Question

    In a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, Dieudonne Twahirwa looks nothing like the traditional African farmer. The 30-year-old owner of Gashora Farm knows what a difference that makes.

“You need more role models,” he said, standing among knee-high rows of chilli (辣椒) plants. “If you have young farmers, they have land and they drive to the farm, others may think, ‘Why can’t I do that?’”

Mr. Twahirwa, a university graduate, bought a friend’s tomato farm six years ago for $ 150. He made $ 1, 500 back in two months. “You have to link farming with entrepreneurship and real numbers,” he said.

Many young Africans are abandoning areas in the countryside, choosing not to work hard and for a long time in fields — a job made tougher by climate change.

But Twahirwa is one of the growing band of successful farmers working to make agriculture’s image on the continent more attractive. Some 1, 000 farmers now produce chillies for him. He is starting a fourth farm of his own, and exports fresh and dried chillies and oil to Britain, the United States, India and Kenya.

Africa has the world’s youngest population and 65 percent uncultivated arable land (耕地后备资源).Yet accessing land and loans is difficult, and African productivity is low with crop yields just 56 percent of the international average.

“Agriculture is mainly associated with suffering and no young person wants to suffer,” said Tamara Kaunda. She believes African agriculture needs a change to get rid of its old-fashioned image of very hard and tiring work with a hoe. “Show young people with tractors, green fields, nice irrigation systems smartphones,” she said.

Getting young people involved in agriculture does not mean they have to work on a farm. For example, in coffee production, the beans go from the farm to the washing station , then to be separated from the husks (外壳).

1.What does “Why can’t I do that?” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A.Why can’t I drive to the farm?

B.Why can’t they farm?

C.They follow the example of those farmers.

D.They bought a friend’s tomato farm.

2.What makes it harder for farmers to work?

A.Poor land.

B.Climate.

C.Low income.

D.Long working hours.

3.What can we learn about Twahirwa according to Paragraph 5 ?

A.He made a fortune by growing chillies.

B.His chillies are try growing chillies.

C.Farmers working for him live a simple life.

D.The locals aren't willing to buy his chillies.

4.When it comes to agriculture in Africa, what do people think about it?

A.Loans are difficult.

B.Most land is uncultivated.

C.Crop yields are rather low

D.Farming methods are out of date

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.A

4.D

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。文章介绍了Twahirwa用自己的智慧改变着非洲大陆的农业。

1.词义猜测题。根据第二段的“You need more role models,” he said, standing among knee-high rows of chilli (辣椒) plants. “If you have young farmers, they have land and they drive to the farm, others may think, ‘Why can’t I do that?’”(“你需要更多的榜样，”他站在齐膝高的辣椒丛中说。“如果你有年轻的农民，他们有土地，他们开车去农场，其他人可能会想，‘Why can’t I do that?’”)结合句意，尤其是role models可推测划线部分的意思是“效仿那些农民”。C. They follow the example of those farmers. (他们效仿那些农民)符合以上猜测，故选C项。

2.细节理解题。根据第四段的Many young Africans are abandoning areas in the countryside, choosing not to work hard and for a long time in fields — a job made tougher by climate change.可知，许多非洲年轻人正在放弃农村地区，选择不在田里长时间的努力工作——这一工作因气候变化而变得更加艰难。由此可知，很多农村的年轻人放弃在田里工作是因为气候变化让种田变得更艰难。B. Climate. (气候)符合以上说法，故选B项。

3.推理判断题。根据第五段的But Twahirwa is one of the growing band of successful farmers working to make agriculture’s image on the continent more attractive. He is starting a fourth farm of his own, and exports fresh and dried chillies and oil to Britain, the United States, India and Kenya.可知，但是Twahirwa是越来越多成功农民中的一个，他们努力使非洲大陆的农业形象更具吸引力。他正在开办自己的第四个农场，向美国、英国、印度和肯尼亚出口新鲜的干辣椒和辣椒油。由此可知，Twahirwa通过卖辣椒挣了一大笔钱。A. He made a fortune by growing chillie.(他种辣椒发了财)符合以上推测，故选A项。

4.细节理解题。根据倒数第二段的She believes African agriculture needs a change to get rid of its old-fashioned image of very hard and tiring work with a hoe.可知，她认为，非洲农业需要改变，以摆脱其非常辛苦和累人的工作与锄头的过时形象。由此可知，当谈到非洲农业时，人们都会觉得他们地耕作方式是过时的。D. Farming methods are out of date (耕作方式是过时的)符合以上说法，故选D项。