2015同等学力英语阅读练习(22)

　　Bananas, always the fashion victims of the produce section, are wearing another new label this spring. Bananas with “Fair Trade Certified” stickers have been available in the United States since October. They represent the new front of an international effort to help first-world consumers improve the living standards of the third-world farmers who grow much of their food.

　　By expanding its reach to the produce section, Fair Trade is now trying to reach the American supermarket shopper. Fair Trade deals directly with farmer cooperatives. It helps organize, avoiding brokers (代理人) and middlemen. It guarantees higher prices for the farmers’ goods and helps them set up schools and health clinics.

　　The Fair Trade movement took root in Europe in the 1990’s as a way of bolstering coffee farmers as prices were collapsing. Since Fair Trade began, more than a million coffee growers and other farmers have joined cooperatives that sell their products through Fair Trade channels instead of directly to a commercial producer.

　　Not everyone is greeting the Fair Trade label with open arms. Several American coffee importers recently pulled out of Fair Trade, citing TransFair’s “corporate friendly” policies that allow large companies to use the Fair Trade logo in their marketing even if only a small amount of the company’s overall purchases are Fair Trade certified.

　　Edmund LaMacchia, the national produce coordinator for Whole Foods, said Fair Trade is only one of many consumer choices. “Whole Foods has its own team of inspectors and has no plans to carry Fair Trade products”, Mr. LaMacchia said. “Our standards are higher than Fair Trade’s, actually.” Fair Trade is only one of several labels your bananas might be wearing this year. Another is that of the Rainforest Alliance, which certifies the use of sustainable agriculture methods.

　　So far, though, Fair Trade is the biggest. A Fair Trade label by itself does not guarantee an organic product, but most Fair Trade bananas are also organic, Ms. Bourque said, because pesticides are usually too costly for the small farmers who grow them. If the bananas are organic, they will be labeled as such, and will probably be wearing a sticker to prove it.

　　1. Why are bananas wearing “Fair Trade Certified” stickers?

　　A) It means bananas are the fashion victims of the produce section.

　　B) It means bananas have got a new label.

　　C) It means bananas with these stickers are available in the United States.

　　D) It represents an international effort to help the third-world farmers.

　　2. What does Fair Trade do?

　　A) It helps farmers sell their products for a higher profit.

　　B) It appoints brokers and middlemen to deal with farmer cooperatives.

　　C) It brings down the price of farmers’ goods.

　　D) It sets up schools and health clinics for American farmers.

　　3. What was the original purpose of the Fair Trade movement?

　　A) To cooperate with coffee growers and other farmers.

　　B) To help coffee farmers as prices were collapsing.

　　C) To prevent farmers from selling their products to commercial producers.

　　D) To sell products through coffee growers and other farmers.

　　4. What can we infer from this passage?

　　A) American coffee importers will never buy their products through Fair Trade channels.

　　B) Fair Trade is the only label that bananas might be wearing this year.

　　C) Not every consumer considers Fair Trade products the only choice.

　　D) Whole Foods and the Rainforest Alliance are more influential than Fair Trade.

　　5. What is the best title for this passage?

　　A) Helping the Third World: One Banana at a Time

　　B) Consumers Face More Choices

　　C) Fair Trade — the Best Sticker

　　D) The Fair Trade Movement

　　参考答案：

　　1. D)。参见第一段“They represent the new front of an international effort to help first-world consumers improve the living standards of the third-world farmers who grow much of their food.”一句可知，Fair Trade推出这一标准的目的是为了帮助第三世界国家的果农，让他们生产的香蕉更有竞争力、更有市场。

　　2. A)。参见第二段“It guarantees higher prices for the farmers’ goods and helps them set up schools and health clinics.”一句可知，Fair Trade的作用是帮助农民把他们生产的农产品卖出个好价钱。

　　3. B)。参见第三段“The Fair Trade movement took root in Europe in the 1990’s as a way of bolstering coffee farmers as prices were collapsing.”一句可知，Fair Trade成立于20世纪90年代的欧洲，它成立的最初目的是为了挽救种植咖啡的农民，因为当时咖啡的价格下跌得很厉害。

　　4. C)。参见第四段“Not everyone is greeting the Fair Trade label with open arms.”一句可知，消费者可以有不同的选择，并不一定要买Fair Trade推荐的产品。

　　5. A)。纵观全文，本文的目的是向读者推荐被Fair Trade认可并贴有Fair Trade Certified标签的香蕉，推荐香蕉的最终目的还是为了帮助生活在第三世界国家的香蕉种植者。