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. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】If you’ve ever been on a fishing boat, you’ve probably seen crowds of birds following it, hoping to catch a snack. Now scientists use those birds’ behavior to track illegal fishing boats.
Researchers attached data loggers to the backs of 169 albatrosses (信天翁) in Indian oceans. Weighing only 42 grams, the devices included a GPS, which enabled them to detect the presence and intensity of radar signals emitting from boats. That information was then sent by satellite, so the researchers could track the location of the birds—and thus the radar-emitting boats—in real time.
The scientists then cross-checked that data against the known locations of boats, collected from a system boats use to declare themselves, called the Automatic Identification System (AIS). And noticeable differences appeared frequently.
More than a third of the times the birds “loggers” detected radar signals, and therefore a boat, but no such boat appeared in the official log—meaning that the vehicles had likely switched off their AIS—something that probably happens in illegal fishing operations.
The work suggests birds could be an effective boat-monitoring tool as long as illegal fishing operations don’t target the birds.
Fortunately, such a task would be difficult. Around fishing boats, you can find hundreds of birds at any one time that are flying around. And the birds with loggers are not marked in any way. So it’s not really possible for fishermen to pick out a specific bird.
But what concerns researchers is that albatrosses often get caught by some fishing boats. Though regulations have been established to protect against that happening—with success—illegal boats don’t necessarily obey. So scientists might be underestimating the risk posed to albatross populations.
1. What characteristic of albatrosses do scientists take advantage of in their research?| A．Their feeding patterns. |
| B．Their sense of direction. |
| C．Their greedy behaviors. |
| D．Their habit of following fishing boats. |
| A．To seek more fishes. |
| B．To have it mistaken for another. |
| C．To avoid being detected. |
| D．To save the trouble of declaring itself. |
| A．Identifying birds with loggers. |
| B．Monitoring illegal boats. |
| C．Tracking radar signals automatically. |
| D．Fishing illegally. |
| A．AIS: an Effective System to Locate Boats |
| B．Humans Are Good at Discovering Birds’ Nature |
| C．Data Loggers Help Fishermen Get a Good Harvest |
| D．Scientists Use Birds to Track Illegal Fishing Operations |
【推荐2】In recent times, with the coming of electric cars, the idea to fuel them with solar energy gained momentum (势头). Electric cars — even though they run on electricity and don’t use fossil fuels — are still NOT GREEN! People suffer from the misconception that not using fossil fuels means “green” which is kind of absurd, considering the electricity we use is produced by burning the very same fuels!
However, what if your car had solar panels that could charge it? Now that would indeed be a green machine! Though we would like to incorporate (使并入) this energy source into our car, the efficiency of the currently used solar panels is subject to the fulfillment of different criteria.
Firstly, solar panels take up a large amount of area. An average car has an area of 10-25 square feet on the roof, which can produce between 50-150W under ideal conditions. This is hardly enough power to make a light bulb function normally! Also, the moderate sunny temperature is ideal, as extremely high temperatures can reduce the efficiency of the solar panels. Cars must work in all weather conditions, so if a solar panel limits the car’s function, it will become practically useless. More importantly, the cost of the panels and development required to power the electronics using the sun’s energy outweighs the benefits that solar panels provide.
Most cars today that have solar roofs use solar energy to power only a few basic functions of the car. While there is still time before we will be able to drive cars fully powered by solar energy, there are some alternatives (可供选择的事物), such as solar power stations, which are being designed to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for electricity.
Solar-powered vehicles are surely the future, but not the near future. As the cost of solar panels continues to fall and their efficiency increases, things will begin to look much “brighter” for this alternative and sustainable option!
1. Why aren’t electric cars environmentally friendly?| A．They are not powered by solar energy. | B．They cause more pollution to the world. |
| C．They won’t work as well as the common cars. | D．They run on electricity produced by burning fuels. |
| A．Powering the electronics costs little. |
| B．Temperatures have little effect on solar panels. |
| C．A car’s roof generates enough power to light a bulb. |
| D．The performance of current solar panels depends on various factors. |
| A．They have already been in use. |
| B．They will be available in the near future. |
| C．They will be powered from solar-power stations soon. |
| D．They can use solar energy to power all functions of the car at present. |
| A．What do solar cars look like? | B．How do solar cars work? |
| C．Could solar cars replace the electric cars? | D．Why don’t we power the car with solar energy? |
【推荐3】3D-Printed Violins
While professional violinists often have instruments that cost between $2000 and $10, 000, it is possible to have one that costs millions depending on how they were and who made them.
