Section B: Information Matching
Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.
African countries must get smarter with their agriculture
[A] On the hills of central Kenya, almost lime-green with the sparkle of tea bushes in the sunlight, farmers know all about climate change. “The rainy season is no longer predictable,” says one. “When it is supposed to rain it doesn’t, then it all comes at once.” Climate change is an issue that will affect everyone on the planet. For Africans its consequences will be particularly bitter: whereas other regions were able to grow rich by burning coal and oil, Africa will pay much of the human price without having enjoyed the benefits. “Africa only represents 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions but it is the continent that is expected to suffer the most from climate impacts,” says Mafalda Duarte, who runs the World Bank’s $8bn Climate Investment Funds.
[B] Although there are huge uncertainties as to the precise impacts of climate change, enough is known to say that global warming represents one of the main threats to Africa’s prosperity. Parts of the continent are already warming much more quickly than the average: temperatures in southern Africa have increased by about twice the global rate over the past 50 years. Even if the world were to cut emissions enough to keep global warming below 1.59℃, heat-waves would intensify in Africa and diseases would spread to areas not currently affected. Farming would also be hit hard. About 40% of the land now used to grow maize (玉米) would no longer be suitable for it. Overall, it is estimated that maize yields would fall by 18-22%.
[C] Africa is particularly vulnerable, in part because it is already struggling to feed itself and it will have to vastly increase yields and productivity if it is to put food on the plates of a fast-growing population, even without climate change. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation reckons that by 2050 global food production would have to rise by about 70% over its level of 2009 to meet demand from a population that is growing in numbers and appetite. Much of this new demand will be in Africa. Yet the continent already imports about $50bn-worth of food a year and that figure is expected to more than double over the next five years. Self-sufficiency is not Africa’s goal, but the fact that it spends more money importing food than it does buying capital goods suggests it has room for improvement.
[D] Finding out why is not hard. Most farms are tiny, ploughed by hand and reliant on rain. More than half of Africa’s people make their living from farming. Although its total harvest has climbed over the past few decades, this is mainly because there are more people farming more land. But in many places there is no spare land to farm. Plots in Rwanda are so small that you could fit 250 of them onto the average American farm. And although output per worker has improved by more than half over the past 30 years in Africa, that is still far behind the 2.5 times improvement in Asia. Yields of maize are generally less than two tonnes per hectare, a fifth the level in America.
[E] The low productivity of African farmers is reflected in national economic statistics—despite absorbing so much labour, farming generates just 15% of GDP. “They can’t even feed their families,” says Jennifer Blanke, a vice-president of the African Development Bank in charge of agriculture. “Farm productivity hasn’t improved in many parts of Africa for 100 years.”
[F] One reason is that in the first few decades of independence, many African governments neglected farming as they focused on industrialising their economies. Others damaged it by pushing down the prices that state monopolies paid for their crops in order to subsidise workers in cities with cheap food. Ghana taxed cocoa (可可粉) exports so heavily that production collapsed by half between the 1960s and 1980s, despite a jump in the global price of cocoa. Yet over the past two decades or so governments and donors have begun to look again at farming as a way of providing jobs for the 13 million young people entering the workforce each year. Much of the focus has been on getting small farmers to use fertiliser and, more important, better seeds. The results can be impressive. Improved varieties of sorghum (高粱), for instance, can produce a crop that is 40% larger than the usual variety. Infrastructure is important. A World Bank irrigation project in Ethiopia helped farmers increase their potato harvest from about 8 tonnes per hectare to 35 tonnes.
[G] Better techniques help, too. Small coffee farmers in Kenya are able to increase their incomes by 40% by following a few simple guidelines on caring for their bushes, such as trimming all but three of their stems. Many of their neighbours do not follow the advice, because it seems counter-intuitive. More stems ought to lead to more coffee beans, they say. Yet after seeing those following the advice get bigger harvests for a season or two, many others start doing the same.
[H] One way of spreading knowledge is to link farms to big buyers of their harvests. When Diageo, a British drinks giant, built a brewery in western Kenya, it wanted to use local crops to make a beer cheap enough to compete with illicit home brew. It organised farmers into groups, improved supply chains for them to get seeds and fertiliser and then agreed to buy their grain. It now provides a market to about 17,000 farmers. Across the region it has doubled its use of local raw material to about 80% over five years, says John O’Keeffe, who runs its Africa business.
