考研英語閱讀精講(一)

European Union environmental officials have determined that two kinds of genetically modified corn could harm butterflies, affect food chains and disturb life in rivers and streams, and they have proposed a ban on the sale of the seeds, which are made by DuPont Pioneer, Dow Agrosciences and Syngenta. The preliminary decisions are circulating within the European Commission, which has the final say. Some officials there are skeptical of a ban that would upset the powerful biotechnology industry and could exacerbate tensions with important trading partners like the United States. The seeds are not available on the European market for cultivation.
In the decisions, the environment commissioner, Stavros Dimas, contends that the genetically modified corn, or maize could affect certain butterfly species, specifically the monarch, and other beneficial insects. For instance, research this year indicates that larvae of the monarch butterfly exposed to the genetically modified corn ''behave differently than other larvae.'' In the decision concerning the corn seeds produced by Dow and Pioneer, Mr. Dimas calls ''potential damage on the environment irreversible.'' In the decision on Syngenta's corn, he says that ''the level of risk generated by the cultivation of this product for the environment is unacceptable.''
A decision by the European Union to bar cultivation of the genetically modified crops would be the first of its kind in the trade bloc, and would intensify the continuing battle over genetically modified corn. Banning the applications for corn crops also would mark a bold new step for European environmental authorities, who are already aggressively pursuing regulations on emissions from cars and aircraft, setting it at odds with the United States and angering industries.
''These products have been grown in the U.S. and other countries for years,'' said Stephen Norton, a spokesman for the United States trade representative. ''We are not aware of any other case when a product has been rejected after having been reviewed and determined safe'' by European food safety authorities, he said.
Barbara Helfferich, a spokeswoman for Mr. Dimas, declined to comment on the specifics of the procedure because commissioners had not yet made a final decision. But she said that the European Union was within its rights to make decisions based on the ''precautionary principle'' even when scientists had found no definitive evidence proving products can cause harm. She said that the decisions by Mr. Dimas could go before the commission within a few weeks, but she said that no date had been set. In the decisions, Mr. Dimas cited recent research showing that consumption of genetically modified ''corn byproducts reduced growth and increased mortality of nontarget stream insects'' and that these insects ''are important prey for aquatic and riparian predators'' and that this could have ''unexpected ecosystem-scale consequences.''
 
Although still preliminary, his decisions could drastically tilt the policy against future approvals of genetically modified crops, said Nathalie Moll, a spokeswoman for Europabio, an industry group with 80 members including Syngenta, Pioneer and Dow. Europabio says that the crops grown using the genetically modified corn are already imported into several European countries, including France and Germany, where they are used to feed animals like cows and chickens.
Rob Gianfranceschi, spokesman at the United States mission to the European Union in Brussels, said it was too early to comment on a decision that had not yet been formalized. But he made clear that the United States remained frustrated with European policies on genetically modified crops.

1. The preliminary decisions are made by_____.
[A] DuPont Pioneer, Dow Agrosciences and Syngenta
[B] European Union environmental officials
[C] European Commision
[D] Starvros Dimas
2. To the decisions, the European Commission officials’ attitudes are _____.
[A] skeptical
[B] controversial
[C] contradictory
[D] divergent
3. About the decisions, which one of the following statements is TRUE?
[A] The decisions aims to put a ban the sale of the seeds of genetically modified corn due to political and biological concerns.
[B] The decisions are warmly embraced by all EU members but bitterly rejected by their trade partners.
[C] The decisions could probably be made even if no definitive evidence proving the products harmful is found.
[D] there is high possibility that the decisions would be approved by the European Commission.
4. Mr. Dimas cited many researches on the genetically modified corn in his decision in order to_____.
[A] dispel some officials’ doubt on his decisions
[B] enhance the strength of his decision-making
[C] demonstrate the latest achievement of his decision
[D] assure that they can be presented before the commission with solid evidence
5. The word “tilt” (Line 1, Paragraph 6) most probably means_____.
[A] incline
[B] affect
[C] induce
[D] evoke

