1.What is genetically modified food? 2.How can you tell the difference between ordinary food and GM food? 3.How much GM food is there in China? 4.What are the advantages of GM food? 5.What are the disadvantages? 6.What should we do about GM food in China?

Is GM food good or bad? Not much is known about long- term effects of GM food on humans and the environment. It is “unpredictable”.

Answer the questions. 1. Is transgenic food the same as genetically modified food? Yes.

2. What is the risk of producing a GM crop which kills pests? It will kill good insects as well.

3. Why is the risk from carcinogens reduced in GM food? Because there are fewer traces of cancer inducing pesticides in the food.

4. What is the risk to someone who is allergic to a particular gene? If that gene is transferred to another food, and the allergic person doesn’t know.

5. How does the amount of GM food in the US compare with the number of people who think it’s dangerous? 30 ﹪ of maize, 50 ﹪ of Soya beans, 50 ﹪ of potatoes and tomatoes are GM, and 27 ﹪ of consumers are worried about the dangers of GM.

6. How could GM food be stopped from entering China? By having the customs inspect all imported foods.

7. How did the writer know that there weren't any imported GM foods in the markets? They did a big survey.

8. What action is going to be taken about GM foods in China? Foods are going to be labeled.

9. Do you think the writer agrees with this action? Yes.

Look at these pairs of sentences from the passage. Decide if the second sentence adds to or contrasts with the information in the first sentences.

(a) … GM food is already common in the United States. (b) China does not produce very much GM food … (b) contrasts with (a)

(a) In Canada and the United States, 27 percent of consumers fear that GM food could be dangerous. (b) In Europe, a majority of consumers are in favor of banning them, and 79 percent of the UK public opposes GM food. (b) adds to (a)

(a) Chinese customs do not list transgenic products as an item requiring inspection. (b) Therefore GM products may enter the country from abroad.

(a) Neither young nor old people feared possible side effects from GM foods. (b) … some parents of children said that they would now pay more attention to food labeling. (b) contrasts with (a)

1. Scientists have found that a crop with agene that kills pests can leave a poison in the soil that kills helpful as well as harmful insects. (a) What can the crop do? leave a poison in the soil.

(b) What does the crop contain? (c) What can the poison in the soil do? a gene that kills pests kills helpful as well as harmful insects

2. Yet reducing the amount of insecticides needed by using GM crops can reduce the amount of cancer producing chemicals --- or carcinogens --- that are found in food. (a) How can you reduce the amount of insecticides needed? by using GM crops

(b) What needs insecticides? the crops (c) What can reduce cancer producing chemicals? using less insecticides

3. If a gene that produces an allergic reaction is transferred into another crop, then a person who usually avoids food containing this gene may not know that it is now present in the modified food. (a) What kind of gene is it? one which causes an allergic reaction

(b) What kind of person is it? (c) What might this person not know? a person who usually avoids those foods that the GM food has that gene in it

4. Unfortunately, the “Agricultural Organisms Transgenic Engineering Safety Implementation Measures” issued by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture do not apply to imported agricultural products. (a) What are issued by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture? The “Agricultural Organisms Transgenic Engineering Safety Implementation Measures”

(b) What do they not apply to? imported agricultural products (c) Why is this unfortunate? Because GM food will be imported unchecked.

Are you for or against GM food? Explain why. What do you think should be done about Gm food in China? Ban the planting of GM crops, ban the sale of GM food, label it clearly, or anything else?

Two Creatures in the Time Machine

Read the passage and answer the questions. How are the Eloi and the Morlocks different from each other?

The Eloi live above ground, while the Morlocks live underground; The Eloi are small, beautiful and unable to do physical work, while the Morlocks are strong and wicked. Their appearance was very different, too. The Eloi were hairy only on their heads, while the Morlocks had hair down their backs, too. The Morlocks’ eyes were grayish- red, while the Elois’ yes were large and mild.