Passage One

Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.

Sustainable development is applied to just about everything from energy to clean water and economic growth, and as a result it has become difficult to question either the basic assumptions behind it or the way the concept is put to use. This is especially true in agriculture, where sustainable development is often taken as the sole measure of progress without a proper appreciation of historical and cultural perspectives.

To start with, it is important to remember that the nature of agriculture has changed markedly throughout history, and will continue to do so .medieval agriculture in northern Europe fed, clothed and sheltered a predominantly rural society with a much lower population density than it is today. It had minimal effect on biodiversity, and any pollution it caused was typically localized. In terms of energy use and the nutrients（营养成分）captured in the product it was relatively inefficient.

Contrast this with farming since the start of the industrial revolution. Competition from overseas led farmers to specialize and increase yields. Throughout this period food became cheaper, safe and more reliable. However, these changes have also led to habitat（栖息地）loss and to diminishing biodiversity.

What’s more, demand for animal products in developing countries is growing so fast that meeting it will require an extra 300 million tons of grain a year by 2050.yet the growth of cities and industry is reducing the amount of water available for agriculture in many regions.

All this means that agriculture in the 21stcentury will have to be very different from how it was in the 20th.thiswill require radical thinking. For example, we need to move away from the idea that traditional practices are inevitably more sustainable than new ones. We also need to abandon the notion that agriculture can be “zero impact”. The key will be to abandon the rather simple and static measures of sustainability, which centre on the need to maintain production without increasing damage.

Instead we need a more dynamic interpretation, one that looks at the pros and cons（正反两方面）of all the various way land is used. There are many different ways to measure agricultural performance besides food yield: energy use, environmental costs, water purity, carbon footprint and biodiversity. It is clear, for example, that the carbon of transporting tomatoes from Spain to the UK is less than that of producing them in the UK with additional heating and lighting. But we do not know whether lower carbon footprints will always be better for biodiversity.

What is crucial is recognizing that sustainable agriculture is not just about sustainable food production.

52. How do people often measure progress in agriculture?

   A) By its productivity   C) By its impact on the environment

   B) By its sustainability  D) By its contribution to economic growth

53. Specialisation and the effort to increase yields have resulted in________.

   A) Localised pollution      C) competition from overseas

   B) the shrinking of farmland  D) the decrease of biodiversity

54. What does the author think of traditional farming practices?

  A) They have remained the same over the centuries

  B) They have not kept pace with population growth

  C) They are not necessarily sustainable

  D) They are environmentally friendly

55. What will agriculture be like in the 21st century

  A) It will go through radical changes

  B) It will supply more animal products

  C) It will abandon traditional farming practices

  D) It will cause zero damage to the environment

56 What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?

  A) To remind people of the need of sustainable development

  B) To suggest ways of ensuring sustainable food production

  C) To advance new criteria for measuring farming progress

  D) To urge people to rethink what sustainable agriculture is

       可持续发展越来越多地使用于能源,纯净水,和经济增长等各个领域.这使得要追问起其背后基本的理论或贯彻执行其理论的方法变得非常困难.尤其在农业领域,可持续发展总是被当作衡量农业是否取得进步的唯一评估方法,而从不站在历史和文化的立场去考量.

       首先,要记住的是,纵观历史,农业的本质已经发生极大的变化,也将继续新的变化.中世纪欧洲北部农业,自予自足,耕种,做衣及自己建房,占社会主体的农村人口密度比现在低得多. 对生物多样性的影响甚微,任何污染也只是局部地区.能源的使用及从产品上提取营养是低效的.

    和工业革命开始后的农业进行相比较,又有了新的变化.来自海外的竞争迫使农民必须提升自身专业知识及提高作物的产量.纵观这段时期,粮食变得更便宜,更安全,更可靠.然而,这些变化也带来栖息地及生物多样性的减少.

    而且,由于动物附产品在发展中国家的需求急剧增加,到2050年世界粮食供求每年都将要额外增加3亿吨.而工业和城市的增长,使得很多地区可用于农业的用水也在不断减少.

    所有这些都意味着在21世纪的农业将于20世纪的农业完全不同.这需要我们彻底的变革我们的思想. 例如，我们必须摆脱这种想法,认为传统的做法，必然比现在的更加可持续发展. 我们还必须抛弃农业可以“零影响”的观点.关键是要抛弃那种极简单和静态的测量可持续发展的方法,它只关注产品的需求,而不考虑其不断增加的破坏力.我们需要一种更具活力的方法. 一个着眼于各种土地使用方式的优点和缺点. 除了粮食产量,有许多不同的方式可以衡量农业的效能: 能源利用，环境成本，水的纯度，碳足迹和生物多样性. 很明显，例如，把西红柿从西班牙运到英国,二氧化碳的产生量将低于直接在英国通过额外的暖气照明来生产它们.但是我们不知道是否降低碳足迹对生物多样性是否总是好事.

    更为关键的是我们必须认识到农业可持续发展不仅是持续的粮食生产.

[1] [2] 下一页