Plantings of cotton bioengineered to produce its own insecticide against bollworms, a major cause of crop failure, sustained little bollworm damage until this year. This year the plantings are being seriously damaged by bollworms. Bollworms, however, are not necessarily developing resistance to the cotton’s insecticide. Bollworms breed on corn, and last year more corn than usual was planted throughout cotton-growing regions. So it is likely that the cotton is simply being overwhelmed by corn-bred bollworms.
In evaluating the argument, which of the following would be most useful to establish?
- Whether corn could be bioengineered to produce the insecticide
- Whether plantings of cotton that does not produce the insecticide are suffering unusually extensive damage from bollworms this year
- Whether other crops that have been bioengineered to produce their own insecticide successfully resist the pests against which the insecticide was to protect them
- Whether plantings of bioengineered cotton are frequently damaged by insect pests other than bollworms
- Whether there are insecticides that can be used against bollworms that have developed resistance to the insecticide produced by the bioengineered cotton
B Which of the following most logically completes the argument? A certain cultivated herb is one of a group of closely related plants that thrive in soil with high concentrations of metals that are toxic to most other plants. Agronomists studying the herb have discovered that it produces large amounts of histidine, an amino acid that, in test-tube solutions, renders these metals chemically inert. Possibly, therefore, the herb’s high histidine production is what allows it to grow in metal-rich soils, a hypothesis that would gain support if ______.
A: histidine is found in all parts of the plant – roots, stem, leaves, and flowers B: the herb’s high level of histidine production is found to be associated with an unusually low level of production of other amino acids C: others of the closely related group of plants are also found to produce histidine in large quantities D: cultivation of the herb in soil with high concentrations of the metals will, over an extended period, make the soil suitable for plants to which the metals are toxic(结果的重申) E: the concentration of histidine in the growing herb declines as the plant approaches maturit c 不太明白....请帮忙解释一下咯...
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