Question

 

　　Even plant can run a fever, especially when they’re under attack by insects or disease. But unlike human, plants can have their temperature taken from 3, 000 feet away straight up. A decade ago, adopting the infrared （红外线）scanning technology developed for military purposes and other satellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with a quick way to take the temperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was to let farmers precisely target pesticide （杀虫剂）spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariably includes plants that don’t have pest （害虫）problems.

　　Even better, Paley’s Remote Scanning Services Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to the eye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3, 000 feet at night, an infrared scanner measured the heat emitted by crops. The data were transformed into a color-coded map showing where plants were running“fevers”. Farmers could then spot-spray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would.

　　The bad news is that Paley’s company closed down in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology and long - term backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern about pesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation. Agriculture experts have no doubt the technology works. “This technique can be used on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States, ” says George Oerther of Texas A & M. Ray Jackson , who recently retired from the Department of Agriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the end of the decade. But only ff Paley finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago.

1.Plants will emit an increased amount of heat when they are______________.

A. sprayed with pesticides　　        

B. facing an infrared scanner

C. in poor physical condition　　      

D. exposed to excessive sun rays

2.In order to apply pesticide spraying precisely, we can use infrared scanning to____________.

A. estimate the damage to the crops　　

B. measure the size of the affected area

C. draw a color-coded map　　       

D. locate the problem area

3.Farmers can save a considerable amount of pesticide by______________.

A. resorting to spot-spraying　　     

B. consulting infrared scanning experts

C. transforming poisoned rain　　    

D. detecting crop problems at an early stage

4.The application of infrared scanning technology to agriculture met with some difficulties

_______________.

A. the lack of official support　　    

B. its high cost

C. the lack of financial support　     

D. its failure to help increase production

5.Infrared scanning technology may be brought back into operation because of_____________.

　　A. the desire of farmers to improve the quality of their produce

　　B. growing concern about the excessive use of pesticides on crops

　　C. the forceful promotion by the Department of Agriculture

　　D. full support from agricultural experts                  

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.C。细节理解题。依据文章第二自然段第2行“．．．an infrared scanner measured the heat emitted by crops．The data were transformed into a color-coded map showing where plants were running‘fevers’”，说明植物在发“高烧”，也就是说，“身体状况”不佳时才会散发热，所以选项C符合题意。

2.D。推理判断题。本题要求判断使用红外线扫描技术的目的。依据文章第二自然段第4行“．．．showing where plants were running ‘fevers’．Farmers could then spot spray，．．．”说明目的是确定有问题的区域，以使农民有针对性地喷杀虫剂。显然，选项D（确定有问题的地域）为最佳选项。

3.A。细节理解题。依据文章第二自然段最后一句“Farmers could then spot-spray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would”（采取点喷，农民们可以节省平时用量的50％至70％的杀虫剂），选项A符合题意。

4.C。推理判断题。依据文章第三自然段的第1句“The bad news is that Palely’s company closed down in 1984，　after only three years．Farmers resisted the new technology and long-term backers were hard to find”，从中可以看出红外线扫描技术应用于农业遇到了一些问题，原因有两个：一是农民对新技术的抵制，二是难以找到长期赞助商。文章中还有一处明显的提示出现在最后一句：“But only if Palely finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago”．从该句提供的信息同样可以反推出10年前的情形，所以选项C正确。

5.B。细节理解题。依据文章第三自然段第2行“But with the renewed concern about pesticide on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning，Palely hopes to get back into operation”，可知B项（出于对杀虫剂过度使用的担心）符合题意。

本篇是一篇说明文，主要介绍了将原用于军事和卫星的红外线扫描技术运用于农业的前景，人们为此所做出的努力及遇到的困难。