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  3. "Junk science" is how Elliot Morley, Britain’s minister responsible for genetically modified farming, describes studies that cla

"Junk science" is how Elliot Morley, Britain’s minister responsible for genetically modified farming, describes studies that cla

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问题     "Junk science" is how Elliot Morley, Britain’s minister responsible for genetically modified farming, describes studies that claim GM crops would be hazardous to Britain’s wildlife and consumers. This week the government granted permission for a strain of GM maize to be grown commercially as cattle feed. That has incensed environmentalists and organic farmers, who say GM is unpopular (probably correct) and based on bad science (probably not).
    Three years of field testing have shown the herbicide-resistant maize, Bayer’s Chardon LL, to be safe and even kinder to the environment than non-GM maize. Two other crops on trial—a GM sugar-beet and a GM oilseed rape—will not be grown because they were worse for biodiversity (weeds) than conventional strains.
    The trials have not made the worries about introducing even a safe GM crop go away, though. Opponents say GM will stealthily take over the country by cross-pollination, will damage wildlife and introduce something nasty into the human food chain. How solid is all this?
    Evidence from America, which planted 105.7m acres of biotech crops in 2003, suggests concerns are overblown. In practice it is easy to separate crops and prevent them from cross-pollinating. Even oilseed rape, which is particularly promiscuous, can be kept over 99％ pure if it is a hundred metres away from another plantation. Cross-pollination probably will happen, but so far it has caused no problems: genetic material in plants changes all the time through sexual reproduction anyway.
    Damage to wildlife is difficult to measure, but there is evidence that GM has had a positive effect, with birds and insects returning to GM cotton plantations in America. Certainly, GM crops tend to need fewer chemicals to protect them. Monsanto says its sugarbeet, which was on trial along with the Chardon maize, requires 46％ less herbicide than a conventional strain. Supposed threats to consumers, whether human or animal, are the most flaky. One recent study appeared to show that Chardon maize could be fatal to cattle, but the heifer in question in fact died from botulism. The British Medical Association now says there is "very little potential for GM foods to cause harmful health effects" in people either. People have been eating the stuff in America for years, with no ill effects so far.
    The messing around with genetic material that makes some people dislike GM crops has gone on for years in conventional plant breeding, where crops are exposed to radiation and chemicals to encourage them to mutate. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, over 2,000 types of crop have been bombarded with gamma rays to produce mutants, many of which are grown by organic farmers.
    "All food is frankenfood," according to Professor Howard Dalton, chief scientific adviser to the Department for Food and Rural Affairs, "but everybody’s got used to it. " Maybe everybody will get used to GM soon, too.
According to the British government,
选项 A、genetically modified farming can be described as junk science.
B、GM crops pose hazards to Britain’s wildlife and consumers.
C、GM food is not favored by the public.
D、a kind of GM crop will be grown as animal feed.
答案D
解析 细节题。题目问的是“通过英国政府，我们可以了解到什么?”。根据第一段，A项并没有提到，故排除。转基因作物对英国野生动物和消费者有害，这是经过研究发现的，并不是政府公布的的结果，故排除B项。文中只是说转基因食物不受那些环保主义者和有机农民的青睐，并未提及公众都不喜欢，故排除C项。而由第一段第二句“This week the government granted permission for a strain of GM maize to be grown commercially as cattle feed. ”可知政府已经批准可以种植转基因玉米来作为牲畜饲料，故选D。
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