[I] An even more important change is the move from traditional farming to building businesses that can profitably bring technology and investment to small farmers. Taita Ngetich, a young Kenyan, was studying engineering when he wanted to earn a little money on the side. He scraped together 20,000 Kenyan shillings (about $200) to plant tomatoes. Everything went wrong. The crop was attacked by pests. “Then there was a massive flood that swallowed all our capital,” he says. Mr. Ngetich persevered by looking into buying a greenhouse to protect his plants from bugs and rain. The cheapest ones cost more than $2,500 each, so he designed his own for half the price. Soon neighbouring farmers started placing orders with him, and now his firm, Illuminum Greenhouses, has sold more than 1,400 greenhouses that provide livelihoods to about 6,000 people. The business does not stop there; he also supplies fertiliser, high-quality seedlings and smart sensors that increase yields.
[J] Illuminum’s success shows how technology can help even small farms become more productive. Because such a large share of Africa’s population earns a living from agriculture, even small improvements in productivity can lift the incomes of millions of people. But over the longer run small-scale farming can go only so far, especially in the face of climate change and population pressure.
[K] “If we really want to lift people out of poverty we have to finance projects that will get them an income of at least $100 a month so that they can pay for health care and education,” says Mr. Ngetich. “Projects that give them an extra $2 a month from growing beans or maize aren’t going to get them there.” Getting those big jumps will need better jobs in factories and cities.
36. It is said that agricultural productivity in many African countries has remained low for a century.
37. Building connections between farms and major purchasers of their produce can promote African farmers’ use of advanced farming techniques.
38. Parts of Africa are getting warmer much faster than the average, with southern Africa witnessing roughly twice the global warming rate over the last half century.
39. Improved farming practices have enabled Kenyan farmers to increase farm produce remarkably.
40. Africa is especially susceptible to the effects of global warming partly because it has difficulty feeding its increasing population even without climate change.
41. The use of fertiliser and improved seeds can help Africa’s small farmers impressively increase crop yields.
42. It has proved even more important to shift from traditional farming to setting up businesses that can bring technology and investment to small farmers in Africa.
43. Everyone in the world will have to bear the consequences of climate change, especially Africans.
44. Improvement in farm output per worker in Africa falls far short of that in Asia.
45. In the long term, the potential for small farms in Africa to increase productivity is quite limited, especially owing to the warming climate and a growing population.
全文翻译
