20．The government of Norway is planning to build an unusual storage center on an island in the Arctic Ocean．The place would be large enough to hold about two million seeds．The goal is to present all crops known to scientists．The British magazine New Scientist published details of the plan last month．The structure will be designed to protect the world's food supply against nuclear war，climate change and other possible threats．It will be built in a mountain on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen．The mountain is less than one thousand kilometers from the North Pole，the northernmost position on earth．
An international group called the Global Crop Diversity Trust is working on the project．The director of the group，Cary Fowler，spoke to New Scientist．He said the project would let the world rebuild agriculture if，in his word，"the worst came to the worst"．Norway is expected to start work next year．The project is expected to cost three million dollars．Workers will drill（钻孔） deep in the side of a sandston mountain．Temperatures in the area never rise above 0°C．The seeds will be protected behind walls a meter thick and high-security door．
The magazine report says the collection will represent the products of ten thousand years of farming．Most of the seeds at first will come from collections at seed banks in Africa，Asia and Latin America．To last a long time，seeds need to be kept in very low temperatures．Workers will not be present all the time．But they plan to replace the air inside the storage space each winter．Winter temperatures on the island are about eighteen degrees below 0°C．The cold weather would protect the seeds even if the air could not be replaced．
Mr．Fowler says the proposed structure will be the world's safest gene bank．He says the plant seeds would only be used when all other seeds are gone for some reason．Norway first put forward the idea in the 1980s．But safety concerns delayed the plan．At that time，the Soviet Union was meeting in Rome of the Food and Agriculture Organization．
32．The project is meant toD．
A．increase the world's food output in the future
B．carry out some scientific experiments on plant genes
C．build an exhibition centre of the world's plant seeds
D．protect crop seeds from dying out in case of possible disasters
33．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the above passage？D
A．The government of Norway will perform the project alone．
B．Seeds to be collected there were produced ten thousand years ago．
C．Spitsbergen is chosen because it is free of the nuclear war forever．
D．Temperature is a major consideration when choosing the storage place．
34．We can infer from the text thatA．
A．Norway had meant to build the storage centre about 20years before．
B．The storage center will greatly promote world agriculture
C．People will get newly-developed seeds from the center every year．
D．There haven't been any seed storage centers in the world before．
35．What is probably the best title of the passage？B
A．The Best Place to Store Seeds
B．Noah's Ark（诺亚方舟）of Plant Seeds in Plan
C．Concerns of World Food Supply
D．A New Way to Feed the World．
分析 挪威政府正在计划在北冰洋的一个小岛上建立一个不寻常的存储中心．地方足够大可以容纳约二百万颗被科学家认识的种子，英国新科学家杂志发表了这项计划的细节．该建筑是为保护世界粮食免受核战争、气候变迁及其它可能性威胁而设计的．它将建在挪威的斯匹次卑尔根岛的一座山上，这座山是距北极点不足一千公里，是地球上最北的位置．
解答 32．D 细节理解题．根据第一段的"The structure will be designed to protect the world's food supply against nuclear war，climate change and other possible threats．"可知，该建筑是为保护世界粮食免受核战争、气候变迁及其它可能性威胁而设计的．所以这个项目的目的是保护农作物种子，防止因可能发生的灾难而灭绝．故选D．
33．D 推理判断题．根据第二段的"To last a long time，seeds need to be kept in very low temperatures．"可知，为储存长点时间，种子需要在极低的温度下储藏．所以在选择存储位置时，温度是一个主要的考虑因素．故选D．
34．A 推理判断题．根据最后一段的"Norway first put forward the idea in the 1980s．"可知挪威最早是在八十年代提出这个议案的．所以迄今已有二十年左右的历史了．故选A．
35．B 主旨大意题．文章主要讲述了如何通过建立"种子储存中心"来储存农作物的种子，故B项计划中的种子的诺亚方舟最合适．
点评 本文是政治经济类阅读，考查学生对细节的理解把握和推理判断能力，做题时一定要找到文章中的原句，和题干进行比较，再做出正确选择．在做推理判断题时不要以个人的主观想象代替文章的事实，要根据文章事实进行合乎逻辑的推理判断．