文章剖析：
這篇文章介紹了聯(lián)合國(guó)環(huán)境官員就轉(zhuǎn)基因食品提出的決議的一些情況。第一段介紹該決議目前在歐洲委員會(huì)中流傳；第二段是環(huán)境專員具體在其決議中的觀點(diǎn)；第三段講述如果該決議落實(shí)將會(huì)是首例；第四段是美國(guó)貿(mào)易代表發(fā)言人的觀點(diǎn)；第五段講述Dimas先生決議的一些情況；第六段、第七段是其他人和機(jī)構(gòu)的一些觀點(diǎn)。
 
詞匯注釋：
genetically adv. 基因地                                           exacerbate v. 惡化，使加劇
monarch n. 黑脈金斑蝶                                   larvae n. 幼蟲
aquatic adj. 水生的                                                  riparian adj. 河邊的，水濱的
predator n. 掠奪者，捕食其他動(dòng)物的的動(dòng)物

難句突破：
(1)   European Union environmental officials have determined that two kinds of genetically modified corn could harm butterflies, affect food chains and disturb life in rivers and streams, and they have proposed a ban on the sale of the seeds, which are made by DuPont Pioneer, Dow Agrosciences and Syngenta.
[主體句式] EU environmental officials have determined that…and they have proposed…
[結(jié)構(gòu)分析] 該句是一個(gè)并列結(jié)構(gòu)的復(fù)雜句。前一個(gè)分句帶有賓語從句，賓語從句的謂語是三個(gè)并列結(jié)構(gòu)的動(dòng)詞；后一個(gè)分句中，which 引導(dǎo)的非限定性定語從句是用來修飾the seeds的。
(2) In the decisions, Mr. Dimas cited recent research showing that consumption of genetically modified ''corn byproducts reduced growth and increased mortality of nontarget stream insects'' and that these insects ''are important prey for aquatic and riparian predators'' and that this could have ''unexpected ecosystem-scale consequences.''
[主體句式] Mr. Dimas cited recent research…
[句子結(jié)構(gòu)] 該句是一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單句，賓語research后面的現(xiàn)代分詞是它的定語，該現(xiàn)代分詞結(jié)構(gòu)看似復(fù)雜，其實(shí)是三個(gè)并列的that 引導(dǎo)的從句構(gòu)成的。
[句子譯文] 在這些決定中，Dimas引用了最近的一些研究，這些研究表明轉(zhuǎn)基因“谷物副產(chǎn)品”消費(fèi)“抑制生長(zhǎng)，增加nontarget昆蟲死亡率”，而且這些昆蟲“是水生動(dòng)物重要的食物”，因此這可能有“未預(yù)料到的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)規(guī)模的后果”。

