People all over the world eat rice．Millions of people in Asia，Africa and South America eat it every day of their lives．（3）Some people eat almost nothing but rice．

Rice is a kind of grass．There are more than 7,000 kinds of rice．Farmers grow rice in many countries，even in the southern part of the United States and in eastern Australia．

No one really knows where rice came from．Some scientists think that it started to grow in two places．They think that one kind of rice grew in Southern Asia thousands of years ago．（4）Someone in china wrote about it almost 5,000 years ago．Another kind probably grew in West Africa．Other scientists think that rice came from India，and Indian travelers took it to other parts of the world．

There are two main ways to grow rice．Most rice grows in wet soil（土壤）．People in many countries do all of the work of growing rice by hand．This is the same way farmers worked hundreds of years ago．In some countries，people now use machines（机器）on their rice farms．

People use every part of the rice plant（种植）．They make animal food and rice oil from it．They also make baskets，brooms and roofs for their houses．They burn dry rice plants for cooking．

（一）根据短文内容，简要回答问题。

1．Where do scientists think rice came from?

2．What do you think is the best way to grow rice? Why?

（二）将短文中划线的句子译成汉语。

3．_________________________________________________

4．_________________________________________________

（三）给短文拟一个适当的标题。

5．_____________________________

    2004 is the International Year of Rice! This was decided by the UN in 2002．

That was the first time the UN had made a special year to celebrate(庆祝)just one

crop．What was the UN，s purpose(目的)for its decision? The UN wants us to re—

member“Rice is life”．

    Rice was first grown 1 5，000 years ago in East and South Asia．Rice is more than three times as old as China．Today，almost half of the world’s population eats this very old crop.

    Rice is the most important food in Asia．83  90％ of the world's rice is grown in Asia．People in Africa now eat more rice than before．

    84  Nearly 1 billion(十亿)people around the world have jobs because of rice．

But still，about 840 million people，including more than 200 million children，don’t have enough food．So，growing more rice would really help the world’s hungry and poor people．

A．根据短文内容简要回答问题。

1．What decision was made by the UN in 2002?

___________________________________________________________________

2．Why should we grow more rice in the world?

____________________________________________________________________

B.将短文中画线的两个句子译成汉语

3.________________________________________________________________

4._________________________________________________________________

C.请给短文拟一个合适的标题。

5．________________________________________________________________

Rice is very important t people all over the world. When we talk about rice, we will think of a great man. He is Yuan Longping, the father of rice. He has made great advances in rice research. Millions of people in Asia, Africa and South America eat rice every day of their lives. Rice is a kind of grass. There are more than 7,000 kinds of rice. Famers grow rice in many countries, even in the southern United States and eastern Australia.

No one really knows where rice came from. Some scientists think that it started to grow in two places. They think that one kind of rice grew in southern Asia many years ago. Someone in China wrote about it almost 5, 000 years ago. Another kind probably grew in West Africa. Other scientists think that rice came from India, and Indian travelers took it to other parts of the world.

There are two main ways to grow rice. Most rice grows in wet soil. People in many countries do all of the work of growing rice by hand. This is the same way as farmers worked hundreds of years ago. In some countries, people now use machines on their farms.

People use every part of the rice plant. They make animal food and rice oil from it. They also make baskets, brooms and roofs for houses. They burn dry rice plants in fires for cooking.

根据短文内容，选择正确答案。（共5小题，每小题2 分，满分10分）

( ) 71. How many kinds of rice are there?

　　 A. There are more than 5,000 kinds.　　 B. There are less than 7,000 kinds.

　　 C. There are over 7,000 kinds.　　　　 D. There are 12,000 kinds.

( ) 72. Where did scientists think rice probably come from?

　　 A. It came from East Asia.　　　　　　　

　　 B. It came from Asia and Africa.

　　 C. It probably came from India or West Africa.

D. It only started in France.

( ) 73. How did farmers grow rice hundreds of years ago?

　　 A. They grew rice by hand.　　　　　

B. They used machines to grow rice.

　　 C. They grew rice by hand and with machines.

D. They grew rice with modern machines.

( ) 74. Which part of the rice plant can be used?

　　 A. Only one part rice plant.　　　　　 B. Some parts of rice plant.

　　 C. More parts of rice plant.　　　　　 D. Every part of rice plant.

( ) 75. Why do people call Yuan Longping “the father of rice”?

　　 A. Because he is from Asia.

B. Because he has made great advances in rice research.

C. Because people like to play a joke on him.

D. Because people want him to grow more rice.