American agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug has received the Congressional Gold Medal.
Norman Borlaug is often called the man who saved a billion lives and the father of the Green Revolution.
His work helped fight starvation in India and Pakistan in the nineteen sixties. He won the nineteen seventy Nobel Peace Prize.
He, ninety-three years old ,still works as an adviser at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico.
In accepting the medal, he urged Congress and the administration to increase development assistance for agriculture. He said the world needs better and more technology to deal with hunger. In his words: Hunger and poverty and misery are very fertile soils into which to plant all kinds of 'isms,' including terrorism.
In the 1940s, Norman Borlaug and a team developed highly productive and disease-resistant wheat for farmers in Mexico. About twenty years later, millions of people in India and Pakistan were in danger from grain shortages.
The improved wheat from Mexico also grew well in South Asia, bined with changes in growing methods. Norman Borlaug persuaded farmers to use more fertilizers and pesticide chemicals and to water their crops with irrigation systems. Also many a crop can be planted in the same field. The results were big production gains that many believe saved as many as a billion lives.
President Bush noted that hunger still affects much of the developing world. He said the most fitting honor for Norman Borlaug is to lead a second Green Revolution that feeds the world. Yet his support for new agricultural technologies has been criticized at times over the years.
Some researchers worry about the effects of industrial methods of modern farming.
Population researcher Paul Ehrlich, for example, wrote a nineteen sixty-eight book called
The Population Bomb. He predicted that population growth would cause widespread harm to the planet.
But now, some people are saying there should be greater attention and respect for Norman Borlaug. A major theme of his work is that people can deal with difficulties and that technology can improve their lives.
【小题1】Norman Borlaug is called “the Father of the Green Revolution” mainly lies in that .A．he developed highly productive wheat to help fight against hungerB．he made a great contribution to fighting against terrorism and hungerC．he developed a kind of wheat that is environmentally friendly D．he sticks to the belief that technology can improve our lives.【小题2】The best title for the passage would be .A．Norman Borlaug, the Father of the Green RevolutionB．Golden Moments----a Long-life StruggleC．Hunger------a Serious Problem That Affects the Developing World.D．Norman Borlaug, the Savior of the Developing Country.【小题3】Which of the following is NOT supported by the passage?A．Despite his age, Norman Borlaug still works for the improvement in agricultureB．Norman Borlaug thinks that hunger and poverty tend to breed crimes and evilC．Without Norman Borlaug’s work, hunger problem wouldn’t pletely be settled nowD．Paul Ehrlich thinks that population growth would cause widespread harm to the planet.【小题4】It can be inferred from the passage that .A．Congress and the administration are to blame for hunger and povertyB．not all people are in favor of his new agricultural technologiesC．people can defeat terrorists by improving modern farmingD．the Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor given by Congress.
【小题1】A
【小题2】A
【小题3】C
【小题4】B
网友回答
(答案→)
【小题1】A
【小题2】A
【小题3】C
【小题4】B
解析：
【小题1】细节理解题。由文章第二段中的 “His work helped fight starvation in India and
Pakistan in the nineteen sixties.”和第六段中 “The results were big production gains that
many believe saved as many as a billion lives.”可知, 他被称为 “绿色革命之父”是因为帮助人们发展农业, 使成千上万的人免于饥饿和贫困。故答案为A。
【小题2】标题归纳题。本文介绍了一位为世界农业的发展作出了巨大贡献的美国农业科学家Norman Borlaug的故事，他被称为“绿色革命之父”，故A项符合主题。其他选项均偏离主题。
【小题3】正误判断题。由倒数第四段中 “President Bush noted that hunger still affects much of the developing world.”可知, 目前饥饿问题还没有完全解决, C项表述错误，符合题意。
【小题4】推理判断题。由倒数第三段中的Yet his support for new agricultural technologies has been criticized at times over the years. Some researchers worry about the effects of industrial methods of modern farming. 可以推出并不是所有的人都对他的农业新技术赞许，故B项符合题意。A、C项与文意不符；D项文中有明确表述，不符合题意。