2015年6月英语四级阅读理解(二)翻译

1、.2015年6月英语四级阅读理解（二）翻译Some of the worlds most significant problems never hit headlines. One example comes from agriculture. Food riots and hunger make news. But the trend lying behind these matters is rarely talked about. This is the decline in the growth in yields of some of the worlds major crops.A

2、 new study by the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal looks at where, and how far, this decline is occurring。一些世界上最有影响的问题从不上头条新闻。其中一个例子就是农业问题。粮食暴动和饥饿产生新闻，但躺在这些问题背后的趋势却很少被谈及。这是因为一些世界主要农作物产区的产量在下降。蒙特利尔的明尼苏达和麦吉尔大学的一项新研究着眼于研究这种正在发生的下降趋势在哪，还有多远。The authors take a vast number of data

3、 points for the four most important crops: rice, wheat corn and soybeans(大豆). They find that on between 24% and 39% of all harvested areas, the improvement in yields that tood place before the 1980s slowed down in the 1990s and 2000s。研究人员采集了四个最重要农作物的大量的数据点：大米，小麦、玉米和大豆。他们发现，1980年代以前发生的农作物产量从24%上升至39%

4、，在1990年代至2000年代慢慢降低了。There are two worrying features of the slowdown. One is that it has been particularly sharp in the worlds most populous(人口多的) countries, India and China. Their ability to feed themselves has been an important source of relative stability both within the countries and on world fo

5、od markets. That self-sufficiency cannot be taken for granted if yields continue to slow down or reverse。这种放缓有两个令人担忧的特征。其中之一是，它在世界上人口最多的（人口多的）国家，印度和中国，尤为严重。他们养活自己的能力已经成为各国和世界粮食市场相对稳定的一个重要来源。如果收成继续减缓，那么自给自足就不能被认为是想当然的了。Second, yield growth has been lower in wheat and rice than in corn and soyabeans.

6、This is problematic because wheat and rice are more important as foods, accounting for around half of all calories consumed. Corn and soyabeans are more important as feed grains. The authors note that “we have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars rather tha

7、n on crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world。”第二，小麦和大米的产量增长已经低于玉米和大豆。这是有问题的，因为小麦和大米作为食物更加重要，约占所有消耗热量的一半左右。玉米和大豆更重要的是作为饲料。研究人员指出，“我们更加偏向于在饲养动物和汽车燃料方面提高作物产量，而不是在我们人吃的作物上，而这才是世界上大部分地区粮食安全的基础。The report qualifies the more optimistic findings of another new paper wh

8、ich suggests that the world will not have to dig up a lot more land for farming in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050, as the Food and Agriculture Organisation has argued。该研究指出另一项研究的更重要的乐观发现，其中表明，我们将不需要开发更多的土地去喂养2050年时候的90亿人口，正如粮食和农业组织说的一样。Instead, it says, thanks to slowing population growth, l

9、and currently ploughted up for crops might be able to revert(回返)to forest or wilderness. This could happen. The trouble is that the forecast assumes continued improvements in yields, which may not actually happen。相反，它指出，由于人口增长放缓，目前用于耕作农作物的土地也许能够回返为森林或荒野。这有可能发生。而问题在于这一假设是基于农作物产量持续提高的基础上的，这将不太可能真的发生。注

10、意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。61.What does the author try to draw attention to?作者向提醒我们注意什么？A)Food riots and hunger in the world. 世界上的粮食暴动和饥饿B)News headlines in the leading media. 各大媒体的头条新闻C)The decline of the grain yield growth。农作物产量的降低D)The food supply in populous countries。人口众多的国家粮食供应问题62.Why does the author m

11、ention India and China in particular?为什么作者特意提到印度和中国？A)Their self-sufficiency is vital to the stability of world food markets。他们的自给自足对世界粮食市场的稳定至关重要。B)Their food yields have begun to decrease sharply in recent years。近几年他们的粮食产量急剧下降。C)Their big populations are causing worldwide concerns。他们庞大的人口数量引起全世界的关

12、注。D)Their food self-sufficiency has been taken for granted。他们粮食的自给自足被认为是理所当然的。63.What does the new study by the two universities say about recent crop improvement efforts?对于最近农作物产量提升的努力，两所大学的研究怎么说？A)They fail to produce the same remarkable results as before the 1980s。1980年代以前他们不能生产出同样客观的粮食产量。B)They

13、contribute a lot to the improvement of human food production。他们对人类食物产量的提升做出了巨大的贡献。C)They play a major role in guaranteeing the food security of the world。在保证世界粮食安全方面，他们扮演着重要的角色。D)They focus more on the increase of animal feed than human food grains。相比人类食用的农作物，他们更关注于动物食用农作物产量的提升。64.What does the Food

14、 and Agriculture Organisation say about world food production in the coming decades?食品和农业组织对于未来几十年中世界粮食的产量怎么说？A)The growing population will greatly increase the pressure on world food supplies。持续增长的人口会给世界粮食供应持续带来更大的压力。B)The optimistic prediction about food production should be viewed with caution。对粮食产量的乐观估计应该被谨慎对待。C)The slowdown of the growth in yields of major food crops will be reversed。在主要粮食作物产量增长的放缓将会得到扭转。D)The world will be able to feed its population without increasing farmland。不需更多的耕地，我们也能满足世界人口的粮食问题。65.How does the author view the argument of the Food and Agriculture Organisatio