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The promise of finding long-term technological solutions to the problem of w

游客2025-03-23  4
问题     The promise of finding long-term technological solutions to the problem of world food shortages seems difficult to fulfill. Many innovations that were once heavily supported and publicized, such as fish-protein concentrate and protein from algae grown on petroleum substrates, have since fallen by the wayside. The proposals themselves were technically feasible, but they proved to be economically unviable(not able to succeed) and to yield food products culturally unacceptable to their consumers.
    One characteristic common to unsuccessful food innovations has been that, even with extensive government support, they often have not been technologically adapted or culturally acceptable to the people for whom they had been developed. A successful new technology, therefore, must fit the entire sociocultural system in which it is to find a place security of crop yield, practicality of storage, and costs are more significant than had previously been realized by the advocates of new technologies.
    The adoption of new food technologies depends on more than these technical and cultural considerations; economic factors and governmental policies also strongly influence the ultimate success of any innovation. Economists in the Anglo-American tradition have taken the lead in investigating the economics of technological innovation. Although they exaggerate in claiming that profitability is the key factor guiding technical change—they completely disregard the substantial effects of culture—they are correct in stressing the importance of profits. Most technological innovations in agriculture can be fully used only by large landowners and are only adopted if these profit-oriented business believe that the innovation will increase their incomes. Thus, innovations that carry high rewards for big agribusiness groups will be adopted even if they harm segments of the population and reduce the availability of food in a country. Further, should a new technology promise to alter substantially the profits and losses associated with any production system, those with economic power will strive to maintain and improve their own position. Since large segments of the populations of many developing countries are close to the subsistence(ability to live)margin and essentially powerless, they tend to be the losers in this system unless they are aided by a government policy that takes into account the needs of all sectors (branches) of the economy. Therefore, although technical advances in food production and processing will perhaps be needed to ensure food availability, meeting food needs will depend much more on equalizing economic powers among the various segments of the populations within the developing countries themselves. [br] It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements concerning the solution to food shortages in developing countries?
选项 A、The introduction of technological innovations to reap profits might alleviate (make less)food shortages to some degree, but any permanent solution can come only from effective governmental intervention in the socioeconomic system.
B、Innovations in agricultural technology will be of little help, and perhaps even harmful, in combating food shortages, no matter how well designed they are to suit local circumstances.
C、Long-lasting solution will not be found until large landowners adopt improvements that will make production more efficient and thus more profitable.
D、In order to achieve a meaningful solution to the problem of food shortages, the tastes of the general population must be educated to accept the new food products of modern agricultural technology.
答案 A
解析 纵观全文，作者认为判断解决世界粮食短缺的技术革新是否可行的标准，不仅仅取决于技术上的因素，更取决于社会经济、文化上的因素。这个观点在最后一段也有阐述。B项说的过于片面绝对，作者观点与之恰恰相反。他认为均衡技术、经济、文化各方面的因素，设计良好的方案的革新才是解决粮食短缺的可行方案。C项中提到的条件只是决定长期解决方案可行性的因素之一，即经济方案。根据文章，这个因素无法保持 长期的可行性。D项与C项一样，也是把决定因素之一当成了必要条件，过于片面。
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