MillionsofpeopledieofhungerinsouthernAfricaeveryyear,butwhenZambiawasofferedthousandsoftonsoffreemaizebytheUS,thegovernmentpolitelysaidno.“Wedon’tknowwhetherthefoodissafe,”saidZambia’scommerce,Trad
MillionsofpeopledieofhungerinsouthernAfricaeveryyear,butwhenZambiawasofferedthousandsoftonsoffreemaizebytheUS,thegovernmentpolitelysaidno.
“Wedon’tknowwhetherthefoodissafe,”saidZambia’scommerce,TradeandIndustryMinisterDipakPatel.
HisworriesaresharedbycountriesaroundtheworldthatareintwomindsaboutAmerica’sgeneticallymodified（GM,转基因的）crops．Justlastweek,EU（欧盟）membernationswerediscussingwhetherornottoimportGMsweetcornfromtheUS．
Eversincepeoplestartedfarming,theyhavetriedtocrossbreed（杂交）plantstomakethemstrongerorbettertasting.Atonetime,onlyrelatedplantscouldbecrossedwitheachother．
ButwhenGMtechniquesweredevelopedinthe1970s,scientistswereabletoputasinglegenefromalivingcreatureintoanunrelatedcreature.
Thismeanstheycanmakecropsmoreproductiveandresistanttodiseasebyaddinggenesfromotherspecies．Theycanalsocreatefoodwithspecialcharacteristics,suchas“goldenrice”,whichisenrichedwithvitaminA.ButmanypeoplebelieveGMfoodsareahealthrisk.
Atthemoment,theofficialargumentisthatGMfoods“arenotlikelytopresentrisksforhumanhealth”.Buttherearestillmanyquestionstobeansweredasthefoodsareproducedindifferentways.
Someexpertsbelievethegeneticmaterialaddedtoplantscantransfertohumansandgivedamagetoourbodies.FurtherharmcouldbecausedbythegenesfromGMplantscrossbreedingwithnaturallyproducedcrops．
PeopleinChinaarealsogettingworriedaboutGMfoods.Morethan70percentofthe
country’ssoybeanoilisproducedfromimportedGMsoybeans.Meanwhile,aninvestigationlastNovemberfoundthat12of60famousfoodssoldacrossthecountrywereGMproducts.ThegovernmenthasbeguntointroduceamarkingsystemforGMgoodssothatpeoplecanchoosewhetherornottoeatthem.
小题1:Whichisthebesttitleforthepassage?A．HarmfulGMfoodsB．AdvantagesofGMfoodsC．GMfoods,ahealthrisk?D．theTechniquesofGMfoods小题2:WhyhasZambiarefusedtheAmericanfreemaize?A．theydecidetofollowEUmember’sadviceB．theyareconcernedaboutthesafetyo