Civilization began with agriculture, and though humanity has changed significantly, agriculture remains very important. In certain countries, its significance is more apparent, but the reality is that every country in the world depends on agriculture for one thing or another.
It provides employment. Whether it’s working as a farmer, a harvester, a technician for farm equipment or a scientist, there are plenty of jobs available in this field. In developing countries, agricultural jobs help reduce high rates of unemployment.
It’s crucial to a country’s development. Economic development is tied to a country’s agricultural sector. When trade, national avenue, and employment are combined in a positive way, a country enjoys reduced poverty and boosted economic growth. Because strong agriculture results in benefits fairly quickly, focusing on it is one of the best ways to speed up development and improve a country’s standing across the globe.
It drives innovation in technology. Because healthy agriculture is so essential to a country’s well-being, it’s been the setting of some of the most exciting innovations in technology. Through artificial intelligence, blockchain software, and more, scientists and farmers have been figuring out ways to increase crop productivity, use less water, and reduce negative impacts on the environment. For scientists and tech companies, agribusiness is one of the most fascinating and productive fields to work in.
It’s the source of our food supply. Arguably, the most important aspect of agriculture is that it’s the source of the world’s food supply. No matter where or what you are eating, the ingredients in your meals come from somewhere. All roads lead to agriculture. In countries dealing with food insecurity and severe malnutrition, their agricultural sectors are suffering. When agriculture thrives(蓬勃发展), fewer people go hungry.
It can help heal the environment. Agriculture possesses the power to cause harm or heal. When farmers prioritize biodiversity on their land, it benefits the earth. Having more biodiversity results in healthier soil, better water conservation, and healthier pollinators(传粉者).
All in all, agriculture plays a critical role in the entire life of a given economy. Agriculture culture is the backbone of the economic system of a given country.
1. What is the topic of the article?| A．Civilization. | B．Agriculture. | C．Economy. | D．Environment. |
| A．Sustainable development. | B．Sound economic systems. |
| C．Low unemployment rates. | D．Worldwide food security. |
| A．He is critical about such a belief. | B．He is doubtful about the importance. |
| C．He is certain about his statement. | D．He is concerned about food insecurity. |
| A．The development of agriculture. | B．The diversity of farm products. |
| C．The significance of land farming. | D．The origin of human civilization. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】In December, the intense cold turns dripping water into ice within seconds. Yet, 63-year-old Ren Jianguo gets up early before 5 am every morning to sprinkle (撒) 150 kilograms of corn on the river banks to make sure thousands of migratory birds have enough energy to make it through the winter. Over the past 26 years, Ren has been one of many volunteers protecting migratory birds on Changbai Island, where local residents label him as “Uncle Bird”.
For Ren himself, a cottage near the riverbank has almost become his “second home”, a place from which he can observe the dynamics of the birds, provide help for injured birds, educate the public about bird conservation and, after a long day of work, light a fire and enjoy a warm meal. Winter is the busiest time for Uncle Bird. When the harsh season makes it difficult for birds to find food, he calls for donations or sometimes even pays for the food himself to guarantee their survival during the winter. “I simply want this to be a warm and welcoming place for birds when they choose to stay here for a temporary rest,” he said.
A report in 2021 shows that many migratory birds have changed their habit of just passing through China as they head to the Pacific Ocean or South Asia for the winter. Instead, more and more are choosing to spend winter within China’s wetlands. However, when Ren settled in the city in the 1990s, only hundreds of migratory birds would come every winter. Since then, China has stepped up protection of wetlands and nature reserves by introducing new regulations and high technology.
“Thirty years ago, it was impossible to see more than 8,000 birds together in the urban area. But now, thousands of the birds attract an increasing number of tourists every year. As long as they choose to stay in this city, there should be people to take care of them. However tough it is, I will stick to my choice and try to raise public awareness,” Ren said.
