2020年09月六级第2套仔细阅读 Passage 2 原文翻译及答案解析

Organic agriculture is a relatively untapped resource for feeding the Earth's population, especially in the face of climate change and other global challenges. That's the conclusion I reached in reviewing 40 years of science comparing the long-term prospects of organic and conventional farming.

有机农业是养活地球人口的一种相对未开发的资源，尤其是在面对气候变化和其他全球挑战时。这是我在回顾比较有机和常规农业长期前景的40年科学研究后得出的结论。

The review study, "Organic Agriculture in the 21st Century, " is featured as the cover story for the February issue of the journal Nature Plants. It is the first to compare organic and conventional agriculture across the main goals of sustainability identified by the National Academy of Sciences: productivity, economics, and environment.

这项题为“21世纪的有机农业”的综述研究是《自然·植物》杂志二月刊的封面故事。它是首次在国家科学院确定的可持续性主要目标（生产率、经济效益和环境）方面比较有机和常规农业。

Critics have long argued that organic agriculture is inefficient, requiring more land to yield the same amount of food. It's true that organic farming produces lower yields, averaging 10 to 20 percent less than conventional. Advocates contend that the environmental advantages of organic agriculture far outweigh the lower yields, and that increasing research and breeding resources for organic systems would reduce the yield gap. Sometimes excluded from these arguments is the fact that we already produce enough food to more than feed the world's 7.4 billion people but do not provide adequate access to all individuals.

批评者长期以来认为有机农业效率低下，需要更多土地才能产出同等数量的食物。确实，有机农业产量较低，平均比常规农业低10%到20%。支持者认为，有机农业的环境优势远超过其较低的产量，并且增加对有机系统的研发和育种资源将缩小产量差距。有时这些争论中忽略了一个事实：我们已经生产了足以养活全球74亿人口的食物，但并非所有人都能充分获取。

In some cases, organic yields can be higher than conventional. For example, in severe drought conditions, which are expected to increase with climate change in many areas, organic farms can produce as good, if not better, yields because of the higher water-holding capacity of organically farmed soils.

在某些情况下，有机产量可能高于常规。例如，在严重干旱条件下（预计气候变化将导致许多地区干旱加剧），由于有机耕作土壤具有更高的持水能力，有机农场可以产出同样好甚至更好的产量。

What science does tell us is that mainstream conventional farming systems have provided growing supplies of food and other products but often at the expense of other sustainability goals.

科学告诉我们的是，主流常规农业系统虽然提供了不断增长的食品和其他产品供应，但往往是以牺牲其他可持续性目标为代价。

Conventional agriculture may produce more food, but it often comes at a cost to the environment. Biodiversity loss, environmental degradation, and severe impacts on ecosystem services have not only accompanied conventional farming systems but have often extended well beyond their field boundaries. With organic agriculture, environmental costs tend to be lower and the benefits greater.

常规农业可能生产更多食物，但往往以环境为代价。生物多样性丧失、环境退化以及对生态系统的严重影响，不仅伴随常规农业系统，而且常常延伸到农田边界之外。对于有机农业，环境成本往往更低，而收益更大。

Overall, organic farms tend to store more soil carbon, have better soil quality, and reduce soil erosion compared to their conventional counterparts. Organic agriculture also creates less soil and water pollution and lower greenhouse gas emissions. And it's more energy-efficient because it doesn't rely on synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.

总体而言，与常规农场相比，有机农场倾向于储存更多土壤碳，拥有更好的土壤质量，并减少土壤侵蚀。有机农业还造成更少的土壤和水污染，以及更低的温室气体排放。而且它更节能，因为它不依赖合成肥料或农药。

Organic agriculture is also associated with greater biodiversity of plants, animals, insects and microorganisms as well as genetic diversity. Biodiversity increases the services that nature provides and improves the ability of farming systems to adapt to changing conditions.

有机农业还与植物、动物、昆虫和微生物的更大生物多样性以及遗传多样性相关。生物多样性增加了自然提供的服务，并提高了农业系统适应变化条件的能力。

Despite lower yields, organic agriculture is more profitable for farmers because consumers are willing to pay more. Higher prices, called price premiums, can be justified as a way to compensate farmers for providing ecosystem services and avoiding environmental damage or external costs.

尽管产量较低，有机农业对农民来说更有利可图，因为消费者愿意支付更高的价格。更高的价格，称为价格溢价，可以作为一种补偿方式，以奖励农民提供生态系统服务和避免环境损害或外部成本。