Some 15 years ago, in the beautiful Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, an organic (有机的) farmer separate his cows among two fields, one of which was near the beach. Overtime, Joe Dorgan noticed that his cows by the ocean were in better shape than other cows. They were producing more milk, had fewer diseases and were highly reproductive. They seemed to be all-around happier animals.
The only difference he could see between the two kinds was that the happier ones could reach the beach and were eating seaweed. So Dorgan carried seaweed across the road for his land-locked cows to see if it would make a difference. Before long, those cows were catching up with their seaside ones. He then sold his farm to start a new company, North Atlantic Organics, selling organic sea plant products to local farmers.
He knew he was on to something big. But he had no idea that what he had noticed about his cows’ new diet was about to give the world a potentially significant weapon in the fight against climate change.
One of the scientists, Rob Kinley, was researching ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (排放) in animals by changing their diet.
On average, one cow can give off the same amount of greenhouse (温室) gas as one car. About 15 percent of global greenhouse gases are made up of methane from animals when digesting (消化) the food. With Dorgan’ s seaweed mix in hand, Kinley started measuring emissions from the cows. What he discovered was an 18 percent reduction in methane emissions compared with non-seaweed-eating cows.
It was a moment of light, and a global search for an even more efficient (高效的) seaweed began. The potential for the seaweed to reduce the world’ s greenhouse gas output is great, and the hope is that cows will be feeding on Future Feed — the commercial product developed by CSIRO, Meat and Livestock Australia, and James Cook University — by the end of 2022.
【小题1】Why is the story of Joe Dorgan and his cows mentioned?| A．To raise a doubt. | B．To lead to the topic. |
| C．To praise a farmer. | D．To respond to the problem. |
| A．A dangerous food harmful to the animals. |
| B．A dangerous food harmful to the humans. |
| C．A kind of chemical harmful to the food. |
| D．A kind of chemical harmful to the environment. |
| A．One cow can be as bad as one car for the environment. |
| B．Animals give off more greenhouse gases than expected. |
| C．Seaweed-eating cows are friendlier to the environment. |
| D．Non-seaweed-eating cows give off 18% lower greenhouse gas. |
| A．A Potentially Significant Weapon in the Fight against Climate Change |
| B．An Unusually Smart Farmer in the Fight against Global Greenhouse Gas |
| C．The Specially Efficient Seaweed in the Fight for More Milk from the Cows |
| D．The World-changing Research in the Fight for More Commercial Future Feed |
