2021年考研英语二阅读text 2试卷点评（天津考研网）

　　1. 试题：

　　Text 2

　　With the global population predicted to hit close to 10 billion by 2050, and forecasts thatagricultural production in some regions will need to nearly double to keep pace, food security isincreasingly making headlines. In the UK, it has become a big talking point recently too, for arather particular reason: Brexit.

　　Brexit is seen by some as an opportunity to reverse a recent trend towards the UK importingfood. The country produces only about 60 percent of the food it eats, down from almostthree-quarters in the late 1980s. A move back to self-sufficiency, the argument goes, would boost the farming industry, political sovereignty and even the nations health. Sounds great- but howfeasible is this vision?

　　According to a report on UK food production from the University of Leeds, UK, 85 percentof the country's total land area is associated with meat and dairy production. That supplies 80 percent of what is consumed, so even covering the whole country in livestock farms wouldn’t allowus to cover all our meat and dairy needs.

　　There are many caveats to those figures, but they are still grave. To become much moreself-sufficient, the UK would need to drastically reduce its consumption of animal foods, andprobably also farm more intensively meaning fewer green fields and more factory-styleproduction.

　　But switching to a mainly plant-based diet wouldn’t help. There is a good reason why the UKis dominated by animal husbandry: most of its terrain doesn’t have the right soil or climate to grow crops on commercial basis. Just 25 per cent of the country’s land is suitable forcrop-growing, most of which is already occupied by arable fields. Even if we converted all thesuitable land to fields of fruit and veg-- which would involve taking out all the nature reserves and removing thousands of people from their homes— we would achieve only a 30 percent boost in crop production.

　　Just 23 per cent of the fruit and vegetables consumed in the UK are currently home-grown, soeven with the most extreme measures we could meet only 30 per cent of our fresh produce needs.That is before we look for the space to grow the grains, sugars, seeds and oils that provide us withthe vast bulk of our current calorie intake.

　　2. 答案详解：

　　26. Some people argue that food self-sufficiency in the UK would____.

　　[A] be hindered by its population growth

　　[B] contribute to the nations’ well-being

　　[C] become a priority of the government

　　[D] pose a challenge to its farming industry

　　【答案】B。根据题干中“food self-sufficiency”定位至原文第二段第三句“A move back to self-sufficiency, the argument goes, would boost the farming industry, political sovereignty and even the nations health.”(他们认为，恢复自给自足将促进农业、政治主权甚至国家健康。)题干中“some people argue”与本句插入语部分“the argument goes”对应，因此B选项“为国家的福祉做出贡献”为正确答案。