Feed the world
With the global population expected to rise to 9 billion within 50 years, feeding the world has never seemed such a daunting task. But GM(转基因)technology is giving hope to developing countries, where many people think biotechnology can offer improved nutrition, health and prosperity(繁荣).
High hopes
Many scientists in Africa regard GM crops as the only way to avoid mass starvation (饥饿) on the continent. Kenyan researchers recently created a GM sweet potato that they predict could increase yields by up to 80 percent.
Meanwhile, South African scientists have used genetic modification to insert the vaccine (疫苗) for the disease cholera (霍乱) into bananas. Cholera is a particularly serious problem in South Africa. But there are still several barriers that stop developing countries from growing GM crops on a large scale.
Obstacle course
Private enterprise is unwilling to invest in GM products that would benefit developing countries. Regulatory clearance (许可证) to grow a single GM crop can cost companies between $5 (￡3.4 million) and $30 million (￡20.5 million), so they tend to focus on areas that give them large returns on their investment.
Use only once
In traditional farming, some seeds from a harvest are saved to be planted the following year. But biotech companies force farmers growing GM crops to buy new supplies of seed every harvest. Farmers in Canada have even been sued(控告)for re-planting GM seed.
But biotech companies think it will be harder to enforce this rule in developing countries, so they have been coming up with cunning(狡猾的)methods to make farmers come back for seed each year.
This approach could make farmers too dependent on such companies for their livelihoods, leading them to neglect the basic farming skills they would need to rely on if their situation changed and possibly bankrupted (破产) them.
Going it alone
Developing countries are making real progress in genetic engineering, and have already produced their own GM crops. But many environmentalists are worried that developing nations would not apply strict testing to GM crops and food safety regulations (规章).
5. From the first paragraph we know that ________.
A. food supply for the whole world is out of question because of GM technology
B. food supply for the whole world is still a serious problem because of the increasing of population
C. food supply for the whole world is never a problem because of biote chnology
D. people in developing countries will never have food shortage because of GM technology
6. The purpose of growing GM crops is ________.
A. to provide safer food for the world
B. to find a new cure to the disease cholera
C. to get a lot of money by selling the seeds
D. to prevent the world from mass starvation
7. Some enterprises are unwilling to spend money on GM products because ________.
A. the products will benefit developing countries
B. they have to pay a large amount of money to get the permit
C. they don't have much knowledge about the GM technology
D. they can't get enough seeds from the biotech companies
8. It can be inferred that________.
A. growing GM crops would possibly make farmers bankrupt
B. companies could grow GM crops freely once they had the GM technology
C. developing countries are growing GM crops on a large scale
D. scientists are not sure about whether GM crops are safe to eat