Question

Food production does great harm to our environment.There are many procedures involved in the manufacture of food that result in greenhouse gases and other pollutants.Some procedures require the consumption of large amounts of fossil fuels,such as the transportation and storage of food products.Other factors that cause great damage to our environment include the overuse of fresh water.

The production of beef is more damaging to the environment than that of any other food we consume,Raising large numbers of cattle requires the production of large amounts of food for the animals.It’s estimated that producing one pound of beef requires seven pounds of feed.

Land use is also a problem.If the cattle are free-range cattle,large areas of land are required for them to live on.This has led to disastrous forest cutting and the loss of rare plants and animal species,particularly in tropical rain forests in Central and South America.

Another problem specific to beef production is methane emissions (甲烷排放).Although many people are aware of the damaging effects of carbon dioxide,they don’t realize methane’s global warming potential is 25 times worse,making it a more dire problem.

Unfortunately,beef consumption is growing rapidly.This is the result of simple supply and demand factors.Specifically,there are two main causes of demand that are encouraging the production of more supply.First,the increase in the world population means there are more people to consume meat.The second factor is socioeconomic advancement.As citizens in developing nations become financially stable,they can afford to buy more meat.

Therefore,one way to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions is for people around the world to significantly cut down on the amount of beef they eat.

1.Which of the following is TRUE?

A. Raising free-range cattle is eco-friendly.

B. People cut down trees for animal habitats.

C. Producing beef can damage the environment.

D. Carbon dioxide causes far more harm than methane.

2.The underlined word “dire” in Para.4 means       .

A. urgent    B. common

C. typical    D. avoidable

3.Beef production is growing rapidly because       .

A. more people are in demand of beef

B. developing countries raise more cattle

C. more land is available to raise cattle

D. the cost of raising cattle is relatively low

4.The author writes this article to       .

A. describe the booming of the beef production

B. emphasize the advantages of beef production

C. condemn the deforestation of the rain forest

D. argue for a decrease in beef consumption

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.A

4.D

【解析】本文是一篇说明文，从牛肉的生产过程中，喂养牛大量消耗食物、牛体内食物消化过程中又要产生大量甲烷释放到大气中，从而危害环境等方面加以阐述，从而提出作者观点，呼吁人们减少牛肉消耗，以达到保护环境的目的。

1.C 推理判断题。根据第二段“The production of beef is more damaging to the environment than that of any other food we consume”可知牛肉的生产对环境的破坏比我们吃的任何其他食物都要严重，答案为C

2.A 词义猜测题。由第三段可知，牛体内的某些微生物在进行所谓的甲烷生成过程中会产生大量的甲烷，而甲烷的危害是我们一直的二氧化碳危害的25倍还多，因此这个问题应该更需要大家予以急迫的关注，可知答案为A。

3.A 细节理解题。有第五段“This is the result of simple supply and demand factors” 这是简单的供给和需求因素的结果，可知答案为A。

4.D 写作意图题。有最后一段可知，本文的写作目的是呼吁人们“cut down on the amount of beef people eat”以减少对环境的破坏，可知答案为D。