单选题 In August, environmentalists in the Philippines vandalized a field of Golden Rice, an experimental grain whose genes had been modified. Its seeds will be handed out free to farmers. The aim is to improve the health of children in poor countries by reducing vitamin A deficiency, which contributes to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths and cases of blindness each year.
Environmentalists claim that these sorts of actions are justified because genetically modified crops pose health risks. Now the main ground for those claims has crumbled. Last year a paper which was published in a respected journal found that unusual rates of tumours and deaths in rats that had been fed upon a variety of genetic modification (GM) corn. Other studies found no such effects. But this one enabled campaigners to make a health-and-safety argument against GM crops— one persuasive enough to influence governments. After the study appeared, Russia suspended imports of the grain in question. Kenya banned all GM crops. And the French prime minister said that if the results were confirmed he would press for a Europe-wide ban on the GM maize.
There is now no serious scientific evidence that GM crops do any harm to the health of human beings. There is plenty of evidence, though, that they benefit the health of the planet. One of the biggest challenges facing mankind is to feed the 9 billion-10 billion people who will be alive and richer in 2050. This will require doubling food production on roughly the same area of land, using less water and fewer chemicals. It will also mean making food crops more resistant to the droughts and floods that seem likely if climate change is as bad as scientists fear.
If the Green revolution had never happened, and yields had stayed at 1960 levels, the world could not produce its current food output even if it ploughed up every last acre of cultivable land. In contrast, GM crops boost yields, protecting wild habitat from the plough. They are more resistant to the vagaries of climate change, and to diseases and pests, reducing the need for agrochemicals. Genetic research holds out the possibility of breakthroughs that could vastly increase the productivity of farming, such as grains that fix their own nitrogen.
Vandalizing GM field trials is a bit like the campaign of some religious leaders to prevent smallpox inoculations: it causes misery, even death, in the name of obscurantism and unscientific belief.

单选题 The phrase "contributes to" (Para. 1) probably means ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 含义题
根据题干关键词定位到第一段第三句话。第三句话意为“这么做的目的是为了通过减少贫困国家儿童的维生素A缺乏情况来改善这些国家儿童的健康状况，缺乏维生素A每年都会有成千上万的人过早死亡和失明”。contribute和to搭配意为“促使，是导致……的原因之一。故B项leads to“导致，引起”，符合文意，为正确答案。bring to“使……达到，使……苏醒”，一般和人搭配。result from意为“产生于……，由……引起”。introduce into“引进，插入”，用法为introduce sth. into...。三项均不符合题意，故排除。

单选题 It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 推断题
根据题干关键词定位到第二段。C项“这项研究已经引起了关于转基因作物的激烈讨论”与第二段第四句Other studies found no such effects, but this one enabled campaigners to make a health-and-safety argument against GM crops—one persuasive enough to influence governments相符，故为正确答案。A项“环保人士的行为是合理的”与第二段第二句不符。B项“许多研究已经发现了转基因作物的不好影响”与文中提到的Other studies found no such effects不符。D项“法国禁止所有的转基因作物”与文中第二段最后一句不符。故排除。

单选题 In 2050, one of the biggest challenges of mankind is ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题
根据题干关键词定位到第三段第三句：One of the biggest challenges facing mankind is to feed the 9 billion-10 billion people who will be alive and richer in 2050。此句意为“人类面临的最大挑战之一是到2050年，要为90亿～100亿人口提供粮食吃”。故A项“为至少90亿人口提供食物”符合题意，为正确答案。B项“开发更多的可耕地”，此段没有涉及，故排除。C项“在大致相同的土地上生产出高达三倍的粮食”和D项“阻止干旱和洪涝”与本段最后两句不符。故排除。

单选题 Which of the following is NOT true according to Paragraph 4?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题
根据题干关键词定位到第四段。D项“转基因作物能够极大地促进农业生产力”与此段最后一句Genetic research holds out the possibility of breakthroughs that could vastly increase the productivity of farming, such as grains that fix their own nitrogen(遗传研究给大大提高农业的生产力带来了突破的可能性，例如谷物可以修复自己的氮)不符。故D项不符合文意，为正确答案。A项“转基因作物促进产量”、B项“转基因作物对野生栖息地是有帮助的”和C项“转基因作物更能抵抗各种灾难”与此段第二句和第三句意思相符。故排除。

单选题 What is the author"s attitude toward genetically modified crops?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 态度题
此题考查作者的态度，需结合全文判断，尤其要注意每段的第一句和最后一句。文中第一段以菲律宾的例子引出主题，紧接着就列举了转基因作物的好处。虽然第二段讲述了转基因作物的危害，但是紧接着第三段和第四段就对第二段的危害进行了否定，如第三段中的前两句话：There is now no serious scientific evidence that GM crops do any harm to the health of human beings. There is plenty of evidence, though, that they benefit the health of the planet。尤其是在最后一段，作者明确地表明自己的态度：捣毁转基因试验田和一些宗教运动的领袖防止天花接种有点像：它以蒙昧主义和信仰不科学的名义造成痛苦。甚至是死亡。故B项“支持的”为正确答案。A项“批判的”，C项“不感兴趣的”和D项“模糊的”均不符合题意，故排除。