1. Why is winter the busiest time for Mr. Ren?| A．He has to receive more tourists. | B．He must treat more injured birds. |
| C．He needs to feed more migratory birds. | D．He is more engaged in observing birds. |
| A．Long distance. | B．High technology. |
| C．Food shortage. | D．Improved environment. |
| A．Migratory Birds Boost Tourism |
| B．“Uncle Bird” Devoted to Bird Protection |
| C．Great Achievements in Wildlife Protection |
| D．Environmental Impacts on Bird Migration |
【推荐2】Weather could power the next generation of smart windows. Researchers have created glass by harvesting energy from wind and precipitation(降水).The approach offers an alternative to other smart windows powered by batteries, solar panels, and even standard power outlets. “The creation represents a new kind of renewable energy source”, says Liming Dai, a nanomaterial engineer at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, who was not involved in the research.
Smart glass, which changes its characteristics to block out light or heat, has been around for decades. Common examples include glare-fighting rearview(后视) car mirrors and windows that change color for energy savings and privacy. But many are expensive, and people are still looking for eco-friendly ways to power the windows. Batteries and plug-in outlets aren’t apparently “green”, and built-in solar panels can cloud or hide parts of the glass.
In experiments, the glass produced up to 130 milliwatts per square meter, enough to power a pacemaker or a smart phone while it’s asleep, the team reported online last month in ACS Nano. This output might suit many applications, such as being a power source for home or office electronics, says co-developer and scientist Zhong Wang of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta Since their first project in 2012, a light-up sidewalk powered by footsteps, he and his colleagues have miniaturized their generators to create everything from self-cleaning keyboards to sensors for security systems.
But Wang and colleagues still have more work to do before this smart glass is ready for commercialization. Now, the glass has no way to store the energy it creates. To solve this problem, Dai says, transparent supercapacitors(超级电容器) could be placed into the glass without decreasing visibility.
For now, the team wants to improve the energy efficiency of their nanogenerators. These tiny power plants can convert about 60% of the mechanical energy that they encounter into electricity. “The output power is a constant goal,” Wang says. “Free energy surrounds us, and anything can happen if you take control of it."
1. What is unique about the smart glass?| A．It can protect privacy. | B．It is more expensive. |
| C．It is powered by weather. | D．It can block out light and heat. |
| A．The research history of Zhong Wang. |
| B．The experimental process of Zhong Wang. |
| C．The research theory of Zhong Wang’s team. |
| D．The experimental findings of Zhong Wang's team. |
| A．It cannot suit the supercapacitors. | B．It cannot keep its produced electricity. |
| C．It cannot power a smart phone. | D．It cannot change its color according to weather. |
| A．Transform. | B．Consume. |
| C．Waste. | D．Reserve. |
【推荐3】Peter Ripken loves literature and reads books by writers all over the world. He learned years ago that not all nations permit writers to express themselves freely. In fact, free expression can be quite dangerous in many places.
So, Ripken decided to act. He helped establish an organization, the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN), to protect writers. Its founders sought to persuade cities, not central governments, to give refuge to persecuted(受迫害的)writers. He was involved right from the beginning, from the mid-1990s, to set up this program.
Originally, he had a different view of his future as a young man. He thought of becoming a bookseller because of his reading obsession when he was 15. But he did not become a bookseller. Instead, in the late 1960s, Ripken began a five year stint as a manager in an aid organization working in Africa. But his love for the written word remained strong. He then worked for three years as a deputy editor for the Africa section at the Voice of Germany. Despite his love for the job, when asked to join an organization promoting African, Asian and Latin American literature, Ripken didn’t hesitate. He had fun travelling to literature conferences and holding workshops with publishers and authors. That’s why he did the job for 20 years.
Ripken grew up reading German authors. But his interest broadened to other European and American literature. Then, he found what he called books "outside the norm(常态)". This helped grow his interest in political developments in other regions.
In 2016，Ripken retired after several years as ICORN’s chairman. But he is still active in the organization. His goal is to increase the group’s capacity to protect and promote writers and artists at risk around the world. He said he hoped to be remembered as somebody who had promoted creativity and supported literature as a political tool and source of enjoyment.
