Question 24 is based on the recording you have just heard.

Recording Three

听力原文

        Good morning, class, my topic today is how to feed a hungry world. The world’s population is expected to grow from 6.8 billion today to 9.1 billion by 2050. Meanwhile, the world’s population more than doubled from 3 billion between 1961 and 2007. Simultaneously, food production has been constrained by a lack of scientific research. Still, the task of feeding the world’s population in 2050 seems “easily possible”.

        What is needed is a second green revolution. This is an approach that is described as the “sustainable growth of global agriculture”. Such a revolution will require a wholesale shift of priorities in agricultural research. (22) [There is an urgent need for new crop varieties.] They must offer higher yields but use less water, nitrogen-rich fertilizers or other inputs. These new crops must also be more resistant to drought, heat and pests. Equally crucial is lower-tech research into basics such as crop rotation, and mixed farming of animals and plants on small farms.

        Developing nations could score substantial gains in productivity by making better use of modern technologies and practices. But that requires money. It is estimated that to meet the 2050 challenge, investment must double to US$83 billion a year. (23) [Most of that money needs to go towards improving agricultural infrastructure.] Everything from production to storage and processing must improve. However research agendas need to be focused on the needs of the poorest and most resource-limited countries. It is there that most of the world’s population lives, and it is there that population growth over the next decades will be the greatest.

        (24) [To their credit, the world’s agricultural scientists are embracing such a broad view. In March, for example, they came together at the first Global Conference on Agricultural Research, to begin working out how to change research agendas to help meet the needs of farmers in poorer nations.] But these plans will not bear fruit unless they get considerably more support from policy-makers.

         The growth in public agricultural-research spending peaked in the 1970s and has been shrinking ever since. (25) [The big exception is China, where spending has far surpassed other countries over the past decade.] China seems set to transition to become the key supplier of relevant science and technology to poorer countries. But developed countries have a humanitarian responsibility, too. Calls by scientists large increases in the appropriation of funds for public spending on agricultural research are more than justified.

24. Why does the speaker give credit to the world’s agricultural scientists? （为什么讲话者赞扬全世界的农业科学家？）

解析：C。录音中提到，值得赞扬的是，全世界的农业科学家正接受这样的广阔视野，这种广阔视野指的是前面提到的“研究议程需要关注（be focused on）最贫穷和资源最有限国家的需求”，接着在后面也进一步例证：他们在第一届全球农业研究会议上聚集在一起，开始研究如何改变研究议程，以帮助满足较贫穷国家农民的需求。C项符合题意，其中the needs of farmers in poorer countries原词复现，故为正确答案。

错项排除：A项利用录音中出现的farmers和embracing进行拼凑，但new farming techniques在录音中无依据，故排除。B项利用录音中的research进行干扰，但advances in farming technology在录音中无依据，故排除。D项利用录音中的policy-makers和Developing nations进行拼凑，但录音中是说计划如果得不到决策者更多的支持，就不会产生成果，并不是与发展中国家的决策者合作，故D项排除。