Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan sees an epidemic (流行病) sweeping across America’s farmland. It has little to do with the usual challenges, such as flood, rising fuel prices and crop-eating insects. The country’s farmers are getting older, and there are fewer people standing in line to take their place. National agricultural census (普查) figures show that the fastest-growing group of farmers is the part over 65. Merrigan is afraid the average age will be even higher when the 2012 statistics are completed.
Merrigan, a former college professor, is making stops at universities across the country in hopes of encouraging more students to think about careers in agriculture. Aside from trying to stop the graying of America’s farmers, her work is made tougher by a recent blog posting that put agriculture at No. 1 on a list of “useless” college degrees. Top federal agriculture officials are talking about the posting, and it has the attention of agricultural organizations across the country.
“There couldn’t be anything that’s more incorrect,” Merrigan said. “We know that there aren’t enough qualified graduates to fill the jobs that are out there in American agriculture.”
In addition, a growing world population that some experts predict will require 70% more food production by 2050, she said.
“I truly believe we’re at a golden age of agriculture. Global demand is at an all-time record high, and global supplies are at all-time record lows,” said Matt Rush, director of the Texas Farm Bureau. “Production costs are going to be valuable enough that younger people are going to have the opportunity to be involved in agriculture.”
The Department of Agriculture has programs aimed at developing more farmers and at increasing interest in locally grown food. The National Young Farmers’ Coalition has also been pushing for state and federal policy changes to make it easier for new farmers.
Ryan Best, president of Future Farmers of America, has been living out of a suitcase, traveling the country and visiting high school students about careers in agriculture. The 21-year-old Best hopes his message — that this is a new time in agriculture — will motivate the next generation to turn around the statistics. “Never before have we had the innovations (创新) in technology which have led to agriculture in this country being the most efficient it has ever been,” he said. “There’s really a place for everybody to fit in.”
1.What is the new challenge to American agriculture?
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A．Fewer and older farmers. |
B．Higher fuel prices. |
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C．More natural disasters. |
D．Lower agricultural output. |
2.Why is Merrigan visiting universities across the country?
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A．To draw federal agriculture officials’ attention. |
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B．To select qualified agriculture graduates. |
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C．To clarify a recent blog posting. |
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D．To talk more students into farming careers. |
3.According to Matt Rush, American agriculture will provide opportunities for younger people because ____________.
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A．the government will cover production costs |
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B．global food supplies will be even lower |
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C．investment in agriculture will be profitable |
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D．America will increase its food export |
Welcome to your future life!
You get up in the morning and look into the mirror. Your face is firm and young-looking. In 2035, medical technology is better than ever. Many people of your age could live to be 150, so at 40, you’re not old at all. And your parents just had an anti-aging (抗衰老的) treatment. Now, all three of you look the same age!
You say to your shirt, “Turn red.” It changes from blue to red. In 2035, “smart clothes” contain particles(粒子) much smaller than the cells in your body. The particles can be programmed to change clothes’ color or pattern.
You walk into the kitchen. You pick up the milk, but a voice says, “You shouldn’t drink that!” Your fridge has read the chip (芯片) that contains information about the milk, and it knows the milk is old. In 2035, every article of food in the grocery store has such a chip.
It’s time to go to work. In 2035, cars drive themselves. Just tell your “smart car” where to go. On the way, you can call a friend using your jacket sleeve. Such “smart technology” is all around you.
So will all these things come true? “For new technology to succeed,” says scientist Andrew Zolli, “it has to be so much better that it replaces what we have already.” The Internet is one example. What will be the next?
1.We can learn from the text that in the future ___________.
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A．people will never get old |
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B．everyone will look the same |
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C．red will be the most popular color |
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D．clothes will be able to change their pattern |
2.What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
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A．Milk will be harmful to health. |
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B．More drinks will be available for sale. |
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C．Food in the grocery store will carry electronic information. |
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D．Milk in the grocery store will stay fresh much longer. |
3.What is the text mainly about?
