The government of Norway is planning to build an unusual storage center on an island in the Arctic Ocean. The place would be large enough to hold about two million seeds. The goal is to present all crops known to scientists. The British magazine New Scientist published details of the plan last month. The structure will be designed to protect the world’s food supply against nuclear war, climate change and other possible threats. It will be built in a mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. The mountain is less than one thousand kilometers from the North Pole, the northernmost position on earth.
An international group called the Global Crop Diversity Trust is working on the project. The director of the group, Cary Fowler, spoke to New Scientist. He said the project would let the world rebuild agriculture if, in his word, “the worst came to the worst”. Norway is expected to start work next year. The project is expected to cost three million dollars. Workers will drill(孔) deep in the side of a sandstone mountain. Temperatures in the area never rise above 0ºC. The seeds will be protected behind walls a meter thick and high-security door.
The magazine report says the collection will represent the products of ten thousand years of farming. Most of the seeds at first will come from collections at seed banks in Africa, Asia and Latin America. To last a long time, seeds need to be kept in very low temperatures. Workers will not be present all the time. But they plan to replace the air inside the storage space each winter. Winter temperatures on the island are about eighteen degrees below 0ºC. The cold weather would protect the seeds even if the air could not be replaced.
Mr. Fowler says the proposed structure will be the world’s safest gene bank. He says the plant seeds would only be used when all other seeds are gone for some reason. Norway first put forward the idea in the 1980s. But safety concerns delayed the plan. At that time, the Soviet Union was meeting in Rome of the Food and Agriculture Organization.
24.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the above passage?
A.The government of Norway will perform the project alone.
B.Seeds to be collected there were produced ten thousand years ago.
C.Spitsbergen is chosen because it is free of the nuclear war forever.
D.Temperature is a major consideration when choosing the storage place.
25.We can infer from the text that _______.
A.Norway had meant to build the storage centre about 30 years before.B.The storage center will greatly promote world agriculture
C.People will get newly-developed seeds from the center every year.
D.There haven’t been any seed storage centers in the world before.
26.The project is meant to ______.
A.increase the world’s food output in the future
B.carry out some scientific experiments on plant genes
C.build an exhibition centre of the world’s plant seeds
D.protect crop seeds from dying out in case of possible disasters
27.What is probably the best title of the passage?
A.The Best Place to Store Seeds
B.Noah’s Ark(诺亚方舟)of Plant Seeds in Plan
C.Concerns of World Food Supply
D.A New Way to Feed the World
DDAB
英语四级听力训练元音发音
大学英语四级听力高分指导(5)
英语四级听力长对话听前预测技巧(3)
最新资料大学英语四级听力模拟题下载
大学英语四级考试听力真题
英语四级听力长对话听前预测技巧(6)
英语四级听力答案下载
2014暑假40天突破英语四级听力第3天
40天高分突破英语四级听力阶段一
英语四六级听力过程中需注意的关键词
英语四级听力训练失爆音
40天高分突破英语四级听力阶段四
暑期英语四级听力提高五大招
2014英语四级听力练习慢速英语4.24(2)
英语四级听力练习题下载
英语四级听力八大高频场景词汇
40天高分突破英语四级听力阶段三
大学英语四级听力高分指导(4)
英语四级听力做题有技巧么
大学英语四级听力高分指导(3)
英语四级听力训练辅音发音
提高2014英语四级考试听力部分分数
12英语四级考试听力原题
40天高分突破英语四级听力阶段六
大学英语四级听力原题
大学英语四级听力高分指导(8)
2014英语四级听力考试短文的技巧
40天高分突破英语四级听力阶段二
2014英语四级听力练习慢速英语4.29(2)
英语四级听力长对话听前预测技巧(9)
| 不限 |
| 英语教案 |
| 英语课件 |
| 英语试题 |
| 不限 |
| 不限 |
| 上册 |
| 下册 |
| 不限 |