BOOST YOUR VOCABULARY – CAMBRIDGE IELTS 17 BOOST YOUR VOCABULARY – CAMBRIDGE IELTS 17
TEST 2 fast-track= happening or making progress more quickly
This fast-track domestication could help make the world's food than is usual
READING PASSAGE 2 supply healthier and far more resistant to diseases, such as the resistant = устойчивый, невосприимчивый
rust fungus devastating wheat crops. rust = ржавчина / грибковое заболевание растений
fungus = гриб, плесень
'This could transform what we eat,' says Jorg Kudla at the devastate = разрушать, наносить ущерб
University of Munster in Germany, a member of the Brazilian
team. 'There are 50,000 edible plants in the world but 90 edible = съедобный
percent of our energy comes from just 15 crops.' transform = преобразовать, изменить
'We can now mimic the known domestication course of major mimic = имитировать, подражать
crops like rice, maize, sorghum or others,' says Caixia Gao of maize = кукуруза
sorghum = сорго (зерновая культура)
the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. 'Then we might try course = ход, течение (развития чего-либо)
to domesticate plants that have never been domesticated.'
native to = произрастающий, обитающий в (естественно)
B. Wild tomatoes, which are native to the Andes region breed = разводить, выращивать
in South America, produce pea-sized fruits. Over many desirable = желанный, привлекательный
trait = черта, особенность, характеристика
generations, peoples such as the Aztecs and Incas generations = поколение
transformed the plant by selecting and breeding plants
with mutations* in their genetic structure, which resulted population = население, популяция
in desirable traits such as larger fruit. diversity = разнообразие
desirable = желаемый, нужный, привлекательный
But every time a single plant with a mutation is taken from a strain = разновидность, штамм
larger population for breeding, much genetic diversity is lost.
biologist = биолог, эколог
And sometimes the desirable mutations come with less work out = разобраться, решить
desirable traits. For instance, the tomato strains grown for occur = происходить, случаться
reintroduce = вернуть, восстановить
supermarkets have lost much of their flavour. from scratch = с нуля
maintain = поддерживать, сохранять
By comparing the genomes of modern plants to those of their enhance = улучшать, усиливать
wild relatives, biologists have been working out what genetic
changes occurred as plants were domesticated. The teams in triple = утраивать, увеличивать в три раза
Brazil and China have now used this knowledge to reintroduce truss = стебель с цветами (у томатов)
I
A. t took at least 3,000 years for humans to learn how to domesticate = приручить, домашнить,
дрессировать
these changes from scratch while maintaining or even
enhancing the desirable traits of wild strains.
historical = исторический, древний, старинный
domesticate the wild tomato and cultivate it for food. Now cultivate = возделывать,
two separate teams in Brazil and China have done it all over выращивать, развивать
again in less than three years. And they have done it better in C. Kudla's team made six changes altogether. For
some ways, as the re-domesticated tomatoes are more instance, they tripled the size of fruit by editing a gene
nutritious than the ones we eat at present. approach = подход, метод, тактика
rely on = полагаться на, зависеть от called FRUIT WEIGHT, and increased the number of
This approach relies on the revolutionary CRISPR genome revolutionary = революционный,
инновационный tomatoes per truss by editing another called
editing technique, in which changes are deliberately made to genome = геном, совокупность генов
the DNA of a living cell, allowing genetic material to be added, → DNA = ДНК MULTIFLORA.
deliberately = намеренно, pigment= пигмент, красящее вещество, оттенок
removed or altered. The technique could not only improve сознательно While the historical domestication of tomatoes reduced levels of potential = потенциальный, возможный, способность
cell = клетка the red pigment lycopene - thought to have potential health manage = справиться, суметь сделать (особенно что-то
existing crops, but could also be used to turn thousands of wild genetic = генетический
plants into useful and appealing foods. In fact, a third team in material = материал, вещество, benefits - the team in Brazil managed to boost it instead. The сложное)
предмет reduce = уменшать
the US has already begun to do this with a relative of the tomato alter = изменить, модифицировать
wild tomato has twice as much lycopene as cultivated ones; boost = усиливать, увеличивать, улучшать
called the groundcherry. appealing = привлекательный, the newly domesticated one has five times as much. lycopene = ликопин (красный пигмент в помидорах и фруктах)
cultivate = выращивать, возделывать
'They are quite tasty,' says Kudla. 'A little bit strong. And very strong = сильный, интенсивный
aromatic.' aromatic = ароматный, душистый
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BOOST YOUR VOCABULARY – CAMBRIDGE IELTS 17
The team in China re-domesticated several strains of wild bacterial = бактериальный (связанный с
бактериями)
tomatoes with desirable traits lost in domesticated tomatoes. In
this way they managed to create a strain resistant to a common devastate = разрушать, уничтожать
disease called bacterial spot race, which can devastate yields. yield = урожай, доход
They also created another strain that is more salt tolerant - and
tolerant = устойчивый, выносливый (к
has higher levels of vitamin C. трудным условиям)
D. Meanwhile, Joyce Van Eck at the Boyce Thompson
Institute in New York state decided to use the same approach
to domesticate the groundcherry or goldenberry (Physalis
pruinosa) for the first time. This fruit looks similar to the closely
related Cape gooseberry (Physa/is peruviana).
limited = ограниченный, частичный
Groundcherries are already sold to a limited extent in the US
extent = степень, уровень, масштаб
but they are hard to produce because the plant has a sprawling sprawling = растянутый, обширный, разбросанный
growth habit and the small fruits fall off the branches when ripe = спелый, зрелый
ripe. compact= dense, solid, compressed
Van Eck's team has edited the plants to increase fruit size, make commercial = коммерческий, прибыльный,
their growth more compact and to stop fruits dropping. 'There's licence = разрешение, лицензия, право
potential for this to be a commercial crop,' says Van Eck. But regulatory = регулирующий, контрольный
approval = официальное разрешение, одобрение
she adds that taking the work further would be expensive growth = рост
because of the need to pay for a licence for the CRISPR habit = привычка
branch = ветка
technology and get regulatory approval.
obscure = неизвестный, непонятный, странный
E. This approach could boost the use of many obscure staple = основной продукт питания
plants, says Jonathan Jones of the Sainsbury Lab in the
UK. But it will be hard for new foods to grow so popular with
have sb’s eye on = положить глаз на что-то, хотеть
farmers and consumers that they become new staple заполучить
crops, he thinks. be catapulted into something = внезапно оказаться в
The three teams already have their eye on other plants that каком-то состоянии (например, стать знаменитым)
could be 'catapulted into the mainstream', including foxtail, mainstream = основное, распространённое явление
drought = засуха, длительный период без дождей
oat-grass and cowpea. By choosing wild plants that are thrive = процветать, преуспевать
drought or heat tolerant, says Gao, we could create crops reveal = раскрыть, показать, обнародовать
that will thrive even as the planet warms.
But Kudla didn't want to reveal which species were in his
team's sights, because CRISPR has made the process so
easy. 'Any one with the right skills could go to their lab and do
this.'
*mutations: changes in an organism’s genetic structure that can be
passed down to later generations
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