Even plant can run a fever, especially when they’re under attack by insects or d

Even plant can run a fever, especially whenthey’re under attack by insects or disease. But unlike human, plants can havetheir temperature taken from 3,000 feet away straight up. A decade ago,adopting the infrared （红外线）scanning technology developed for military purposes and othersatellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with a quick way to take thetemperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was tolet farmers precisely target pesticide (杀虫剂)spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariablyincludes plants that don’t have pest(害虫)problems.

Even better, Paley’s Remote ScanningServices Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to theeye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3,000 feet at night, an infrared scannermeasured the heat sent out by crops. The data were transformed into acolor-coded map showing where plants were running “fevers”. Farmers could thenspot-spray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide that they otherwise would.

The bad news is that Paley’s company closeddown in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology andlong-term backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern aboutpesticides on produce, and refinements（改进）ininfrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation.Agriculture experts have no doubt the technology works. “This technique can beused on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States,” says GeorgeOerther of Texas A& M, who recently retired from the Department ofAgriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the endof the decade. But only if Paley finds the financial backing which he failed toobtain 10 years ago.

1.In what situation will plants have afever?(No more than 8 words)(2marks)

2.How can we apply pesticide sprayingprecisely?(No more than 10 words)(2 marks)

3.Why may infrared scanning technology bybrought back into operation?(No more than 13 words)(3 marks)

4.What is the biggest problem that mightprevent bringing infrared scanning technology back?(No more than 7 words)(3marks)

试题答案

【答案】

1.When they’re under attack by insects ordisease.

2.We can use infrared scanning to locatethe problem area. / By using infrared scanning to locate the problem area. / Byadopting the infrared scanning technology.

3.Because of renewed concern aboutpesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning.

4.Paley may not find the financialbacking./ Lacking financial backing. / Lacking enough money.

【解析】略