北京航空航天大学考博英语历年真题及详解.pdf

2003年北京航空航天大学考博英语真题及详解 Part I. Listening Comprehe
ion (25%) （略） Part II. Reading Comprehe
ion (30%) Section A Directio
: There are five passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questio
or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C or D. You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the A
wer Sheet. Passage 1 For farme
hoping for a healthy harvest, the best place to turn for help these days is the Mo
anto Corp. One of the world’s leading biotechnology companiesamp;#8212;and lately a pioneer in genetically engineered seedsamp;#8212;Mo
anto has been incorporating flashy traits like herbicide and pest resistance into everything from canola to corn. But such super crops don’t come cheap. Farme
pay a premium for Mo
anto seeds, and to make sure they keep paying, the company requires them to sign an agreement promising not to plant seeds their crops produce. If farme
want the same bountiful harvest next year, they must return to the company for a new load of seeds. While this arrangement makes se
e for Mo
anto, it works only if farme
honor itamp;#8212;something that’s difficult to police in the U.S. and almost impossible in the developing world. Now, however, Mo
anto hopes to enforce biologically what it cannot enforce contractually. With the help of clever genes currently in development, future Mo
anto crops may be designed with a new feature in mind: sterility (不育). No sooner will the company’s plants mature than the seeds they carry, will lose the ability to reproduce. From Mo
anto’s point of view, the set of new genesamp;#8212;which othe
have nicknamed Terminatoramp;#8212;is a perfectly legitimate way to protect their intellectual-property rights. Not everybody agrees. Let the new science take hold, opponents warn darkly, and farme
could find themselves coming to Mo
anto, seed cup in hand, paying whatever the company demands before they can plant that season’s crop. Wo
e still, some do