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  3. The Ebro Delta, in Spain, famous as a battleground during the Spanish Civil War, is now the setting for a different contest, one

The Ebro Delta, in Spain, famous as a battleground during the Spanish Civil War, is now the setting for a different contest, one

admin2021-01-08  61
问题    The Ebro Delta, in Spain, famous as a battleground during the Spanish Civil War, is now the setting for a different contest, one that is pitting rice farmers against two enemies: the rice-eating giant apple snail, and rising sea levels. What happens here will have a bearing on the future of European rice production and the overall health of southern European wetlands.
   Located on the Mediterranean just two hours south of Barcelona, the Ebro Delta produces 120 million kilograms of rice a year, making it one of the continent’ s most important rice-growing areas. As the sea creeps into these fresh-water marshes, however, rising salinity (盐分) is hampering rice production. At the same time, this sea-water also kills off the greedy giant apple snail, an introduced pest that feeds on young rice plants. The most promising strategy has become to harness one foe against the other.    The battle is currently being waged on land, in greenhouses at the University of Barcelona. Scientists working under the banner "Project Neurice" are seeking varieties of rice that can withstand the increasing salinity without losing the absorbency that makes European rice ideal for traditional Spanish and Italian dishes.
   "The project has two sides," says Xavier Serrat, Neurice project manager and researcher at the University of Barcelona, " the short-term fight against the snail, and a mid-to long-term fight against climate change. But the snail has given the project greater urgency. "
   Originally from South America, the snails were accidentally introduced into the Ebro Delta by Global Aquatic Technologies, a company that raised the snails for fresh-water aquariums (水族馆) , but failed to prevent their escape. For now, the giant apple snail’ s presence in Europe is limited to the Ebro Delta. But the snail continues its march to new territory, says Serrat. "The question is not whether it will reach other rice-growing areas of Europe, but when. "
   Over the next year and a half investigators will test the various strains of salt-tolerant rice they’ ve bred. In 2018, farmers will plant the varieties with the most promise in the Ebro Delta and Europe’ s other two main rice-growing regions—along the Po in Italy, and France’ s Rh6ne. A season in the field will help determine which, if any, of the varieties are ready for commercialization.
   As an EU-funded effort, the search for salt-tolerant varieties of rice is taking place in all three countries. Each team is crossbreeding a local European short-grain rice with a long-grain Asian variety that carries the salt-resistant gene. The scientists are breeding successive generations to arrive at varieties that incorporate salt tolerance but retain about 97 percent of the European rice genome (基因组).
What is the ultimate goal of the EU-funded program?
选项 A、Cultivating ideal salt-resistant rice varieties.
B、Increasing the absorbency of the Spanish rice.
C、Introducing Spanish rice to the rest of Europe.
D、Popularizing the rice crossbreeding technology.
答案A
解析 细节题。原文最后一段第一句话指出，作为欧盟资助的一个项目，三个国家都在进行寻找耐盐水稻品种的研究。由此可知，欧盟资助的项目是为了培育理想的耐盐水稻品种，故答案为A。B项与原文不符，原文第三段只是提及要保留水稻的吸水能力，提高水稻的耐盐度，故排除。C项原文未提及，故排除。D项与原文不符，原文最后一段提到的水稻杂交只是寻找耐盐水稻品种的一种手段，并不是目的，故排除。
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