1. What’s the role of Ripken in the development of ICORN?| A．A monitor. | B．A co-founder. |
| C．A consultant. | D．An analyst. |
| A．A bookseller. | B．A manager. |
| C．A deputy editor. | D．A staff in ICORN. |
| A．He grew up reading German authors. |
| B．He loved travelling and meeting people. |
| C．He’s obsessed with literature all over the world. |
| D．He concerned himself about political developments via literature. |
| A．Why politics influences literature. |
| B．Why literature itself is a pleasure. |
| C．How ICORN has become so international. |
| D．How people read works of literature "outside the norm". |
【推荐1】Singapore cannot afford to have large plots of land dedicated to growing crops—it is just too small. However, farming, or more precisely, urban farming, is now a buzz word here. Instead of looking at the grounds, Singapore has decided to look skyward, towards rooftops!
In 2020, Singapore announced plans to convert the roofs of nine multi-storey car-parks in public housing areas into spaces for commercially farmed vegetables and other crops. This is part of Singapore’s strategy to meet the country’s 30 by 30 goal, which is to produce 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030 up from 10% in 2020.
Several companies have taken on the task of cultivating the urban farming scene in Singapore. Citiponics has made a name for itself, building water-efficient organic “growing towers” that can be used to grow anything from butterhead lettuce (奶油生菜) to sweet basil (罗勒). In April 2020, they opened the first commercial farm on the rooftop of a multi-storey car park and now sell their produce via their own brand at local supermarkets. Edible Garden City (EGC) has more than 200farms across the island and works closely with restaurants to ensure sustainable supply and demand. A 460-square-meter farm run by EGC, is positioned on the rooftop of a mall to supply nearby restaurants.
Singapore is not alone in its efforts to go beyond the confines of conventional agriculture. All over the world, cities are seeking to feed their communities with local produce. At Thammasat University located just outside of Bangkok, a formerly disused rooftop has been transformed into a 7,000-square-meter space for organic farming, the largest in Asia.
Urban farming is not restricted to eatable plants such as leafy greens and vegetables. Rooftop Honey, which has over 130 hives throughout various locations in Greater Melbourne specializes in bees. The urban beekeeping operation, founded in 2010, serves two purposes: producing creamy and delicious honey for the city’s residents while also allowing the bees to pollinate (授粉) flowers in the surrounding areas.
There are several benefits to have the farms so close to home. Through community gardens or access to commercial-scale farm produce, the public have an opportunity to understand how food is grown. As the produce is pesticide free, there is also comfort in knowing where the food comes from and its impact on the environment.
1. Why is the limited land resource in Singapore mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．To explain benefits of urban farming. | B．To show the function of urban farming. |
| C．To introduce the result of urban farming. | D．To emphasize the necessity of urban farming. |
| A．Strengths. | B．Restrictions. | C．Principles. | D．Profits. |
| A．Urban farming simply means growing vegetables and fruits. |
| B．Urban farming is a solution to farming where land is lacking. |
| C．Urban farming helps to increase the crop production greatly. |
| D．Urban farming has never been commercialized in Singapore. |
| A．A New Plan Launched in Singapore | B．Singapore, the Birthplace of Urban Farming |
| C．Urban Farming, a Novel Pattern of Farming | D．Strengths and Weaknesses of Urban Farming |
【推荐2】Plenty, an agricultural technology company in San Francisco, is reinventing farms and farming. Nater Storye, the company’s chief science officer says the future of the farms will be vertical (垂直的) and indoors, so food can be grown anywhere in the world all year round, and farms will employ robots and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve the quality of growth for fruits and vegetables. Plenty does all those things but uses 95% less water and 99% less land.
As AI is on the rise, farmers on flat farms have been using new tools to make farming better or easier. In recent years, they have been using drones (无人机) and robots to improve efficiency. However, flat farms still use a lot of water and land, while a Plenty’s vertical farm can produce the same quantity of fruits and vegetables as a 720-acre flat farm, but on only 2 acres.
Plenty’s climate-controlled indoor farm has rows of plants growing vertically. There are LED lights shining on them, robots moving them around, and AI managing all the variables of water, temperature, and light. The conditions are so good that the production per acre is 400 times higher than that of an outdoor farm.