題目分析：
1. The preliminary decisions are made by_____. 1. 這些決議是由_____擬定的。
[A] DuPont Pioneer, Dow Agrosciences and Syngenta [A] DuPont Pioneer, Dow Agrosciences and Syngenta
[B] European Union environmental officials [B] 歐盟環(huán)境官員
[C] European Commision [C] 歐洲委員會(huì)
[D] Starvros Dimas [D] Starvros Dimas
[答案]D
[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆☆
[分析] 細(xì)節(jié)題。本題具有一定的難度，文章一開頭就提到歐盟環(huán)境官員確定了一些事實(shí)，并且建議要禁止銷售轉(zhuǎn)基因作物的種子。然后就提到?jīng)Q議在歐盟委員會(huì)中間流傳。這樣感覺仿佛是這些官員擬定的決議，但從文章下面的論述多次提到Dimas先生在決議中的觀點(diǎn)，第六段也提到他的決議雖然是初步的但可能有很大影響。由此看來，該決議是Dimas先生提出的可能性大，答案為D。
2. To the decisions, the European Commission officials’ attitudes are  _____. 2．歐洲委員會(huì)官員對(duì)于這些決議的態(tài)度為_____。
[A] skeptical [A] 懷疑的
[B] controversial [B] 有爭(zhēng)議的
[C] contradictory [C] 矛盾的
[D] divergent [D] 有分歧的
[答案]D
[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆
[分析] 推理題。文章第一段提到這些決議目前在歐洲委員會(huì)中間流傳，一些官員對(duì)禁令表示懷疑，主要害怕禁令會(huì)影響外交關(guān)系。而從文章下面的部分可以看出，這些決議仿佛在歐洲委員會(huì)中間得到一些支持，那么可以這些官員所持的態(tài)度是有分歧的。選項(xiàng)D最為符合題意。B選項(xiàng)有一定的合理性和迷惑性，但是相比D選項(xiàng)顯得不夠準(zhǔn)確。
3. About the decisions, which one of the following statements is TRUE? 3. 關(guān)于這些決定，以下陳述中哪一個(gè)是正確的？
[A] The decisions aim to put a ban the sale of the seeds of genetically modified corn due to political and biological concerns. [A]這些決定禁止出售轉(zhuǎn)基因谷物的種子主要是出于政治和生物上的原因。
[B] The decisions are warmly embraced by all EU members but bitterly rejected by their trade partners. [B] 這些決議受到歐盟成員國(guó)的熱情歡迎，但是卻遭到了貿(mào)易國(guó)的反感和拒絕。
[C] The decisions could probably be made even if no definitive evidence proving the products harmful is found. [C] 即使找不到可以證明這些產(chǎn)品有害的確鑿證據(jù)，這些決議也可以通過。
[D] there is high possibility that the decisions would be approved by the European Commission. [D] 這些決議由歐洲委員會(huì)批準(zhǔn)的可能性非常大。
[答案]C
[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆☆
[分析] 細(xì)節(jié)題。選項(xiàng)A，從全文可以看出，這些決議只是初步擬定的，還沒有最后確定，而且文章也沒有明確說明是否同時(shí)處于政治和生物上的考慮。因此該選項(xiàng)不正確。選項(xiàng)B，文章并沒有提到是否歐盟所有成員國(guó)都對(duì)該項(xiàng)決議表示熱情歡迎；選項(xiàng)C，文章第五段Dimas先生的發(fā)言人談到了這一點(diǎn)，說即使沒有確鑿證據(jù)，歐洲委員會(huì)可以基于“預(yù)防原則”做出決定，這個(gè)選項(xiàng)是正確的；D，目前該決議還未有明確說法，該選項(xiàng)錯(cuò)誤。因此，答案為C。
4. Mr. Dimas cited many researches on the genetically modified corn in his decisions in order to_____. 4. Dimas先生在其決議中引用了許多關(guān)于轉(zhuǎn)基因谷物的研究，他這樣做是為了___。
[A] dispel some officials’ doubt on his decisions [A] 打消一些官員對(duì)她決議的疑慮。
[B] enhance the strength of his decision-making [B] 使自己的決議更有說服力。
[C] show the latest achievements on the research [C] 展示這方面研究最新的成果。
[D] demonstrate the latest achievement of his decision [D] 表明他的最新決議進(jìn)展。
[答案]B
[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆
[分析] 推理題。Dimas先生在其擬定的決議中多次引用了關(guān)于轉(zhuǎn)基因產(chǎn)品的研究，其目的是證實(shí)自己的決議是有根據(jù)的，這樣就更有說服力。選項(xiàng)A，他自己擬定決議在先，這些官員懷疑在后，擬訂時(shí)不一定存在這種想法；D，這不是其主要的目的。因此，A最為恰當(dāng)。
5. The word “tilt” (Line 1, Paragraph 6) most probably means_____. 5. “tilt”一詞（第六段第一行）最有可能的意思是_____。
[A] incline [A] 使傾向于
[B] affect [B] 影響
[C] induce [C] 導(dǎo)致，引起
[D] evoke [D] 引起，博得
[答案]A
[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆
[分析] 猜詞題。根據(jù)上下文意思“Although still preliminary, his decisions could drastically tilt the policy against future approvals of genetically modified crops, said Nathalie Moll, a spokeswoman for Europabio, an industry group with 80 members including Syngenta, Pioneer and Dow”，盡管他的決議還是初步的，但是卻能夠讓政策傾向于反對(duì)未來批準(zhǔn)轉(zhuǎn)基因食品。答案中A最為符合。

