剑桥雅思11雅思阅读Test1passage1原文+译文：作物生长的“摩天大厦”

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READING PASSAGE 1

Crop-growing skyscrapers

By

the

year

2050,

nearly

80%

of

the

Earth

’

s

population

will

live

in

urban

centres.

Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human

population will increase by about three billion people by then. An estimated 109

hectares

of

new

land

(about

20%

larger

than

Brazil)

will

be

needed

to

grow

enough

food

to feed them, if traditional farming methods continue as they are practised today. At

present,

throughout

the

world,

over

80%

of

the

land

that

is

suitable

for

raising

crops

is in use. Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management

practices. What can be done to ensure enough food for the world

’

s population to live

on?

The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes

and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to

scale

up this technology to accommodate another

three

billion people. Many believe an

entirely

new

approach

to

indoor

farming

is

required,

employing

cutting-edge

technologies. One such proposal is for the

‘

Vertical Farm

’

. The concept is of

multi-storey buildings in which food crops are grown in environmentally controlled

conditions. Situated in

the heart

of urban

centres, they would

drastically reduce

the

amount

of

transportation

required

to

bring

food

to

consumers.

Vertical

farms

would

need

to be

efficient, cheap

to construct and safe to

operate. If successfully implemented,

proponents claim, vertical farms offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable

production

of

a

safe

and

varied

food

supply

(through

year-round

production

of

all

crops),

and

the

eventual

repair

of

ecosystems

that

have

been

sacrificed

for

horizontal

farming.

It

took humans 10,000 years to learn how to

grow most of the crops we now take for

granted.

Along

the

way,

we

despoiled

most

of

the

land

we

worked,

often

turning

verdant,

natural ecozones into semi-arid deserts. Within

that same

time

frame, we evolved into

an

urban

species,

in

which

60%

of

the

human

population

now

lives

vertically

in

cities.

This means that, for the majority, we humans have shelter from the elements, yet we

subject

our

food- bearing

plants

to

the

rigours

of

the

great

outdoors

and

can

do

no

more

than hope for a good weather year. However, more often than not now, due to a rapidly

changing

climate,

that

is

not

what

happens.

Massive

floods,

long

droughts,

hurricanes

and

severe

monsoons

take

their

toll

each

year,

destroying

millions

of

tons

of

valuable

crops.

The

supporters

of

vertical

farming

claim

many

potential

advantages

for

the

system.

For

instance,

crops

would

be

produced

all

year

round,

as

they

would

be

kept

in

artificially

controlled,

optimum

growing

conditions.

There

would

be

no

weather-related

crop

failures

due

to

droughts,

floods

or

pests.

All

the

food

could

be

grown

organically,

eliminating the need for herbicides, pesticides and fertilisers. The system would

greatly reduce the incidence of many infectious diseases that are acquired at the