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  3. Across the United States, scientists are mounting what may become the most innovative agricultural research drive since the 1920

Across the United States, scientists are mounting what may become the most innovative agricultural research drive since the 1920

admin2010-04-30  74
问题     Across the United States, scientists are mounting what may become the most innovative agricultural research drive since the 1920’s, when hybrid corn was developed. Surprisingly, the new genetic revolution is not taking place in America’s fields. Instead, it is occurring in biology laboratories, for it involves the deliberate manipulation in test tubes of the genes of crop plants. This genetic engineering may prove the biggest boon to agriculture since plant breeding began.
    The new concepts grew out of the bioengineering of bacteria for the production of such things as human hormones and vaccines for viral diseases. Plant cells, however, are far more complex than bacteria, and it will probably take many years for today’s encouraging laboratory results to have a major impact on the farm. In fact the payoff may not come until the next century.
    But although bio-technologists are still in the earliest phases of this new field of science, they are already actively exploring ways to redesign plants so they will use sunlight mere efficiently, resist viruses and other pests, grow in hot or dry areas, in saline soils or in the presence of pesticides, and perhaps even make their own fertilizer out of nitrogen in the air. In addition, scientists have had early success in making wholly new plants that are unavailable by conventional plant breeding-a potato-tomato combination, for example.
    The new technology holds the promise of virtually limitless horizons in food production. Only imagination sets the limits: frost-resistant wheat, tropical potatoes, saltwater rice, a plant producing a combination of a pea and a carrot-all may be with us one day.
The word "boon" at the end of paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ______.
选项 A、success
B、accomplishment
C、dream
D、benefit
答案D
解析 该题要求根据上下文猜测词义。文章讲生物工程技术可能是继作物育种开始以来为农业带来的最大好处。故文章第一段最后一句话中的boon是恩赐、好处之义。注意不要与boom(繁荣、兴盛)混淆。选项A“成功”，选项B“成就”，选项C“梦想”，均不是boon所表示的意思。
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