Establishing a human colony on the Moon and travelling to Mars has been the stuff of dreams since the dawn of the space age.But these visions face many hurdles (障碍). How can humans survive for months or years in the ultra-hostile (极端恶劣的) environment of space? What, for instance, will they eat?Agricultural researchers at a Dutch university say they are taking the first steps towards providing an answer.They are growing vegetables in soils similar to those found on the Moon and Mars, looking for ways of helping space pioneers grow their own crops. “When people go to the Moon and Mars they also have to eat, and it's easiest for them to grow their own food，”said Wieger Wamelink, surrounded by several dozen plants in a special greenhouse at Wageningen, an agricultural university in central Netherlands.“We wanted to use real Martian and lunar soil, to see if plants would actually grow in it，” Wamelink told reporters.Of course, getting real lunar and Martian potting soil is an impossible task. But an Internet search revealed an unlikely supplier: NASA.“The US space agency makes ground similar to that on the Moon from sand found in an Arizona desert, while Mars'crimson ‘soil’is scooped (舀；掏) from a volcano in Hawaii，” Wamelink told reporters.The first experiments started in 2013 after Wageningen received an order of 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of NASA's imitation “space soil” — at a hefty price of 2,000 euros (＄2,285).“To work in this soil was very special. Nobody, not even NASA, could tell us what would happen, even just by simply adding water，” he said. The imitation ground at first was a little “reluctant” (勉强的) to absorb water, but soon turned out to be good potting soil.“Especially in the Martian soil, plants were growing very fast and very good. They even started to flower, something that we never anticipated (预料，预见)，” Wamelink said.Section_ⅠWarming Up & Reading — Pre-reading[原文呈现]A PIONEER①FOR ALL PEOPLEAlthough he is one of China's most famous scientists, Yuan Longping considers himself a farmer, for he works the land② to do his research. Indeed, his sunburnt③ face and arms andhis slim, strong body are just like those of millions of Chinese farmers, ④for whom he has struggled⑤ for the past five decades⑥. Yuan Longping grows what is called super⑦hybrid⑧rice⑨. In 1973, he became the first agricultural pioneer in the world to grow rice⑩ that has a high output⑪. This special strain⑫of rice makes it possible to produce 20% more of the crop⑬in the same fields⑭. Now more than 60% of the rice produced in China⑮each year is from this hybrid strain.Born in 1930, Yuan Longping graduated from Southwest Agricultural College in 1953. Since then, finding ways to grow more rice⑯has been his life goal. As a young man, he saw the great need for increasing the rice output. At that time, hunger⑰was a disturbing⑱problem in many parts of the countryside. Yuan Longping searched for a way to increase rice harvests without expanding⑲the area of the fields. In 1950, Chinese farmers could produce about fifty-six million tons of rice. In a recent harvest, however, nearly two hundred million tons of rice was produced. These increased harvests⑳mean that 22% of the world's people are fed from just 7% of the farmland in the world. Yuan Longping is now circulating○21his knowledge in India, Vietnam○22and many other less developed countries to increase their rice harvests. Thanks to○23his research, the UN has more tools in the battle○24to rid the world of○25hunger. Using his hybrid rice○26，farmers are producing harvests twice as large as○27before.[读文清障]①pioneer n．开拓者；先锋；先驱②work the land耕种土地work在此处意为“管理，经营，耕种”，是及物动词。