Another advantage of vertical farming is that the fruits and vegetables are grown at a warehouse nearby instead of 1,000 miles away or more from a city. That means many transportation miles are saved, which can reduce millions of tons of greenhouse gases every year and the price of fruits and vegetables will also go down. Imported (进口的) fruits and vegetables are more expensive, so poor people in society are at an extreme nutritional disadvantage. Vertical farms could cope with this problem.
Also, Plenty’s farms grow organic food without using herbicides (除草剂) or pesticides. They recycle all the water used, even catching the water in the air. The best farm in San Francisco is using 100% renewable energy.
Moreover, all the packaging is 100% recyclable, made of recycled plastic and specially designed to keep the food fresh longer to reduce food waste. Ideally, the company will branch out, opening farms across the country and beyond.
1. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?| A．Robots and AI used on vertical farms can quicken the growth of plants. |
| B．Fruits and vegetables grown on vertical farms are more tasty. |
| C．Both land and water can be saved on vertical farms. |
| D．Plenty is the first company to grow crops on vertical farms. |
| A．Register. | B．Improve. | C．Present. | D．Solve. |
| A．They will have more farms. | B．They will only be run by robots and AI. |
| C．They will bring about terrible problems. | D．They will completely take the place of flat farms. |
| A．To question the possibility of vertical farming |
| B．To show the technologies of vertical farming. |
| C．To discuss the potential problems of vertical farming |
| D．To introduce and explain the benefits of vertical farming. |
【推荐3】Artificial intelligence (Al) has the potential to develop more efficient methods of farming in order to fight global warming.
Global warming threatens every aspect of our everyday lives, including crop production. It will reduce the soil moisture (水分) in areas close to the equator according to a study. We are already seeing the negative impact of these changed growing conditions on our crop production. Climate change harms poorer countries that do not have the money to import food. The result is growing food insecurity. However, agriculture is not just affected by global warming — agriculture is part of a vicious (恶性的) cycle in which farming leads to global warming, which in turn destroys agricultural production. The process of clearing land for agriculture results in widespread deforestation (毁林) and contributes to 40 percent of global methane production. Therefore, to deal with climate change, it is necessary to ensure reforestation — but how? What is the path to efficient, environmentally-conscious farming?
This is where AI enters the scene. Farmers use AI for methods such as precision agriculture; they can monitor crop moisture, soil composition, and temperature in growing areas, enabling farmers to increase production by learning how to take care of their crops and determine the ideal amount of water to use. Furthermore, this technology may help reduce deforestation by allowing humans to grow food in urban areas. It could be especially beneficial for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, where much of the population lives in cities.
However, AI is far from a silver bullet — it could actually contribute to global warming as well. Due to the large amount of data that AI needs to process, training a single AI releases five times the emissions that an average car would give off during its lifetime. Further, securing access to AI on a global scale may pose some challenges. Countries will need experts in the field who can successfully use the technology and Internet connection, neither of which are always readily available. Therefore, there is still a long way for developing countries to take advantage of the benefits of AI.
Given these concerns, global leaders must consider the potential costs, and the environmental consequences of data processing before developing AI for use in agriculture.
1. What can we learn about today’s agriculture from paragraph 2?| A．It is the main challenge of reforestation. |
| B．Poorer countries rely on it more than before. |
| C．It is still dependent on deforestation for more land. |
| D．It is both a victim and a cause of global warming. |
| A．Building farming communities in cities. |
| B．Abandoning traditional farming methods. |
| C．Making the most of agricultural resources. |
| D．Balancing farming with farmers’ everyday lives. |
| A．There are technical barriers in developing countries. |
| B．The relevant technology is still under development. |
| C．The process of developing Al is difficult. |
| D．There is no one-size-fits-all AI technology. |
| A．The benefits of agricultural AI |
| B．The future of farming: AI and agriculture |
| C．A block to environmentally-conscious agriculture |
| D．Global warming and agriculture: a vicious cycle |