However, the good news for them is that they will meet with low-cost and durable (耐用的) 3D-printed violins thanks to The Acoustical Society of America’s AVIVA Young Artists Program. The team’s inspiration roots in multiple places. Their goals were to explore the new world of sounds created by using new materials, to use the new technology of other fields, and to make music education accessible through the printing of more durable instruments.
“The next step is to lower the costs of production for making such instruments more widely available, especially in the field of education,” said Mary-Elizabeth Brown, director of the AVIVA Young Artists Program. Violins are not the only instruments that are produced through 3D-printing technology.
| A．Besides, the AVIVA violin is less damaged than its traditional wooden cousins. |
| B．3D-printed violins have been popular with beginners since they were invented. |
| C．The violin was built in two pieces using 3D printing. |
| D．The project is also to get violins to children that couldn’t otherwise afford them. |
| E．Indeed, even basic violins for students often cost $1000 or more. |
| F．Many instruments have been produced with a 3D printer before. |
| G．Most students have to give up learning the instrument due to the high cost. |
【推荐1】Mars was once wet, with an ocean's worth of water on its surface. Today, most of Mars is as dry as a desert except for ice deposits in its polar regions. Where did the rest of the water go?
Some of it disappeared into space. Water molecules, beaten by particles of solar wind, broke apart into hydrogen and oxygen atoms, and those, especially the lighter hydrogen atoms, sped out of the atmosphere, lost to outer space.
But most of the water, a new study concludes, went down, sucked into the red planet's rocks. And there it remains, trapped within minerals and salts. Indeed, as much as 99% of the water that once flowed on Mars could still be there, the researchers estimated in a paper published this week in the journal Science. Bethany Ehlmann, a professor of planetary science at the California Institute of Technology and one of the authors of the paper, said that as the rocks are altered by liquid water, water molecules become incorporated (并入)into minerals like clays.
The data and simulations indicated that the water on Mars was almost all gone by 3 billion years ago, around the tune on Earth when life consisted of single-cell microbes in the oceans. Without a time machine, there is no way to observe directly how much water was on a younger Mars more than 3 billion years ago. But the hydrogen atoms floating today in the atmosphere of Mars preserve a ghostly hint of the ancient ocean.
On Earth, about 1 in 5, 000 hydrogen atoms is a version known as deuterium(重氢;氢的同位素)that is twice as heavy because its nucleus contains both a neutron and a proton. But on Mars, the concentration of deuterium is markedly higher, about 1 in 700. Scientists at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center who reported this finding in 2015 said this could be used to calculate the amount of water Mars once had.
1. Why can't water be found on Mars now except for ice deposits in polar regions?| A．Because it was transformed into deuterium. |
| B．Because it was beaten into particles by solar wind. |
| C．Because most of it was integrated and some disappeared. |
| D．Because it broke down into hydrogen and oxygen atoms. |
| A．It is twice the weight of hydrogen. |
| B．Its nucleus contains a neutron and a proton. |
| C．Its concentration on Earth is markedly higher than on Mars |
| D．It enlightens scientists on the measurement of water on Mars. |
| A．Science. | B．Travel. | C．Entertainment. | D．Education. |
| A．Mars: Once Wet, Now Dry | B．Atoms: Hydrogen or Deuterium? |
| C．Microbes: Single-cell or Multi-cell? | D．Water Vanished: This Might Be Where It Went |
【推荐2】Education appears to protect older adults especially women, against memory loss, according to a study by investigators at Georgetown University Medical Center.
The Study tested declarative memory in 704 older adults (58-98 years of age). Declarative memory refers to our ability to remember events facts and words, such as where you put your keys or the name of that new neighbor. The investigators found that their memory performance became progressively worse with aging. However, more years of early-life education countered these Tosses, especially in women.
