dr. Fischer claims that agriculture will continue to develop _____.
6.Land can be saved for other purposes _____.
7.The investment can be regarded as efficient _____.
8.The global decrease in investment should be changed _____.
A if we can drive yield up
B when Mexico, China and India join in the project
C if we want to fight against malnutrition and poverty
D when we use modern technologies and develop new ones
E when the developed world helps the developing world
F when strategic research can be utilized worldwide
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