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  3. On July 16th at least 23 children in the Indian state of Bihar died after eating a midday meal that was provided for free by the

On July 16th at least 23 children in the Indian state of Bihar died after eating a midday meal that was provided for free by the

admin2016-10-15  53
问题     On July 16th at least 23 children in the Indian state of Bihar died after eating a midday meal that was provided for free by their school. Nearly as many are in critical condition in a local hospital. Tests have revealed that adulterated cooking oil, perhaps containing pesticides, is likely to blame. A government inquiry has determined that the principal of the school, who is in hiding, must be held responsible for the bad ingredients or unsafe methods used in preparing these meals.
    This event is horrific, without a doubt. Yet its damage could be even worse, if it raises too many doubts about the value of a largely successful program. The midday-meal scheme, which began on a small scale decades earlier, received the support of India’s Supreme Court in 2001. Since then most Indian states have adopted it, offering free meals to children in state-run or state-assisted schools. More than 120m children, including many who would otherwise go hungry, receive these meals every school day.
    According to a recent analysis by Farzana Afridi of Syracuse University and the Delhi School of Economics, at a cost of three cents per child per school day, the scheme "reduced the daily protein deficiency of a primary-school student by 100% , the calorie deficiency by almost 30% and the daily iron deficiency by nearly 10%. " Ms Afridi also found that, after controlling for all other factors, the meals scheme has boosted the school attendance of girls by 12%. Abhijeet Singh of Oxford University found that, in some parts of India where children were born during a drought, the health of those who had been brought into the meals scheme before the age of six was compensated for earlier nutritional deficits.
    What the disaster in Bihar has done, at the very least, is to highlight some of the pitfalls of the scheme. As with any programme of this size in a country rife with corruption, the meals scheme is riddled with problems. The corruptible state is not alone in funding the programme; it is joined by private companies and NGOs. Corruption exists not just among state entities but among the supporting agencies too, as was demonstrated in 2006 when a Delhi NGO was caught dipping into rice that was meant for midday meals. In the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where the levels of malnutrition are among the highest in the country, it was found that only three-fourths of the food meant for children reached them. Food is often stolen by the administrators’ faking their students’ attendance. Beyond that, reports of adulteration—not only with shoddy or unsafe foodstuffs, but including finding worms, lizards and snakes—are common.
    Next month, the Indian government will be voting on a food security bill which aims to provide food to 60% of the entire population, by means of a public distribution system. This one school’s tragedy comes at an especially crucial moment, when officials ought to be forced to inspect the leaky pipeline of distribution. At the same time it will be important to bear in mind: This scheme has done a lot more good than harm.
Which one of the following is least likely to blame for Bihar midday meal tragedy?
选项 A、adulterated cooking oil.
B、bad ingredients.
C、unsafe cooking methods.
D、poisonous avocado.
答案D
解析 本题考查考生对第一段关于比哈尔邦午餐悲剧事件原因的理解。文章第一段介绍了这一事件的大致经过和可能的原因猜测，第三句明确指出事故原因是使用了含有农药的劣质食用油，因此，A肯定是需要为这一悲剧负责的原因之一。接着，作者提到这个学校的午餐还存在着食材劣质、加工方法不安全的问题，即[B]和[C]，可见，不管是直接导致这一悲剧的原因[A]，还是存在安全隐患的[B]和[C]，都是需要为比哈尔邦午餐悲剧事件负责的问题。[D]选项不仅文章中没有提及，而且牛油果本身是产自南美洲的一种营养价值很高的果蔬，不太可能会出现在连温饱问题都没有解决的印度学生每日的学校午餐当中，应该选择[D]。
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