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A．Food and clothing in 2035. |
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B．Future technology in everyday life. |
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C．Medical treatments of the future. |
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D．The reason for the success of new technology. |
I have been consistently opposed to feeding a baby regularly. As a doctor, mother and scientist in child development, I believe there is nothing to recommend it, from the baby’s point of view.
Mothers, doctors and nurse alike have no idea of where a baby’s blood sugar level lies. All we know is that a low level is harmful to brain development and makes a baby easily annoyed. In this state, the baby is difficult to calm down and sleep is impossible. The baby asks for attention by crying and searching for food with its mouth.
It is not just unkind but also dangerous to say a four-hourly feeding schedule will make a baby satisfied. The first of the experts to advocate a strict clock-watching schedule was Dr Frederic Truby King who was against feeding in the night. I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous. Baby feeding shouldn’t follow a timetable set by the mum. What is important is feeding a baby in the best way, though it may cause some inconvenience in the first few weeks.
Well, at last we have copper-bottomed research that supports demand feeding and points out the weaknesses of strictly timed feeding. The research finds out that babies who are fed on demand do better at school at age 5, 7, 11 and 14, than babies fed according to the clock. By the age of 8, their IQ scores are four to five percent higher than babies fed by a rigid timetable. This research comes from Oxford and Essex University using a sample（样本）of 10,419 children born in the early 1990s, taking account of parental education, family income, a child’s sex and age, the mother’s health and feeding style. These results don’t surprise me. Feeding according to schedule runs the risk of harming the rapidly growing brain by taking no account of sinking blood sugar levels.
I hope this research will put an end to advocating strictly timed baby feeding practices.
1.What does the author think about Dr King?
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A．He is strict |
B．He is unkind |
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C．He has the wrong idea. |
D．He sets a timetable for mothers |
2.The word copper-bottomed in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to __________.
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A．basic |
B．reliable |
C．surprising |
D．interesting |
3.What does the research tell us about feeding a baby on demand?
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A．The baby will sleep well. |
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B．The baby will have its brain harmed. |
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C．The baby will have a low blood sugar level. |
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D．The baby will grow to be wiser by the age of 8. |
4.The author supports feeding the baby __________.
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A．in the night |
B．every four hours |
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C．whenever it wants food |
D．according to its blood sugar level |
When I settled in Chicago，my new city seemed so big and unfriendly. Then I had a ___1___ problem and had to go to hospital for a ___2___ examination.
It seemed a small ___3___ compared to the one I was about to face, but things started to go ___4___ right from the beginning. Not having a car for ___5___ the city, I was depending on a couple of buses to get me from A to B. ___6___ I’d left myself plenty of time, soon it was ___7___ that I was going to be late, as I had mistakenly boarded a bus that was taking me in the ___8___ direction.
I ___9___ the bus and stood on the pavement not knowing what to do. I look into the eyes of a ___10___ who was trying to get past me. __11____ instead of moving on, she stopped to ask if I was ___12___. After I explained my ___13___ to her, she pointed to a bus stop across the street, where a bus would take me back into the city to my ___14___. Sitting there waiting, I felt ___15___ that someone had been willing to help. ___16___, hearing a horn (喇叭) nearby, I looked up to see a car with my new friend ___17___ at me to get in. She had returned to offer me a ___18___ to the hospital.
Such unexpected ___19___ from a passer-by was a lovely gift to receive. As I climbed out of the car at the hospital and turned to thank her, she smiled and told me not to lose ___20___, for all things are possible.
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- The little girl is a talented pianist.
- Everyone in her family is musical. __________.
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A．It’s a nightmare. |
B．I really appreciate it. |
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C．It’s just in their blood. |
D．That’s not the point. |
I’d like to start my own business next year – that’s _________ I will face my big challenge in life.
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A．why |
B．when |
C．which |
D．what |
