A well-intentioned solution is often offered to climate-conscious consumers: to replace beef on our plates with chicken. While on paper this brings down an individual’s dietary carbon footprint, in practice this would mean that billions more animals will be killed each year. Meanwhile, even more factory farms continue to harm the climate and us humans in the process. Much can be debated about the best way to deal with climate change but one of its sources is undoubtedly true: the way we produce food — specifically meat — spells disaster for our planet.

It’s true that for every gram of protein, conventional beef has almost 10 times the carbon footprint of chicken. Beef uses 23 times as much farmland and 3 times as much water. But the consumption shift from beef to chicken is contributing to a crisis of another kind. Approximately 134 chickens must be killed to produce one cow’s worth of meat, which is extremely cruel and environmentally unfriendly, causing dead zones and having damaging chain effects on the communities living near these facilities whose health, water supply, and quality of life are affected by this pollution.

The most influential dietary change we can make to reduce our individual influence on animals and the environment is actually to shift from conventionally produced, factory - farmed animal products to pasture -based (基于牧场的) meat, eggs or dairy products and plant -based protein sources. It’s not all-or-nothing. The average American could cut their diet-related environmental influences by nearly half just by eating less meat and fewer eggs and dairy products. Gradually, individual changes can add up to a big difference to both animals and the environment, but the responsibility shouldn’t fall on individuals alone. We urgently need our government to stop enforcing this disastrous system and redirect support to more humane, sustainable food and production methods.

To spare animals from suffering, slow down climate change and safeguard our food system, we need to take factory farming off the table. It’s time to stop leaping from the frying pan to the fire and rethink our food system.

【小题1】What can we know about the “well-intentioned solution”?

A．It is actually a recipe for disaster.

B．It works well in reducing the carbon footprint.

C．It means a change in our way of raising animals.

D．It was put forward by climate-conscious consumers.

【小题2】How does the author argue his point in Paragraph 2?

A．By doing surveys.	B．By giving examples.
C．By referring to papers.	D．By using persuasive data.

【小题3】What does the third paragraph mainly talk about?

A．The effort the government has put into the food system.

B．Influences people’s eating habit has on the environment.

C．The changes individuals and the government should make.

D．Measures the government can take to limit human activities.

【小题4】What does the author want to stress in the text?

A．It’s necessary to say no to factory farming.

B．It’s time to replace beef on our plates with chicken.

C．We need to take animal-based products off our table.

D．Turning from factory farming to pasture farming takes time.