10.( ) Which of the following is true?
A. Hunger is the only problem in our world.
B. Water shortage is the only problem in our world.
C.
Scientists don’t want to spend money solving the water problem.
D. Scientists have
been working hard and have made much progress in solving water problem.
(C)
Today
there are 6 billion people on the earth. By the year 2050 there may be 12.5
billion. This is a lot of people to feed. We need more food.
One way
to produce more food is by growing stronger plants. For thousands of years,
farmers have made plants better. Every season, they pick the best plants for
the next season. It works very slowly. Since 1983, scientists have been able to
change plants more quickly by changing their genetic material (遗传物质). Foods from plants
grown in this way are called genetically modified foods (转基因食品), or GM foods.
By
changing the genetic material of a plant, it is possible to make new plants.
They make plants which are strong against plant diseases. They can also help in
our diseases: a kind of rice is being prepared (准备), for example, which stops people from becoming blind.
Rich
countries produce GM foods because they are easy to grow and bring in more
money. Poor countries are interested in them because they help produce more
food.
GM plants
are not natural. No one knows how good or bad they are. Making GM foods is only
one way of feeding people in 2050. There are strong feelings against them,
because they are unnatural. They may feed people, then hurt them or their
children later. But, both rich and poor countries are very interested in their
use, and they are not going to go away. In 2050 we may think differently about
them.