For example, the declarative memory abilities of an 80-year-old woman with a bachelor’s degree would be as good as those of a 60-year-old woman with a high school education. So, four extra years of education make up for the memory losses from 20 years of aging.
“Simply said, learning brings about learning.” says the study’s senior investigator, Michael Unman. “Since learning new information in declarative memory is easier if it is related to knowledge we already have, more knowledge from more education should result in better memory abilities, even years later,” adds the study’s lead author, Jana Reifegerste.
“Evidence suggests that girls often have better declarative memory than boys, so education may lead to greater knowledge gains in girls,” says Ullman. “Education may thus particularly benefit memory abilities in women, even years later in old age.”
The study tested individuals in a non-Western population. Participants varied in the number of years of education, from none at all to graduate studies. Future research is needed to test whether the findings generalize to other populations, Ullman says.
“These findings may be important, especially considering the rapidly aging population globally,” Reifegerste says. “The results argue for further efforts to increase access to education.”
“Education has also been found to delay the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease,” Ullman says. “We believe that our findings may shed light on why this occurs.”
1. The underlined “counter” in Paragraph 2 probably means_______.| A．cancel | B．change | C．replace | D．reduce |
| A．New information. | B．Declarative memory. |
| C．Former education. | D．Better memory ability. |
| A．slow down the process of aging | B．promote the development of education |
| C．advance the study of Alzheimer’s disease | D．ensure the equal rights of women’s education |
| A．declarative memory abilities fail with aging |
| B．women should try to obtain a bachelor's degree |
| C．learning regularly helps improve old adults’ memory |
| D．early-life education helps prevent memory loss in old age |
【推荐3】Polar bears normally need sea ice to hunt seals, but an isolated group of polar bears living on the mountainous coast of southeast Greenland have figured out how to make a living, even though the sea ice there melts away early in the year.
These bears have found a way to supplement their limited sea ice supply by hunting on freshwater ice that comes from glaciers on land. The glacial ice falls off in pieces into fjords, where the pieces get together into a floating platform that the polar bears use to catch seals, according to a report in the journal Science.
Climate change is making sea ice more and more scarce. Loss of sea ice is “the primary threat to polar bears,” says Kristin Laidre of the University of Washington, lead author of the new study. But, she says, this new work suggests some bears might be able to cope with a decreased amount of sea ice—at least for a while—in places like Greenland where they can take advantage of floating glacier ice.
While local people have long known that bears live in southeast Greenland, it’s a remote, challenging environment that’s not frequented by humans. “It’s a coastline with huge mountain peaks, lots of winds, extreme conditions and plenty of fogs,” says Laidre, who has spent years working with colleagues to survey polar bears living on Greenland’s 1,800-mile-long east coast.
To see what they could find in southeast Greenland, the team had to take helicopters from the nearest settlement and fly for two hours in a straight line to the coast, “We arrived in these fjords, very isolated fjords, and there’s essentially no sea ice or very poor sea ice offshore,” says Laidre, explaining that the researchers expected to find few bears.
“But there were a lot of bears in these fjords,” she says. “It was clearly just a unique habitat.”
The sea ice persisted in these fjords for only around a hundred days a year, she notes, meaning that bears don’t have much time to use it as a hunting ground.
1. What does the underlined word “supplement” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Make up for. | B．Keep up with. | C．Look forward to. | D．Break away from. |
| A．They will form various fjords. |
| B．They will exist in fjords for only a hundred years. |
| C．They will float into cold places and never disappear. |
| D．They will gather to be a platform for polar bears to hunt. |
| A．Crowded. | B．Pleasant. | C．Severe. | D．Windless. |
| A．Polar bears are on the edge of dying out. |
| B．Polar bears no longer need sea ice to hunt seals. |
| C．Polar bears can replace sea water with fresh water. |
| D．Polar bears have another way to hunt with little sea ice. |
【推荐1】All too often, a choice that seems sustainable(可持续的) turns out on closer examination to be problematic. Probably the best example is the rush to produce ethanol(乙醇) for fuel from corn. Corn is a renewable resource —you can harvest it and grow more, almost limitlessly. So replacing gas with corn ethanol seems like a great idea.
