[問題] 戴爾美語練功坊 雅思閱讀測驗試題(4/25)
戴爾美語練功坊…雅思閱讀測驗試題(4/25日)
Agricultural Output
Biological activity is the life of the soil. Microorganisms are like an army
of workers in the soil, feeding the plant, protecting it from disease and
maintaining the health and structure of the soil. The ability of soil to
support and sustain plant life is in direct proportion to the abundance
and vigor of microorganisms.
Over 15 years ago, Justus Von Liebig, known as the architect of chemical
fertilizers, discovered that plant productivity increased when chemical
compounds of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium were added to the
soil. The original intent of chemical fertilizers was only to supplement
the soil's basic organic matter.
Since the advent of high-output farming in the 1950s, the importance of
organic matter and soil health has been overlooked by many agriculturists.
As a result, millions of acres of farm land are dangerously low in organic
matter and microbial activity. Farmers are discovering that no matter how
much chemical fertilizer is applied, the soil is not capable of increased
production. The reason is simple: the biological life in the soil has become
exhausted by intense production, over-application of chemicals and by
compaction.
Medina products address the need for increased biological activity. In
replicated tests conducted by A& L Agricultural Labs, Omaha, Nebraska,
Medina increased biological activity by over 2000% in just two weeks.
Microbial " food makers " must digest the nutrients available from
chemical or organic sources, to convert them into usable energy for the
plant, before the plant can absorb and utilize the nutrients. The late
Arthur Franke, co-founder of the Medina company, told farmers, "the
microbes eat at the first table, the plants eat at the second."
Medina products are compatible with nearly every crop management
practice. It entails the use of biological stimulators, like Medina Soil
Activator to strengthen existing soil microbes while causing them to
become more efficient and productive. Medina Soil Activator is like a
health food drink for microbes. It supplies them with energy to perform
their immense tasks. Medina is not an enzyme. It is not a bacterium, not
a living organism. It is a highly-developed biochemical respiratory
processes. These processes make for the most efficient organic
transformation.
Medina products increase the performance and the quantity of microbes
that convert nutrients into food for the plant. It loosens and mellows
compacted soils. And it allows more water and oxygen to penetrate the
soil. Microbes are "nature's soil managers" . Without an adequate level
of microbes in the soil, disease and weeds can overtake otherwise healthy
fields. Compaction and erosion will occur. Eventually the soil will lose its
ability to support useful plant life, no matter how much fertilizer or
organic matter is applied.
As microorganisms digest plant residues, they secrete polysaccharides.
These compounds have the unique ability to both bind and release soil
practices in order to maintain the proper soil structure. Polysaccharides
help make soil more stable, better "balance" --- preventing soil particles
form compacting and helping to diminish soil erosion.
Today's high-production farming practices can rapidly deplete the soil of
essential biological activity. A most noticeable result is soil compaction,
a problem common to most farmers. When the soil is compacted, water,
oxygen and nutrient intake into the soil is reduced. The soil "freezes-up"
and normal plant production is greatly inhibited.
Solving a compaction problem does not necessarily include less chemical,
fewer trips over the field or less frequent growing cycles. While those
techniques may be helpful, they're not always practical nor economical.
A major factor in building and revitalizing the soil is the increase in the
population and activity of microbes.
Medina products will help reduce compaction, make nutrients more
available to the soil, reduce alkalinity, increase water retention and help
ward off weeds and plant diseases. Medina is not a substitute for good
management practices (and it certainly can't control the weather!), but it
will result in a healthier soil for growing more productive plants.
The invention of a three filed system of crop rotation during the Middle
Ages, and the importation of the Chinese-invented moldboard plow,
vastly improved agricultural efficiency.
After 1492, a global exchange of previously local crops and livestock
breeds occurred. Key crops involved in this exchange included the
tomato, maize, potato, cocoa and tobacco going from the New World
to the Old, and several varieties of wheat, spice, and coffee going from
the Old World to the New. The most important animal exportations from
the Old World to the New were those of the horse and dog (dogs were
already present in the pre-Columbian Americas but not in the numbers
and breeds suited to farm work). Although not usually food animals, the
horse (including donkeys and ponies) and dog quickly filled essential
production roles on western hemisphere farms.
By the early 1800s, agricultural techniques, implements, seed stocks and
cultivars had so improved that yield per land unit was many times that
seen in the Middle Ages. With the rapid rise of mechanization in the late
19th and 20th centuries, particularly in the form of the tractor, farming
tasks could be done with a speed and on a scale previously impossible.
These advances have led to efficiencies enabling certain modern farms
in the United States, Argentina, Israel, Germany, and a few other nations
to output volumes of high quality produce per land unit at what may be
the practical limit.
In 2005, the agricultural output of China was the largest in the world,
accounting for almost one-sixth world share followed by the EU, India
and the USA, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Questions 1-6
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the
reading passage? For questions 1-6 write
TRUE --- if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE --- if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN --- if there is no information on this in the passage
1. The abundance and vigor of microorganisms is in inverse proportion to
the ability of soil to support and sustain plant life.
2. Plant productivity increased when chemical compounds of nitrogen,
phosphate and potassium were added to the soil, which was discovered
by Justus Von Liebig.
3. Overlook about the importance of organic matter and soil health from
agriculturists results in many farm land are low in organic matter and
microbial activity.
4. Medina isn't a highly-developed biochemical respiratory processes, but
an enzyme, or a bacteria.
5. Disease and weeds will overtake healthy fields if there is no water in the
soil.
6. The way to revive the soil is relevant to the rising number of activity of
microbes.
Answers:
1. False
---The ability of soil to support and sustain plant life is in direct
proportion to the abundance and vigor of microorganisms.
2. True
--- Over 15 years ago, Justus Von Liebig, known as the architect of chemical
fertilizers, discovered that plant productivity increased when chemical
compounds of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium were added to the soil.
3. True
--- Since the advent of high-output farming in the 1950s, the importance of
organic matter and soil health has been overlooked by many agriculturists.
As a result, millions of acres of farm land are dangerously low in organic
matter and microbial activity.
4. False
--- Medina is not an enzyme. It is not a bacterium, not a living organism. It
is a highly-developed biochemical respiratory processes. These processes
make for the most efficient organic transformation.
5. Not Given
--- Without an adequate level of microbes in the soil, disease and weeds can
overtake otherwise healthy fields. Compaction and erosion will occur.
原題: Disease and weeds will overtake healthy fields if there is no water in
the soil.
原文中並未提及缺乏水將導致其疾病與雜草將橫生於健康之農田中.
6. True
--- While those techniques may be helpful, they're not always practical nor
economical. A major factor in building and revitalizing the soil is the
increase in the population and activity of microbes.
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