Question

    Over the past decade, drug-resistant diseases have appeared as a major health threat. But where do they develop the drug resistance? One surprising theory: they may have developed the resistance on farms, and not in hospitals.

The crop protection products farmers use to control many plant diseases are almost the same as the drugs doctors use to treat infections, including fungi (真菌). Fungi are continually mutating (变异), and with a life cycle measured in days or weeks, they mutate quickly. When a mutation produces resistance to a chemical-killing fungi, fungi will jump to any host that provides a welcoming environment, such as a human body. And if the treatment for the fungal infection involves a drug similar to the fungicide encountered on the farm, Fungi may develop quickly in the human body-just as they did in the field.

An obvious solution is to use less fungicide in the field. Reducing fungicide use would not only slow the development of the drug resistance, it would help restore diversity to the fungal world. Fungicides are a must in the farming community. Plant diseases pose a major problem for farmers globally-in some crops, disease can reduce harvests by more than 70 percent-and failure to deal with the problem can mean financial ruin.

Just like Fungi-or, indeed, any living thing-plants continually evolve. This is how natural gene editing (基因编辑) works, and without it, we'd all still be single cells in a salty soup. Through natural selection, almost any plant will eventually produce resistance to Fungi. But this can take centuries, so we don't have the time to wait.

On the other hand, advances in genetics have given us an understanding of nature's gene editing process in plants, helping us develop resistance to a disease. Gene editing techniques can then enable us to produce disease resistance-just as nature would do, if given enough time.

1.What can we infer about Fungi from Paragraph 2?

A.They can treat infection sometimes.

B.They don't stop developing new forms.

C.A human body is their favorite place.

D.There are no Fungi in the fields now.

2.Which of the following can replace the underlined word ''pose'' in paragraph 3?

A.Solve. B.Face.

C.Cause. D.Overcome.

3.What makes a plant produce resistance to Fungi?

A.The survival of the fittest.

B.Advances in technology.

C.The use of farm chemicals.

D.A welcoming environment.

4.What can be the best title for the text?

A.Ways to Prevent Drug-resistant Diseases

B.The Source of the Drug Resistance

C.The Popularity of Gene Editing Techniques

D.The New Theory of Natural Selection

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.B

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章主要讲述了近十年对作物的观察发现，作物的耐药性来自于农场。经过自然选择，最终活下的作物几乎都会对真菌产生抗体，从而产生耐药性。尽可能少的在农田里使用真菌杀虫剂，不仅可以减缓耐药性的发展，也有助于保持真菌的多样性。

1.推理判断题。根据第二段的Fungi are continually mutating (变异), and with a life cycle measured in days or weeks, they mutate quickly.(真菌会一直变异，它的生命周期只有几天或者几周，它们很快就会变异)可推测，真菌一直都会变异成新的形式出现。B. They don't stop developing new forms.(它们不会停止发展新的形式)符合以上说法，故选B项。

2.词义猜测题。根据第三段的Plant diseases pose a major problem for farmers globally-in some crops, disease can reduce harvests by more than 70 percent-and failure to deal with the problem can mean financial ruin.可知，对于全球的农民来说植物病pose一个主要的问题——在一些作物上，病会使收成减少超过70%，如果不能解决这个问题就意味着经济损失。根据句意推测划线部分的意思是“造成”。C. Cause.(造成)符合以上说法，故选C项。

3.推理判断题。根据第四段的Through natural selection, almost any plant will eventually produce resistance to Fungi.(通过自然选择，几乎任何一种植物最终都能对真菌产生抗体)可推测，最后生存下来的植物可以对真菌产生抗体。A. The survival of the fittest.(最健康的幸存者)符合以上说法，故选A项。

4.主旨大意题。根据文章的主要内容，尤其是第一段的Over the past decade, drug-resistant diseases have appeared as a major health threat. But where do they develop the drug resistance? One surprising theory: they may have developed the resistance on farms, and not in hospitals.(在过去的十年中，耐药性作为一个主要的健康威胁疾病出现。但，它们是在哪里产生耐药性的呢？一个令人惊讶的理论是：它们可能是在农场，而不是在医院里产生了抗药性)可知，本文主要讲述了作物的耐药性是产生于农场，而不是医院里。B. The Source of the Drug Resistance(耐药性的来源)可以作为本文标题，故选B项。