在肯尼亚中部丘陵地带，阳光下茶树的嫩绿几乎像是闪着石灰绿的光泽，这里的农民对气候变化了如指掌。"雨季不再可预测了，"一位农民说。"该下雨的时候不下，然后一下子全来了。"气候变化是一个将影响地球上每个人的问题。对非洲人来说，其后果将尤为惨痛：其他地区通过燃烧煤炭和石油变得富裕，而非洲将在没有享受过这些好处的情况下，承受巨大的人力代价。"非洲仅占全球温室气体排放的2%，但却是预计将遭受气候变化影响最严重的大陆，"负责世界银行80亿美元气候投资基金的马法尔达·杜阿尔特说。尽管气候变化的确切影响有极大的不确定性，但已知的情况足以表明，全球变暖是非洲繁荣面临的主要威胁之一。非洲大陆一些地区的升温速度已远快于全球平均水平：过去50年南部非洲的气温增幅约为全球平均水平的两倍。即使世界能够充分减排，将全球变暖控制在1.59摄氏度以下，非洲的热浪仍会加剧，疾病将蔓延到目前未受影响的地区。农业也将受到严重打击。目前用于种植玉米的大约40%的土地将不再适宜种植。总体而言，据估计玉米产量将下降18-22%。非洲尤为脆弱，部分原因是它已经在为养活自己而苦苦挣扎，而且即使没有气候变化，它如果要为快速增长的人口提供食物，也必须大幅提高产量和生产率。联合国粮食及农业组织估计，到2050年，全球粮食产量必须在2009年的水平上提高约70%，才能满足数量和胃口都在增长的人口的需要。这一新增需求的大部分将来自非洲。然而，非洲大陆每年已经进口约500亿美元的粮食，而且预计这一数字在未来五年内将翻一番以上。自给自足并非非洲的目标，但非洲在进口粮食上花的钱比购买资本货物还多这一事实表明，它还有改善的空间。找到原因并不难。大多数农场面积很小，靠手工耕种，依赖雨水。非洲一半以上的人口以农业为生。尽管其总收成在过去几十年中有所增长，但这主要是因为更多人在耕种更多土地。但在许多地方已经没有剩余的土地可供耕种了。卢旺达的地块如此之小，以至于你可以把250块这样的地塞进一个美国普通农场里。尽管过去30年非洲的人均产出提高了超过一半，但这仍然远远落后于亚洲2.5倍的提升。玉米的单产普遍不到每公顷两吨，仅为美国的五分之一。非洲农民的低生产率反映在国民经济统计数据中——尽管吸收了如此多的劳动力，农业仅贡献国内生产总值的15%。"他们甚至养不活自己的家人，"非洲开发银行负责农业的副总裁詹妮弗·布兰克说。"非洲许多地区的农业生产力已有100年没有提高了。"一个原因是，在独立后的最初几十年里，许多非洲政府忽视了农业，因为他们专注于工业化经济。另一些政府则通过压低国家垄断机构收购农作物的价格来损害农业，以便用廉价食品补贴城市工人。加纳对可可出口征收了如此重的税，以至于产量在1960年代至1980年代之间下降了一半，尽管可可的全球价格在上涨。然而，在过去二十年左右的时间里，政府和捐助者开始重新关注农业，将其作为为每年进入劳动力市场的1300万年轻人提供就业的一种方式。重点大多放在让小农户使用化肥，更重要的是使用更好的种子。结果可能令人瞩目。例如，改良的高粱品种可以产出比普通品种多40%的收成。基础设施很重要。世界银行在埃塞俄比亚的一个灌溉项目帮助农民将马铃薯的产量从每公顷约8吨提高到35吨。更好的技术也会有所帮助。肯尼亚的小规模咖啡农通过遵循一些关于照料咖啡树的简单指导方针（例如只保留三根主干，修剪其余部分），能够将收入提高40%。他们的许多邻居不采纳这些建议，因为这似乎有悖直觉。他们说，更多的主干应该带来更多的咖啡豆。然而，在看到遵循建议的人在一两个季节后获得更大的收成后，很多人也开始这样做。传播知识的一种方式是将农场与它们收成的大买家联系起来。当英国饮料巨头帝亚吉欧在肯尼亚西部建造一家啤酒厂时，它想用当地农作物酿造一种足够便宜、能与非法私酿竞争的啤酒。它将农民组织成小组，改善了他们获取种子和化肥的供应链，然后同意收购他们的谷物。该公司现在为大约17000名农民提供市场。负责其非洲业务的约翰·奥基夫说，在整个地区，该公司在五年内将本地原料的使用量翻了一番，提高到约80%。一个更重要的转变是从传统农业转向建立能够有利可图地为小农带来技术和投资的企业。年轻的肯尼亚人泰塔·恩盖蒂奇正在学习工程学时，想赚点外快。他凑了2万肯尼亚先令（约合200美元）来种西红柿。一切都不顺利。作物遭到了害虫的侵袭。"然后一场大洪水吞没了我们所有的资金，"他说。恩盖蒂奇先生坚持了下来，他开始研究购买温室来保护他的植物免受虫害和雨水的侵袭。最便宜的温室每个也要2500多美元，所以他以一半的价格自己设计了一个。很快，附近的农民开始向他下订单，现在他的公司Illuminum Greenhouse已经卖出了1400多个温室，为大约6000人提供了生计。这桩生意并未止步于此；他还供应化肥、优质秧苗和提高产量的智能传感器。Illuminum的成功表明，技术如何能够帮助小农场提高生产率。由于如此大比例的非洲人口以农业为生，即使是生产率的微小提升也能提高数百万人的收入。但从长远来看，小规模农业能走的路是有限的，尤其是在面临气候变化和人口压力的情况下。"如果我们真的想让人们脱贫，我们必须资助那些能让他们每月至少有100美元收入的项目，这样他们才能支付医疗和教育费用，"恩盖蒂奇先生说。"那些让他们通过种豆子或玉米每月多赚2美元的项目是无法帮助他们摆脱贫困的。"要实现这些巨大的飞跃，需要在工厂和城市里创造更好的就业机会。
Answers & Explanations (答案与解析)
36. E。解析：题干 It is said that agricultural productivity in many African countries has remained low for a century. 对应 [E] 段末尾 “Farm productivity hasn’t improved in many parts of Africa for 100 years.” low for a century 对应 hasn't improved for 100 years。
37. H。解析：题干 Building connections between farms and major purchasers of their produce can promote African farmers’ use of advanced farming techniques. 对应 [H] 段首句 One way of spreading knowledge is to link farms to big buyers of their harvests. Building connections 对应 link，major purchasers 对应 big buyers，produce 对应 harvests，use of advanced farming techniques 对应 spreading knowledge。
38. B。解析：题干 Parts of Africa are getting warmer much faster than the average, with southern Africa witnessing roughly twice the global warming rate over the last half century. 对应 [B] 段 Parts of the continent are already warming much more quickly than the average: temperatures in southern Africa have increased by about twice the global rate over the past 50 years. last half century 对应 past 50 years。
39. G。解析：题干 Improved farming practices have enabled Kenyan farmers to increase farm produce remarkably. 对应 [G] 段 Better techniques help, too. Small coffee farmers in Kenya are able to increase their incomes by 40% by following a few simple guidelines on caring for their bushes... Improved farming practices 对应 Better techniques，increase farm produce remarkably 对应 get bigger harvests。
