If you want to disturb the car industry, you'd better have a few billion dollars: Mom-and-pop carmakers are unlikely to beat the biggest car companies. But in agriculture, small farmers can get the best of the major players. By connecting directly with customers, and by responding quickly to changes in the markets as well as in the ecosystems(生态系统）, small farmers can keep one step ahead of the big guys. As the co-founder of the National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC, 美国青年农会）and a family farmer myself. I have a front-row seat to the innovations among small farmers that are transforming the industry.
For example, take the Quick Cut Greens Harvester, a tool developed just a couple of years ago by a young farmer, Jonathan Dysinger, in Tennessee, with a small loan from a local Slow Money group. It enables small-scale farmers to harvest 175 pounds of green vegetables per hour—a huge improvement over harvesting just a few dozen pounds by hand—suddenly making it possible for the little guys to compete with large farms of California. Before the tool came out, small farmers couldn't touch the price per pound offered by California farms. But now, with the combination of a better price point and a generally fresher product, they can stay in business.
The sustainable success of small farmers, though, won't happen without fundamental changes to the industry. One crucial factor is secure access to land. Competition from investors. developers, and established large farmers makes owning one's own land unattainable for many new farmers.
From 2004 to 2013, agricultural land values doubled, and they continue to rise in many regions.
Another challenge for more than a million of the most qualified farm workers and managers is a non-existent path to citizenship — the greatest barrier to building a farm of their own. With farmers over the age of 65 outnumbering(多于）farmers younger than 35 by six to one, and with two-thirds of the nation's farmland in need of a new farmer, we must clear the path for talented people willing to grow the nation's food.
There are solutions that could light a path toward a more sustainable and fair farm economy, but farmers can't clumsily put them together before us. We at the NYFC need broad support as we urge Congress to increase farmland conservation, as we push for immigration reform, and as we seek policies that will ensure the success of a diverse and ambitious next generation of farms from all backgrounds. With a new farm bill to be debated in Congress, consumers must take a stand with young farmers.
1.The author mentions car industry at the beginning of the passage to introduce .
A.the progress made in car industry
B.a special feature of agriculture
C.a trend of development in agriculture
D.the importance of investing in car industry
2.What does the author want to illustrate with the example in paragraph 2?
A.Loans to small local farmers are necessary.
B.Technology is vital for agricultural development.
C.Competition between small and big farms is fierce
D.Small farmers may gain some advantages over big ones.
3.What is the difficulty for those new famers?
A.To gain more financial aid.
B.To hire good farm managers.
C.To have fans of their own.
D.To win old farmers’ support.
4.What should farmers do for a more sustainable and fair farm economy?
A.Seek support beyond NYFC.
B.Expand farmland conservation.
C.Become members of NYFC.
D.Invest more to improve technology.
By the end of the century, if not sooner, the world’s oceans will be bluer and greener thanks to a warming climate, according to a new study.
At the heart of the phenomenon lie tiny marine microorganisms(海洋微生物) called phytoplankton. Because of the way light reflects off the organisms, these phytoplankton create colourful patterns at the ocean surface. Ocean colour varies from green to blue, depending on the type and concentration of phytoplankton. Climate change will fuel the growth of phytoplankton in some areas, while reducing it in other spots, leading to changes in the ocean’s appearance.
Phytoplankton live at the ocean surface, where they pull carbon dioxide(二氧化碳) into the ocean while giving off oxygen. When these organisms die, they bury carbon in the deep ocean, an important process that helps to regulate the global climate. But phytoplankton are vulnerable to the ocean’s warming trend. Warming changes key characteristics of the ocean and can affect phytoplankton growth, since they need not only sunlight and carbon dioxide to grow, but also nutrients.
Stephanie Dutkiewicz, a scientist in MIT’s Center for Global Change Science, built a climate model that projects changes to the oceans throughout the century. In a world that warms up by 3℃, it found that multiple changes to the colour of the oceans would occur. The model projects that currently blue areas with little phytoplankton could become even bluer. But in some waters, such as those of the Arctic, a warming will make conditions riper for phytoplankton, and these areas will turn greener. “Not only are the quantities of phytoplankton in the ocean changing. ” she said, “but the type of phytoplankton is changing.”
And why does that matter? Phytoplankton are the base of the food web. If certain kinds begin to disappear from the ocean, Dutkiewicz said, “it will change the type of fish that will be able to survive.” Those kinds of changes could affect the food chain.
Whatever colour changes the ocean experiences in the coming decades will probably be too gradual and unnoticeable, but they could mean significant changes. “It’ll be a while before we can statistically show that the changes are happening because of climate change,” Dutkiewicz said, “but the change in the colour of the ocean will be one of the early warning signals that we really have changed our planet.”
1.What are the first two paragraphs mainly about?
A.The various patterns at the ocean surface.
B.The cause of the changes in ocean colour.
C.The way light reflects off marine organisms.
D.The efforts to fuel the growth of phytoplankton.
2.What does the underlined word “vulnerable” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.Sensitive. B.Beneficial. C.Significant. D.Unnoticeable.
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A.Phytoplankton play a declining role in the marine ecosystem.
B.Dutkiewicz’s model aims to project phytoplankton changes.
C.Phytoplankton have been used to control global climate.
D.Oceans with more phytoplankton may appear greener.
4.What is the main purpose of the passage?
A.To assess the consequences of ocean colour changes.
B.To analyse the composition of the ocean food chain.
C.To explain the effects of climate change on oceans.
D.To introduce a new method to study phytoplankton.
根据语境及汉语或首字母提示正确拼写单词
1.The book you ordered last week is said to be __________（出版）in October．
2.They have to be e__________ at dealing with any problem that appears．
3.I was strongly impressed by its __________（美）the first time I saw the Huangguoshu Waterfall．
4.We must look over the house before we decide to __________（租用）it．
5.As our life __________（改善），we find little time to gather with our friends．
重点短语
1.be good __________ 对……有好处
2.reflect __________ 反思，反省
3.lead __________ 导致
单词与拓展
1.__________ vt．& vi．出版，发行
2.__________ adj．行家的，专家的 n．专家，能手
3.__________ n．美→__________ adj．美丽的
4.__________ adj．有限的→___________n．限度，限制，范围 vt．限制，限定
5.__________ vt．& vi．租用，租借 n．租金
6.__________ vt，&vi．改善，改进，提高→___________n．改进，改善；改善的事物，改进之处
7.__________ n．灵魂
语法填空
Mount Everest is the 1.(high) mountain in the world. The mountain 2.(be) located in Asia. Asia is home to all five of the world’s highest mountains. Mount Everest’s peak is five and one-half miles above sea level. That is very high.
Many climbers have tried to climb to the top of Mount Everest’s approximately(大约) 29, 141-foot peak. The first people 3. reach the peak were Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Since then, about 900 people 4.(survive) the climb to Mount Everest’s top.
One of the successful 5.(climber) is Erik Weihenmayer. Like all 6.try to climb this high mountain, Eric faced strong winds, snow and avalanches. 7., what really made Erik’s climb 8.(believable) is the fact that he is blind. After 9.(lose) his vision at age 13, Erik began climbing at age 16. He has climbed the tallest mountains on five continents. Erik became 10. first blind person to reach the peak of Mount Everest.