One might get a bit more energy out of the ethanol than that used to make it, which could still make ethanol more sustainable than gas generally, but that’s not the end of the problem. Using corn to make ethanol means less corn is left to feed animals and people, which drives up the cost of food. That result leads to turning the fallow land — including, in some cases, rain forest in places such as Brazil — into farmland, which in turn gives off lots of carbon dioxide(CO2) into the air. Finally, over many years, the energy benefit from burning ethanol would make up for the forest loss. But by then, climate change would have progressed so far that it might not help.
You cannot really declare any practice “sustainable” until you have done a complete lift-cycle analysis of its environmental(环境的) costs. Even then, technology and public policy keep developing, and that development can lead to unforeseen and undesired results. The admirable goal of living sustainable requires plenty of thought on an ongoing basis.
1. What might directly cause the loss of the forest according to the text?| A．The growing demand for energy to make ethanol. |
| B．The increasing carbon dioxide in the air. |
| C．The greater need for farmland. |
| D．The big change in weather. |
| A．the energy benefit | B．the forest loss |
| C．climate change | D．burning ethanol |
| A．impractical | B．acceptable | C．admirable | D．useless |
| A．Technology. | B．Sustainability. |
| C．Ethanol energy. | D．Environmental protection. |
【推荐2】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. |
CHEMICAL VERSUS ORGANIC FARMING
Chemical pesticides and artificial fertilisers have been in widespread use in farming since the middle of the 20th century. When they were first introduced, many farmers welcomed them as a great way to fight crop disease and increase production. Over time, however, what some scientists have found is that their longterm use can sometimes harm both the land and people’s health.
For example, pesticides can damage the land by killing not only harmful bacteria and insects, but also helpful ones. In addition, these chemicals can stay in the soil and underground water sources for a long time. This affects the crops grown on the land and, in turn, the animals and humans who digest them. Many people worry that these chemicals may make them ill and even cause cancer. In fact, some pesticides like DDT have been prohibited in most countries because of the damage they cause to people and the environment. As for chemical fertilisers, crops grown with them usually grow too fast to be rich in nutrition. They may look beautiful on the outside, but inside there is usually more water than essential minerals, and they often have less flavour as well.
As an alternative, some farmers have switched to organic farming, and many customers have turned to organic food when they shop at the local grocery. Organic farming is simply farming without using any chemicals. Organic farmers focus on keeping their soil rich and free of disease through natural means. For example, many organic farmers use natural waste from animals as fertiliser. This makes the soil in their fields richer in minerals. It also keeps the air, soil, water, and crops free of chemicals.
Organic farmers also use many other methods to produce rich soil. They often change the kind of crop grown in each field every year. For instance, they may grow corn or wheat in a field one year, and then grow beans there the next. Why different crops are grown is that they put important minerals back into the ground, making it ready for the next batch of crops. Organic farmers also plant diverse crops that use different depths of soil to help keep it rich. For example, peanuts grow on the ground’s surface, but many other vegetables put down deep roots. The goal of using different organic farming methods is to grow good food while avoiding damage to the environment or to people’s health.
Some people would prefer to stop the use of manmade chemicals in agriculture entirely. What keeps them from doing so is the fact that chemical farming serves the high demand for food around the world. Organic farming is nowhere near able to meet that need. Therefore, there is still a long way to find a suitable solution that puts sufficient food on the dinner table while keeping people and the environment as healthy as possible.
1. Why did many farmers welcome the introduction of chemical farming?| A．They can fight crop disease and increase production. |
| B．They harm both the land and people’s health. |
| C．They can help produce rich soil. |
| D．They are not expensive. |
| A．Pesticides can damage the land. |
| B．Chemicals can stay in the soil for a long time. |
| C．Pesticides can kill harmful bacteria and insects. |
| D．Chemicals may make people ill and even cause cancer. |
| A．It helps put important minerals back into the ground. |
| B．It can avoid damage to the environment. |
| C．It can help increase output. |
| D．The writer didn’t tell us. |
| A．Organic farming cost us a lot of money. |
| B．Organic farming can meet people’s need. |
| C．Chemical farming brought us huge profit. |
| D．Chemical farming helps serve the need for food. |