40. C。解析：题干 Africa is especially susceptible to the effects of global warming partly because it has difficulty feeding its increasing population even without climate change. 对应 [C] 段首句 Africa is particularly vulnerable, in part because it is already struggling to feed itself and it will have to vastly increase yields and productivity if it is to put food on the plates of a fast-growing population, even without climate change. susceptible 对应 vulnerable，increasing population 对应 fast-growing population。
41. F。解析：题干 The use of fertiliser and improved seeds can help Africa’s small farmers impressively increase crop yields. 对应 [F] 段 Much of the focus has been on getting small farmers to use fertiliser and, more important, better seeds. The results can be impressive. Improved varieties of sorghum, for instance, can produce a crop that is 40% larger... impressively increase crop yields 对应 results can be impressive 和 produce a crop that is 40% larger。
42. I。解析：题干 It has proved even more important to shift from traditional farming to setting up businesses that can bring technology and investment to small farmers in Africa. 对应 [I] 段首句 An even more important change is the move from traditional farming to building businesses that can profitably bring technology and investment to small farmers. shift 对应 move，setting up 对应 building。
43. A。解析：题干 Everyone in the world will have to bear the consequences of climate change, especially Africans. 对应 [A] 段 Climate change is an issue that will affect everyone on the planet. For Africans its consequences will be particularly bitter... bear the consequences 对应 affect everyone 和 consequences will be particularly bitter。
44. D。解析：题干 Improvement in farm output per worker in Africa falls far short of that in Asia. 对应 [D] 段 And although output per worker has improved by more than half over the past 30 years in Africa, that is still far behind the 2.5 times improvement in Asia. falls far short of 对应 far behind。
45. J。解析：题干 In the long term, the potential for small farms in Africa to increase productivity is quite limited, especially owing to the warming climate and a growing population. 对应 [J] 段末尾 But over the longer run small-scale farming can go only so far, especially in the face of climate change and population pressure. in the long term 对应 over the longer run，quite limited 对应 go only so far，warming climate 对应 climate change。
核心搭配与高分句型
【核心搭配与高频短语】
at once：同时，立刻（then it all comes at once.）
hit hard：受到严重打击（Farming would also be hit hard.）
make a living：谋生（make their living from farming）
in charge of：负责（in charge of agriculture）
counter-intuitive：违反直觉的（it seems counter-intuitive）
on the side：作为兼职，另外（earn a little money on the side）
go only so far：作用有限，到此为止（small-scale farming can go only so far）
【亮点句型解析】
Whereas 引导的对比从句：
"whereas other regions were able to grow rich by burning coal and oil, Africa will pay much of the human price without having enjoyed the benefits."
（然而其他地区能够通过燃烧煤和石油致富，非洲却要在没有享受这些好处的情况下付出很大的人力代价。）`whereas` 非常适合用于长篇阅读中强烈的对比转折，凸显了气候变化对非洲的不公。
"whereas other regions were able to grow rich by burning coal and oil, Africa will pay much of the human price without having enjoyed the benefits."
（然而其他地区能够通过燃烧煤和石油致富，非洲却要在没有享受这些好处的情况下付出很大的人力代价。）`whereas` 非常适合用于长篇阅读中强烈的对比转折，凸显了气候变化对非洲的不公。
So... that... 结果状语从句与虚拟语气：
"Plots in Rwanda are so small that you could fit 250 of them onto the average American farm."
（卢旺达的地块如此之小，以至于你可以把250个这样的地块塞进一个普通的美国农场里。）通过极具视觉冲击力的数字对比（250:1），生动形象地说明了非洲农场面积微小的困境。
"Plots in Rwanda are so small that you could fit 250 of them onto the average American farm."
（卢旺达的地块如此之小，以至于你可以把250个这样的地块塞进一个普通的美国农场里。）通过极具视觉冲击力的数字对比（250:1），生动形象地说明了非洲农场面积微小的困境。