Question

Not long ago, people could only buy organic food in small shops. Today it is common in most major supermarkets. The reason for the increase is that more and more people are demanding food grown without chemicals. Since the 1990s, organic farm production has gone up 20 percent every year. This pattern is expected to continue around the globe.

Australia leads the world in land used for organic agriculture. It has four times as much land devoted to organic farming as all of Asia. However, most of the land is not very fertile, and it only produces a modest amount of food. Argentina is a distant second, followed by Brazil, the United States and China. In Africa, only a very small amount of land is registered for organic farming. That does not mean Africa relies on chemicals. In fact, many farmers do not use chemicals because they cannot afford them. Yet there are no programs for these farmers to prove they do not use chemicals. Without these programs their food can never be approved organic.

India has had the most dramatic recent increase in organic farming. Like many other countries, India sees continual growth in organic food sales around the world. This, of course, leads to growth in profits. Sales of organic food were more than doubled from 2000 to 2005. Like India, many countries are trying to increase commercial organic farming to get a share of the sales. This has led to criticism. Some people believe that organic farming should not just be about making money. They think the goal is to help the environment. Others say organic farming will not continue if it is not profitable. They say that people should be able to make money while providing food that is healthy to mankind.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A. Countries all want to make money from organic farming.

B. Organic food has become much more common.

C. People do not want to eat food with chemicals in it.

D. Farming organically is growing around the world.

2.Why do people want to increase organic farming?

A. Organic food is good for the Earth and the human beings.

B. More and more people demand chemicals to grow food.

C. Profits from organic farming help make approval programs.

D. There are fewer chemicals available to the human beings.

3.From the passage, it can be said that __________.

A. China and India have the same amount of organic farmland

B. India uses the least land to farm organically

C. the US is the fourth largest organic farming country

D. Brazil uses less land to farm organically than China

4.It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A. there will be fewer organic farms if demand for organic food goes down

B. people who eat food with chemicals have shorter lifespan

C. India will soon become the largest grower of organic food

D. more countries will farm organically as the environment gets worse

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.A

【解析】本文介绍有机食品。有机食品有益于地球和人类，所以人们想增加有机耕作，目前世界各地都在提倡有机种植。

1.D主旨大意题。根据第一段最后两句Since the 1990s, organic farm production has gone up 20 percent every year. This pattern is expected to continue around the globe.可知，世界各地有机农业生产在持续增长。纵观全文，这也是本文主题，故选D。

2.A推理判断题。根据第一段中Not long ago, people could only buy organic food in small shops. Today it is common in most major supermarkets. The reason for the increase is that more and more people are demanding food grown without chemicals.可知，有机食品有益于地球和人类，人们现在对没有化学品的有机食品需求持续增加，所以人们想增加有机种植。故选A。

3.C推理判断题。根据第二段中Australia leads the world in land used for organic agriculture. Argentina is a distant second, followed by Brazil, the United States and China.可知，美国是第四大有机农业国家。故选C。

4.A推理判断题。根据最后一段中Like India, many countries are trying to increase commercial organic farming to get a share of the sales. This has led to criticism.（像印度一样，许多国家都在努力增加商业有机农业以获得销售份额。）可推知，如果有机食品需求下降，有机农场就会减少。故选A。

【名师点睛】

根据上下文内在联系，挖掘文章的深层含义。在进行推理时，一定要仔细阅读短文，千万不可脱离原文而仅凭个人的看法，主观臆断。本题第3小题，第二段中Australia leads the world in land used for organic agriculture.可知，Australia在有机农业上处于第一的位置；再根据Argentina is a distant second可知，Argentina处于第二的位置；followed by Brazil, the United States and China.可知，巴西第三，美国位于第四。