英语训练：应明白消费转基因的食品
TRENTON， N.J. - Can animal genes be jammed into plants? Would tomatoeswith catfish genes taste fishy? Have you ever eaten a genetically modified food?
The answers are： yes， no and almost definitely. But according to a survey， most
Americans couldn't answer correctly even though they've been eating genetically
modified foods — unlabeled — for nearly a decade.
Today， roughly 75 percent of U.S. processed foods — boxed cereals， other
grain products， frozen dinners， cooking oils and more — contain some genetically
modified， or GM， ingredients， said Stephanie Childs of the Grocery Manufacturers
of America.
Despite dire warnings about “Frankenfoods，” there have been no reports of
illness from these products of biotechnology. Critics note there's no system for
reporting allergies or other reactions to GM foods. Genetic modification of
crops involves transferring genes from a plant or animal into a plant. Nearly
all GM changes so far are to boost yields and deter insects and viruses， cutting
the use of pesticides， thus making farming more productive and affordable — a
particular aid to developing nations.
More than 80 percent of the soy and 40 percent of the corn raised in this
country is a GM variety. Global plantings of biotech crops — mostly corn and
soybeans and much of it for animal feed — grew to about 200 million acres last
year， about two-thirds of it in the United States. Experts say within several
years there will be new GM foods with taste and nutrition improvements： cooking
oils with less trans fat， tastier potatoes and peanuts that don't trigger
allergies.
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