參考譯文：
歐盟環(huán)境官員已經(jīng)確定有兩種轉(zhuǎn)基因作物會(huì)傷害蝴蝶、影響食物鏈、妨害水游生物。他們還建議禁止出售該類種子，這些種子由DuPont Pioneer, Dow Agrosciences 和Syngenta研制的。初步?jīng)Q議在歐盟委員會(huì)中通報(bào)，由該委員會(huì)做出最后決定。該禁令對(duì)蓬勃發(fā)展的生物技術(shù)業(yè)是一個(gè)打擊，也可能會(huì)惡化與重要貿(mào)易伙伴（如美國(guó)）的緊張關(guān)系，因此一些官員持懷疑態(tài)度。目前在歐洲培育市場(chǎng)還沒有銷售這些種子。
在決議中，環(huán)境專員Stavros Dimas稱轉(zhuǎn)基因谷物或玉米可能對(duì)一些蝴蝶品種有害，尤其是黑脈金斑蝶，對(duì)于其他一些益蟲也有害。比如，今年的一項(xiàng)研究表明在轉(zhuǎn)基因谷類中的黑脈金斑蝶的幼蟲“和其他幼蟲表現(xiàn)不一樣。”在關(guān)于Dow 和 Pioneer公司生產(chǎn)的種子的決議中，Dimas先生認(rèn)為“對(duì)環(huán)境潛在的危害是不可逆轉(zhuǎn)的。”而就Syngenta生產(chǎn)的谷物，他說“培育這種產(chǎn)品帶來的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)級(jí)別對(duì)環(huán)境來說是不能接受的。”
歐盟決定禁止轉(zhuǎn)基因作物的種植，這是在貿(mào)易集團(tuán)中的首例，也將激化就轉(zhuǎn)基因作物一直進(jìn)行的斗爭(zhēng)。禁止將該技術(shù)用于谷物作物也標(biāo)志著歐洲環(huán)境機(jī)構(gòu)大膽邁出新的一步，該環(huán)境機(jī)構(gòu)一直在大膽地就汽車和飛機(jī)排放制定規(guī)則，這次將自己和美國(guó)以及充滿怒氣的工廠置于紛爭(zhēng)。
“這些產(chǎn)品已經(jīng)在美國(guó)和其他國(guó)家生長(zhǎng)數(shù)年了，”美國(guó)貿(mào)易代表發(fā)言人斯蒂芬•諾頓這樣說，“我們還不知道有這樣的先例，那就是一種產(chǎn)品已經(jīng)為歐洲衛(wèi)生安全機(jī)構(gòu)審查并經(jīng)過安全確定，現(xiàn)在卻又被否定。”
Dimas 先生的女發(fā)言人Barbara Helfferich不愿意就程序的細(xì)節(jié)作評(píng)論，因?yàn)槲瘑T們還未做出最后決定。但是她說歐盟有權(quán)利基于“預(yù)防原則”做出決定，即使是科學(xué)家并未發(fā)現(xiàn)確定證據(jù)可以證明該產(chǎn)品有害。她說Dimas先生的決定在未來幾周內(nèi)就可在委員會(huì)前出臺(tái)，但是具體日期還未確定。在這些決定中，Dimas引用了最近的一些研究，這些研究表明轉(zhuǎn)基因“谷物副產(chǎn)品”消費(fèi)“抑制生長(zhǎng)，增加nontarget昆蟲死亡率”，而且這些昆蟲“是水生動(dòng)物重要的食物”，因此這可能有“未預(yù)料到的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)規(guī)模的后果”。
盡管他的決定還是初步的，但是卻會(huì)極大傾斜針對(duì)同意未來轉(zhuǎn)基因谷物的政策，這是Europabio女發(fā)言人Nathalie Moll的觀點(diǎn)，Europabio是擁有80名成員的一個(gè)工業(yè)組織，Syngenta, Pioneer and Dow都是其成員。Europabio稱運(yùn)用轉(zhuǎn)基因谷物生長(zhǎng)的作物已經(jīng)進(jìn)口到幾個(gè)歐洲國(guó)家，包括法國(guó)和德國(guó)，用于飼養(yǎng)牛、雞這樣的喂養(yǎng)動(dòng)物。
赴歐盟的美國(guó)發(fā)言人Rob Gianfranceschi稱目前就還未正式成立的決定作評(píng)論還為時(shí)尚早，但是他明確表示美國(guó)對(duì)于歐洲對(duì)轉(zhuǎn)基因谷物的政策表示失望。