A
Famous Chinese agricultural scientist Yuan Longping and his research team's expe－riment of planting saltwatertolerant rice in desert areas of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates proved to be a success, with one type of rice producing more than 7.5 tons per hectare, Xinhua reported.
Saltwatertolerant rice is designed to grow in tidal flats or other areas with heavy salt content. It was the world's first successful case of planting rice in a tropical desert area, standing as China's contribution to improving the ability of people in desert areas to be selfsufficient in main foods, a move that can protect global food security and improve the desert ecological environment.
The technology of saltwatertolerant rice plays a key role in the success as the natural environment of the Dubai desert is terrible for rice growth. The daytime temperatures could be as high as over 50 ℃， and nighttime temperatures could drop by 30 ℃. Humidity stays below 20 percent and there are sandstorms from time to time. The biggest challenge is the desert soil, which is low in organic matter and unable to keep soil moisture as it is totally sand. To make it worse, sea water remains just 7.5 meters below the soil, which makes it easy to be full of salt.
With this success, the center and the private investment office of the ruler of the Emirate of Dubai plan to set up a 100hectare experimental farmland in Dubai, to test the production costs and cultivation techniques of the saltwatertolerant rice and prepare for promotion. The two parties will construct a 100hectare standard farmland in 2019 and speed up rice planting in 2020.
篇章导读：本文是一篇记叙文。文章主要讲述了中国著名农业科学家袁隆平和他的研究团队在阿联酋迪拜沙漠地区成功种植耐盐水水稻。
1．What can we infer from the second paragraph?
A．The tropical desert areas have done well in being selfsufficient.
B．Chinese team play a great role in planting saltwatertolerant rice in desert areas.
C．Planting saltwatertolerant rice can be easily achieved in many tropical desert areas.
D．Saltwatertolerant rice is designed to grow in areas with heavy salt content.
答案：B 细节理解题。根据第二段的内容可知，耐盐水水稻是为在滩涂或其他含盐量大的地区种植而设计的，是世界上第一个在热带沙漠地区种植水稻的成功案例，这是中国对提高沙漠地区人民自足能力的贡献。故选B。
2．What's the most difficult thing for rice growth in Dubai desert?
A．Its daytime temperature could be up to 50 ℃ and humidity stays below 20%.
B．It's just 6.5 meters above the sea water and easy to be full of salt.
C．Its soil is short of organic matter and hard to keep soil moisture.
D．It is extremely expensive to conduct experiments in tropical desert areas.
答案：C 细节理解题。根据文章第三段第四句“The biggest challenge is the desert soil, which is low in organic matter and unable to keep soil moisture as it is totally sand.”可知，最大的挑战是沙漠土壤，它有机质含量低，不能保持土壤水分，因为它完全是沙子。故选C。
3．What can we learn about the saltwater－tolerant rice according to the passage?
A．The natural environment is the key factor of the success of the experiment.
B．Dubai still has a lot to do before the saltwatertolerant rice benefits other areas.
C．No evaluation will be performed again as the experiment has been successful.
D．The ruler of the Emirate of Dubai thinks little of the result of the experiment.
答案：B 推理判断题。根据最后一段首句可知，随着这一成功，该中心和迪拜的私人投资办公室计划在迪拜建立一个100公顷的试验田，以测试耐盐水水稻的生产成本和种植技术，并为进一步推广做准备。由此可推知，在使耐盐水水稻能造福于其他地区之前，迪拜还有很多需要做的。故选B。
4．What's the passage mainly about?
A．The United Arab Emirates tries to improve the desert ecological environment.
B．The United Arab Emirates has begun to plant saltwatertolerant rice.
C．The rice experiment is of great importance for the tropical desert areas.
D．Chinese team succeeds in planting saltwatertolerant rice in Dubai's desert.
答案：D 主旨大意题。文章主要讲述了中国著名农业科学家袁隆平和他的研究团队在阿联酋迪拜沙漠地区成功种植耐盐水水稻。故选D。
【词汇积累】 ①hectare n. 公顷 ②tidal adj. 潮汐的；有潮的 ③cultivation 耕种；种植；栽培 ④speed up (使)加速
【长难句分析】 The biggest challenge is the desert soil, which is low in organic matter and unable to keep soil moisture as it is totally sand.
最大的挑战是沙漠土壤，它有机质含量低，不能保持土壤水分，因为它完全是沙子。
分析：此句是主从复合句。which is low in organic matter and unable to keep soil moisture是非限制性定语从句修饰先行词the desert soil；在该定语从句中，as it is totally sand是原因状语从句。
