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  3. A bull grazes on dry wheat husks(外皮)in Logan, Kansas, one of the regions hit

A bull grazes on dry wheat husks(外皮)in Logan, Kansas, one of the regions hit

游客2024-04-25  17
问题     A bull grazes on dry wheat husks(外皮)in Logan, Kansas, one of the regions hit by the record drought that has affected more than half of the U. S. and is expected to drive up food prices.
    Leading water scientists have issued one of the sternest warnings yet about
global food supplies, saying that the world’s population may have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic shortages.
    Adopting a vegetarian diet is one option to increase the amount of water available to grow more food in an increasingly climate-unstable world, the scientists said. Animal protein-rich food consumes 5 to 10 times more water than a vegetarian diet. One third of the world’s arable(适于耕种的)land is used to grow crops to feed animals. Other options to feed people include eliminating waste and increasing trade between countries in food surplus and those in deficit.
    "900 million people already go hungry and 2 billion people are malnourished in spite of the fact that per capita food production continues to increase," they said. " With 70% of all available water being in agriculture, growing more food to feed an additional 2 billion people by 2050 will place greater pressure on available water and land. "
    The report is being released at the start of the annual world water conference in Stockholm, Sweden, where 2,500 politicians, UN bodies, non-governmental groups and researchers from 120 countries meet to address global water supply problems.
    Competition for water between food production and other uses will intensify pressure on essential resources, the scientists said. "The UN predicts that we must increase food production by 70% by mid-century. This will place additional pressure on our already stressed water resources, at a time when we also need to allocate more water to satisfy global energy demand—which is expected to rise 60% over the coming 30 years —and to generate electricity for the 1. 3 billion people currently without it," said the report.
    Overeating, undernourishment and waste are all on the rise and increased food production may face future constraints from water scarcity.
    "We will need a new recipe to feed the world in the future," said the report’s editor, Anders Jaegerskog. A separate report from the International Water Management Institute(IWMI)said the best way for countries to protect millions of farmers from food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia was to help them invest in small pumps and simple technology, rather than to develop expensive, large-scale irrigation projects.
    "Farmers across the developing world are increasingly relying on and benefiting from small-scale, locally-relevant water solutions. These techniques could increase yields up to 300% and add tens of billions of U. S. dollars to household revenues across sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. " said Dr. Colin Chartres, the director general. [br] What can be inferred from the water scientists’ warning?
选项 A、The record drought forces half of the U. S. to go hungry.
B、The record drought drives up food prices in the U. S.
C、Severe food shortage may happen without proper measures.
D、A vegetarian diet is the only option to avoid disastrous shortages.
答案 C
解析 推理判断题。本题考查对水资源科学家警示的理解。定位段指出，一些水科学带头人发布了一个关于全球粮食供应的最高级警报，指出为了避免灾难性的粮食紧缺，在未来的四十年，世界人口的饮食可能不得不几乎全转换为素食，故答案为C)。A)“创纪录的干旱使得一半美国人挨饿”，文中第一段指出，这次干旱对大半个美国造成影响，故排除；B)“创纪录的旱灾抬高了美国的食物价格”，文中的is expected to表示人们的预测而不是事实，故排除；D)“素食成为避免灾害性食物短缺的唯一选择”，文中说的这是一种选择，而不是唯一选择，故排除。
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