(II)★★★

Europe is now the biggest market for organic food in the world, having grown by 25

percent a year over the past 10 years. Denmark’s agriculture minister is herself an organic farmer. The UK market for organic food grew by 55 percent in 2000, while the food market as a whole grew by only one percent. Yet only seven percent of British shoppers account for nearly 60 percent of organic sales. However popular the idea of organic farming may be, it is still an interest for only a few people.

So what makes the idea of organic farming popular? Organic farming means farming with natural materials, rather than with man-made fertilizers or pesticides. Organic farmers rely on many methods — such as crop rotation (农作物的轮作) and the use of resistant(有抵抗力的) varieties, because they are necessary for organic farmers to compensate for the shortage of man-made chemicals.

Organic farming is often supposed to be safer than traditional farming for the environment. Yet after a long research on organic farming worldwide for a number of years, science continues to be against this opinion. The House of Commons committee on agriculture publicized that, even with complete research work, it would fail to find any scientific evidence to prove “that any of claims (宣称) made for organic farming is always true”.

However, the talk about the benefits of organic farming is going on. This is partly because many people depend on their individual farm, the soil, the weather, and so on.

1. The first paragraph mainly tells us _____.

A. organic farming has been performed only in Europe over the past 10 years

B. governments of European countries have cared less about organic farming

C. organic farming is far from being as popular as expected

D. European countries need organic food more than the other countries in the world

2. The underlined words “compensate for” in the second paragraph probably mean “________”.

A. argue for B. care for C. struggle for D. pay for

3. What can we know about organic farming?

A. It refers to farming with natural materials, instead of chemical fertilizers.

B. It refers to farming with chemical fertilizers rather than natural fertilizers.

C. It refers to farming with soil rather than any other thing.

D. It refers to growing crops with man-made fertilizers and pesticides.

4. According to the third paragraph, _____.

A. organic farming is safer than traditional farming for the environment

B. the idea that organic farming is safer has not been proven by science

C. organic farming is accepted by the UK’s House of Commons committee

D. organic farming is preferred to traditional farming

5. Which of the following is TRUE, according to the passage?

A. The UK’s agriculture minister is an organic farmer.

B. Organic farming is popular with young people.

C. Farmers make use of many different kinds of methods to improve the organic sales system.

D. Ninety-three percent of British shoppers don’t buy organic products.

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