Question

An environmental group called the Food Commission is unhappy and disappointed because of the sales of bottled water from Japan. The water, it angrily argues in public, has traveled 10,000 “food miles” before it reached Western customers. Transporting water halfway across the world is surely the extremely stupid use of fuel when there is plenty of water in the UK. It is also worrying that we were wasting our fuel by buying prawns from Indonesia (7,000 food miles ) and carrots from South Africa (5,900 food miles).

Counting the number of miles traveled done by a product is a strange way of trying to tell the true situation of the environmental damage due to industry. Most food is transported around the world on container ships that are extremely energy efficient. It should be noticed that a ton of butter transported 25 miles in a truck to a farmers’ market doesn’t necessarily use less fuel on its journey than a similar product transported hundreds of miles by sea. Besides, the idea of “food miles” ignores the amount of fuel used in the production. It is possible to cut down your food miles by buying tomatoes grown in Britain rather than those grown in Ghana. The difference is that the British ones will have been raised in heated greenhouse and the Ghanaian ones in the open sun.

What is the idea of “food miles” does provide, however, is the chance to cut out Third World countries from First World food markets. The number of miles traveled by our food should, as I see it, be regarded as a sign of the success of the global trade system, not a sign of damage to the environment.

1.The Food Commission is angry because it thinks that ________.

A. UK wastes a lot of money importing food products

B. some imported goods causes environmental damage

C. growing certain vegetables causes environmental damage

D. people wasted energy buying food from other countries

2.The phrase “food miles” in the passage refers to the distance ________.

A. that a food product travels to a market

B. that a food product travels from one market to another

C. between UK and other food producing countries

D. between a Third World country and a First World food market

3.By comparing tomatoes raised in Britain and in Ghana, the author tries to explain that ________.

A. British tomatoes are healthier than Ghanaian ones

B. Ghanaian tomatoes taste better than tomatoes ones

C. cutting down food miles may not necessarily save fuel

D. protecting the environment may cost a lot of money

4.From the passage we know that the author is most probably ________.

A. a supporter of free global trade

B. a member of a Food Commission

C. a supporter of First World food markets

D. a member of an energy development group

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.A

【解析】

试题分析:该篇文章通过运送食物而带来的巨大浪费提醒世人多食用本地生产的食物，而避免食物循环的浪费。

1.D考查细节理解题。文章第一段谈到食物委员会认为运送事物是能源的一种浪费。可知选D项。

2.A 考查判断推理题。我们知道日本、英国均属于“First World”，考查在特定的语境下对词组的理解能力。进口的食品也不是仅仅是英国，可排除Ｃ、Ｄ选项。Ｂ项没有道理，根据理解Ａ才符合“food miles”的含义，即从产地到市场所走的距离，故选A。

3.3】C考查判断推理题。依据第二段可以得知作者将英国种植的西红柿与加纳种植西红柿进行比较，是表明即使在英国种植食品，也需要fuel，不一定能节约fuel。故选C项。

4.考查推理判断题。A. a supporter of free global trade全球自由贸易的支持者；B. a member of a Food Commission一家食品协会的成员；C. a supporter of First World food markets世界第一家食物市场的支持者；D. a member of an energy development group一能量发展集团的成员。文章最后一段作者很清楚的表达了自己的观点。“The mummer of miles traveled by our food should, as I see it be regarded as a sign of the success of the global trade system, not a sign of …”即知作者的态度，故选A。

【名师点睛】

政治经济类文章的概念：

要做好这类阅读，平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事，掌握一定背景知识，对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解，还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章，要抓住文章的核心，即文章整体和各段主要在说什么，也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。

如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题：

【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁，语言鲜活，但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多，长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容，读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉，经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花，文章看完，一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨，同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。

【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章，我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式，我们可采取“顺读法”，以便抓关键语句，领会文章主旨；而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式，我们则可以采取“逆读法”，先读试题，再从文章中查找有用信息。如：5.A 考查判断推理题。我们知道日本、英国均属于“First World”，考查在特定的语境下对词组的理解能力。进口的食品也不是仅仅是英国，可排除Ｃ、Ｄ选项。Ｂ项没有道理，根据理解Ａ才符合“food miles”的含义，即从产地到市场所走的距离，故选A。

若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急，因为你觉得难，其他人也一定是同感。在高考前，我们就要有这种心理准备，高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过，我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读，以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。

考点：政治经济类阅读理解