Food production does great harm to our environment. There are many procedures involved in the manufacture of food that result in greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Some procedures require the consumption of large amounts of fossil fuels, such as the transportation and storage of food products. Other factors that cause great damage to our environment include the overuse of fresh water.

The production of beef is more damaging to the environment than that of any other food we consume. Raising large numbers of cattle requires the production of large amounts of food for the animals. it's estimated that producing one pound of beef requires seven pounds of feed.

Land use is also a problem. If the cattle are free-range cattle, large areas of land are required for them to live on. This has led to disastrous forest cutting and the loss of rare plants and animal species, particularly in tropical rain forests in Central and South America.

Another problem specific to beef production is methane emissions (甲烷排放). Although many people are aware of the damaging effects of carbon dioxide, they don't realize methane's global warming potential is 25 times worse, making it a more dire problem.

Unfortunately, beef consumption is growing rapidly. This is the result of simple supply and demand factors. Specifically, there are two main causes of demand that are encouraging the production of more supply. First, the increase in the world population means there are more people to consume meat. The second factor is socioeconomic advancement. As citizens in developing nations become financially stable, they can afford to buy more meat.

Therefore, one way to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions is for people around the world to significantly cut down on the amount of beef they eat.

【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Raising free-range cattle is eco-friendly.

B．People cut down trees for animal habitats.

C．Producing beef can damage the environment.

D．Carbon dioxide causes far more harm than methane.

【小题2】The underlined word "dire" in Para. 4 means _______.

A．common

B．urgent

C．beneficial

D．avoidable

【小题3】Beef production is growing rapidly because_______.

A．more people are in demand of beef

B．developing countries raise more cattle

C．more land is available to raise cattle

D．the cost of raising cattle is relatively low

【小题4】The author writes this article to_______.

A．describe the booming of the beef production

B．emphasize the advantages of beef production

C．criticize the cutting of the rain forest

D．argue for a decrease in beef consumption