Up to half of all the food produced in the world—two billion tons(吨)of it—is tossed away, according to a new report.

 The waste is caused by poor storage equipment in the developing world, “buying-one-get-one-free” offers, and critical(挑剔的)consumers in the developed world, the report said.

One of the worst offenders is Britain, where as many misshapen(畸形的) and supermarkets will not sell them. The report also suggests that half of the food that is bought in Europe and the United States is thrown away by consumers.

Dr. Tim Fox, head of energy and environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said,” The amount of food wasted and lost around the world is amazing. This is food that could be used to feed the world’s growing population. It is also an unnecessary waste of the land, water and energy resources that are used in the production, processing and distribution of this food. The reasons for this situation range from poor engineering and agricultural practices, lack of good transport and their encouraging consumers to overbuy through buy-one-get-one-free offers.”

The report also found that 550 billion cubic meters of water is wasted globally in growing crops that are never eaten. The report said the demand for water production could reach between 10 trillion(万吨) and 13 trillion cubic meters a year by 2050.

Fox said, “The UN predicts that the global population will swell to 9.5 billion by 2075, meaning there will be three billion more people to feed. As water, land and energy resources come under increasing pressure from competing human demands, engineers have a key role to play in preventing food loss and waste by coming up with more efficient ways of growing, transporting and storing foods. But in order for this to happen, governments, development agencies and organizations like the UK must work together to help change people’s attitudes towards waste and discourage wasteful practices by famers, food producers, supermarkets and consumers.”

63. The underlined phrase” tossed away” in paragraph 1 can be replaced by___.

A. thrown away    B. given away   C. put away   D. take away

64. What is the main factor that causes the waste of food in the United States?

A. Supermarkets’ bad environment.  B. Poor storage equipment.

C. Critical consumers themselves.     D. Lack of good transport.

65. How should engineers help prevent the waste of food?

A. They should teach people how to make full use of land.

B. They should change people’s attitudes towards food.

C. They should stop farmers and consumers from wasteful practices.

D. They should develop better ways of growing, transporting and storing food.

66. The passage is mainly intended to____?

A. To call on people to save food.

B. To criticize people for wasting food.

C. To attract readers’ attention to wasting food. 

D. To report the problem of waste food.