Question

    Supermarket shelves are filled with plant-based alternatives (可代替品) to cow milk, including soy, nut, and coconut milk. These products are popular with consumers who cannot drink cows’ milk for health reasons, as well as with those concerned about animal welfare and environmental sustainability. While the dairy-free (非乳制的) options work well with cereal or in coffee, they fail miserably when it comes to making milk-based products like cheese or yogurt. However, these shortcomings may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to a new company in California, which has figured out how to create animal-free milk in a laboratory!

Perumal Gandhi and Ryan Pandya founded the company in 2014 after becoming increasingly annoyed with the lack of cows’ milk-free alternatives, particularly for cheese. For Gandhi, who stopped consuming animal products five years earlier due to environmental and animal welfare concerns, the motivation to create a better alternative stemmed from his love of cheesy pizza. Pandya was spurred (被激发) to take action after being forced to eat some “really bad” dairy-free cream cheese on his sandwich.

The two MIT biomedical engineering scientists decided to join forces to create a more realistic alternative to dairy-based products. In their university lab, the pair spent nine months first isolating (分离) cow DNA then inserting it into yeast (酵母). This genetic modification (改造) enabled the yeast to produce the necessary milk proteins. The final step of the process involved mixing the proteins with some plant nutrients and fats.

The dairy-free milk not only tastes like the real thing but is also healthier, has a longer shelf  life and, most important of all, is Earth friendly. According to the company’s website, when compared to conventional (常规的) milk production, their process uses 65% less energy, creates 84% less greenhouse gas emissions (排放) and requires 91% less land and an amazing 98% less water! Best of all, since it contains real milk proteins, the product behaves like the cow-produced version, which means vegetarian (素食的) consumers will no longer have to deal with the unpleasant cheese on their sandwiches and pizzas.

The company plans to bring their creation to market later this year and their first product will most likely be cheese since there are already many good cows’ milk products available to consumers.

1.The underlined word “those” in paragraph 1 refers to _______.

A.actions B.products C.people D.reasons

2.The company’s founders were motivated to make the new product because of _______.

A.their deep concern for the environment

B.their worry that farm animals were poorly treated

C.the over-consumption of the dairy-based products

D.the poor taste of dairy-free cheese presently available

3.What can be inferred from paragraph 4?

A.The dairy-free products cannot be stored for a long time.

B.Cow farming causes considerable environmental damage.

C.The new products will taste better than dairy-based ones.

D.The dairy-free milk will be more expensive than cow’s milk.

4.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A.Healthier Cheese

B.New Milk Saves Planet

C.Making Milk without Cows

D.Fresher Milk, Better Future

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.B

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章主要讲述了Perumal Gandhi和Ryan Pandya创造了不需要奶牛生产的牛奶，以及这种牛奶替代品的发明原理和优点。

1.

词义猜测题。本题需要我们判断第一段画线单词those指代的是什么？由第一段关键句“These products are popular with consumers who cannot drink cows’ milk for health reasons, as well as with those concerned about animal welfare and environmental sustainability.”可知，这些产品深受因为健康原因不能喝牛奶的消费者的欢迎，也受那些关心动物福利和环境可持续性的人的欢迎。由此可推断出as well as连接的内容描述的是这种产品受哪两类人的欢迎，故those指代的应该是欢迎这种牛奶的人。故选C项。

2.

细节理解题。由第二段关键句“Perumal Gandhi and Ryan Pandya founded the company in 2014”可知，Perumal Gandhi和Ryan Pandya在2014年成立了这家公司。再由第二段关键句“For Gandhi, who stopped consuming animal products five years earlier due to environmental and animal welfare concerns, the motivation to create a better alternative stemmed from his love of cheesy pizza. Pandya was spurred (被激发) to take action after being forced to eat some “really bad” dairy-free cream cheese on his sandwich.”可知，对于Gandhi来说，创造更好的替代品的原因源于他对奶酪的热爱。对于Pandya来说，创造更好的替代品的原因是他不想再吃三明治上非常糟糕的无乳奶酪了。由此可推断出，公司的创办者想要创造更好的替代品的原因是市面上不含奶制品的奶酪味道很差。故选D项。

3.

细节理解题。由第四段关键句“According to the company’s website, when compared to conventional (常规的) milk production, their process uses 65% less energy, creates 84% less greenhouse gas emissions (排放) and requires 91% less land and an amazing 98% less water!”中列举的数据可知，与传统的牛奶生产相比，他们的生产过程减少了65%的能源消耗，减少了84%的温室气体排放，所需土地减少91%，所需水资源减少98%。由此可推断出，传统的牛奶生产，也就是养牛业，是会消耗更多能源，排放更多温室气体的，对环境造成了很大的破坏。故选B项。

4.

主旨大意题。本题需要我们为文章选择合适的题目。浏览全文，根据文章内容及第一段关键句“However, these shortcomings may soon be a thing of the past, thanks to a new company in California, which has figured out how to create animal-free milk in a laboratory!”可知，文章主要讲述的是我们的主人公在实验室里创造出了不需要动物生产的牛奶，其余段落也在说明这种牛奶的生产动机及生产原理。Making Milk without Cows（不用奶牛制造牛奶）能够概括文章主题。故选C项。