Question

Agricultural experts met in Ethiopia last week to discuss ways to help sub-Saharan Africa become a major producer of wheat. The area traditionally produced little wheat, while North Africa was the grain basket.

Wheat production fell sharply in sub-Saharan countries during the 1980s. In the 1960s, attempts were made to grow wheat in sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa and Zimbabwe. But those countries found it was less costly to import wheat from Europe and the United States. Another problem is that Africa's wheat farms were often far from population centers. There also were transportation issues. And some lowlands were not a good place to grow wheat.

Hans Joachim Braun _,one of the experts, says now is a good time to increase wheat production. In the last four years we have seen three major price hikes, where the wheat price and other staple process (主食加工）exploded. And that puts a big, big bill on countries which are depending on wheat imports, and Africa is the biggest wheat importer.

He also says demand for wheat in sub-Saharan Africa is growing faster than for any other crop. With higher income people would like to have more diversified(多樣化）food. But that is possible not the most important one. The most important one is that there is a tremendous migration(移民）of in particular male labor to the cities. And wheat products are convenient food because you can easily buy it. It's easy to process and you also can store it for a few days, which is different from some of the maize and rice products.

There are three possible challenges for growing more wheat in Africa： climate change, disease and pests, like insects. Mr. Braun says rising temperatures should not have a major effect on wheat. In fact, he says, it could help wheat grow in areas with high rainfall totals. As for fighting disease and pests, experts suggest growing more resistant crops. In addition, railroads and roads would have to be improved so large amounts of wheat could be moved to large markets.

1.What does the word "hikes" in Paragraph 3 probably refer to?

A. big changes B. large increases C. long trips D. big bills

2.Wheat price exploding indicates_____.

A.sub-Saharan countries need to increase wheat production badly

B.sub-Saharan countries have to issue more money

C.sub-Saharan countries should grow more Corn

D.importing much wheat is urgent

3.Why is there a higher demand for wheat in sub-Saharan Africa？

A.Because the number of hungry people there is increasing.

B.Because higher income people have the diversified need of food.

C.Because male labor are crowding into the cities.

D.Because the wheat price is lower.

4.According to Mr. Braun the main challenges for growing more wheat in Africa are_____.

A.climate change and disease

B.resistant crops and climate change

C.rising temperatures and disease and pests

D.disease and pests and inconvenient transportation

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.B

2.A

3.C

4.D

【解析】

試題分析： 農業專家上一周在埃塞爾比亞會面討論幫助次撒哈拉沙漠地區的非洲成為一個小麥主產區。這一地區傳統上生產的小麥很少而北非曾經是谷類糧倉。次撒哈拉國家的小麥產量銳減。一方面從歐洲和美國進口小麥費用更少；另一方面非洲的農場離人口中心區很遠，運輸是個問題，還有一些低洼地區不宜種小麥。現在是時候增加小麥生產了。在四年的時間里小麥價格就暴漲了三次。進口小麥費用就會大大增加。到了自己生產小麥的時候了。

1.詞意猜測題。hikes是熟詞新意，原意是爬山，在這里是價格上的“爬山“，結合后面的where the wheat price and other staple process (主食加工）exploded.（小麥價格和其他主食加工的暴漲。）判斷，選B。

2.推理判斷題。文章第二段的大意：次撒哈拉國家的小麥產量銳減。一方面從歐洲和美國進口小麥費用更少；另一方面非洲的農場離人口中心區很遠，運輸是個問題，還有一些低洼地區不宜種小麥。現在是時候增加小麥生產了。下一段開頭提到：在四年的時間里小麥價格就暴漲了三次。進口小麥費用就會大大增加。故選A。

3.細節理解題。文章第四段提到：一方面收入提高了，人民想要食物的多樣化；更重要的是有大量的人員尤其是男勞動力移民到城市；還有小麥產品方便購買、加工和儲存。再分析四個選項判斷，最佳選C。

4.細節理解題。文章最后一段提到：在影響小麥生產的三個主要原因中，Mr. Braun說：氣溫上升不應該對小麥有主要影響。在降雨量大的地區這還有助于小麥的生長。至于疾病和病蟲害，專家建議多種抗蟲小麥。另外鐵路和道路必須要改善這樣大量的小麥才有可能被運到大市場去。故選D。

考點：政治經濟文化類短文閱讀。