The government of Norway is planning to build an unusual storage center on an island in th

The government of Norway is planning to build an unusual storage center on an island in the Arctic Ocean. The place would be large enough to hold about two million seeds. The goal is to present all crops known to scientists. The British magazine New Scientist published details of the plan last month. The structure will be designed to protect the world’s food supply against nuclear war, climate change and other possible threats. It will be built in a mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. The mountain is less than one thousand kilometers from the North Pole, the northernmost position on earth.
An international group called the Global Crop Diversity Trust is working on the project. The director of the group, Cary Fowler, spoke to New Scientist. He said the project would let the world rebuild agriculture if, in his word, “the worst came to the worst”. Norway is expected to start work next year. The project is expected to cost three million dollars. Workers will drill deep in the side of a sandstone mountain. Temperatures in the area never rise above 0ºC. The seeds will be protected behind walls a meter thick and high-security door.
The magazine report says the collection will represent the products of ten thousand years of farming. Most of the seeds at first will come from collections at seed banks in Africa, Asia and Latin America. To last a long time, seeds need to be kept in very low temperatures. Workers will not be present all the time. But they plan to replace the air inside the storage space each winter. Winter temperatures on the island are about eighteen degrees below 0ºC. The cold weather would protect the seeds even if the air could not be replaced.
Mr. Fowler says the proposed structure will be the world’s most reliable gene bank. He says the plant seeds would only be used when all other seeds are gone for some reason. Norway first proposed the idea in the 1980s. But security concerns delayed the plan. At that time, the Soviet Union was meeting in Rome of the Food and Agriculture Organization.
【小题1】The project is meant to .A．increase the world’s food output in the futureB．carry out some scientific experiments on plant genes C．protect crop seeds from dying out in case of possible disastersD．build an exhibition centre of the world’s plant seeds【小题2】Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the above passage?A．The government of Norway will perform the project alone. B．Seeds to be collected there were produced ten thousands years ago.C．Spitsbergen is chosen because it is free of the threat unclear war forever.D．Temperature is a major consideration when choosing the storage place.【小题3】We can infer from the text that .A．People will get newly-developed seeds from the center every year.B．The storage center will greatly promote world agricultureC．Norway had meant to build the storage centre about 30 years before.D．There haven’t been any seed storage centers in the world before.【小题4】What is probably the best title of the passage?A．The Best Place to Store SeedsB．Noah’s Ark（诺亚方舟）of Plant Seeds in PlanC．Concerns of World Food SupplyD．A New Way to Feed the WorldC

(答案→)C 解析：文章主要是讲述了计划建立“种子储备中心”来储备农作物的种子，来保护世界粮食免受核战争，气候变迁和其他可能的威胁。【小题1】细节题：从第一段的句子：The structure will be designed to protect the world’s food supply against nuclear war, climate change and other possible threats.可知这个项目是为了保护世界粮食免受核战争，气候变迁和其他可能的威胁设计的，选C【小题2】细节题：根据文章的第三段的句子：To last a long time, seeds need to be kept in very low temperatures.为了储存时间长一些，种子需要在极低的温度下储存，所以温度是首先的因素，选D【小题3】细节题：根据文章的最后一段：Norway first proposed the idea in the 1980s.挪威在80年代就提出这个议案，就是在30年前，选C【小题4】标题确定题：文章主要是讲述了计划如何通过建立“种子储备中心”来储备农作物的种子，Noah’s Ark（诺亚方舟）of Plant Seeds in Plan 是合适的标题。选B

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