II Be ready to give brief retelling of the text, using Appendix 1.

I Reading

a) Read the following text

Put down the unknown words (with their transcription and translation) into your vocabulary. Be ready to translate the text orally.

b) Find and write out all irregular verbs given in the text. Remember three forms of them.

Can bio-crops really end world hunger?

If nine-tenths of politics is telling people what they want to hear, President George W Bush showed his skills to the full when he spoke at Bio 2003.

"America and other wealthy nations have a special responsibility to combat hunger and disease in desperate lands," he said. "Through the work of scientists in your field, many farmers in developed na­tions are able to grow crops with a high resistance to drought, pests and disease that enable farmers to produce far greater yields per acre. In our own country, we see benefits of biotech every day.. .yet the advantages of biotechnology have yet to reach developing nations where these in­novations are most needed.

"Acting on unfounded, unscientific fears, many European governments have blocked the import of all new biotech crops. Because of these artificial obstacles, many African nations avoid investing in biotechnology, worried that their prod­ucts will be shut out of European markets. For the sake of a continent threatened by famine, I urge the European governments to end their opposition. We should en­courage the spread of safe, effective bio­technology to win the fight against global hunger."

So is Bush right? Well, like every bit of the GM debate, it largely depends on which side of the ideological gulf you stand. GM crops are recognisable prod­ucts such as soya and maize that have been modified with genes from other plants, animals or even bacteria to make them drought resistant or to enable them to be grown in barren, salty areas.

Scientists say it may be possible to cre­ate rice containing higher levels of vita­min A (to help eyesight) or potatoes with extra protein, which would be a boon to the Third World. Millions of people in America have eaten GM food with no ap­parent ill effects. But environmental and aid agencies seem implacably opposed to GM crops and food, even though scien­tists insist they are safe. The Third World continues to go hungry while the rich world debates.

For all Bush's talk, only 1% of GM re­search is aimed at crops used by farmers in poor countries and the GM revolution is still far from complete. Though 39% of American crops are now genetically modified (mostly cotton and soya bean for animal feed), the rest of the world lags far behind. Europe is trying to keep GM food and crops out altogether, but may not be able 'to do so for long. Aid organisations claim GM food is anything but beneficial to the Third World. "If Bush wants to solve world hun­ger there are simpler ways to do it," said Hannah Crabtree of ActionAid, whose re­cent report concluded that GM crops were "at best irrelevant, at worst a threat" to the Third World.

"Why not build roads, so farmers can get their crops to market? Or provide better access to water? GM is simply not suited to small scale subsistence farming. It's a very patchy picture. In some places GM crops have reduced the need for pesticides, but in others they have failed completely. Many of the crops need special herbicide - which you can only buy from the manufacturers, and il­literate farmers don't know what they are signing up to when they make agrrements with the biotech companies. Companies such as Monsanto, Du Pont and Bayer CropScience have invest­ed millions of dollars in developing gene technology, but without the co-operation of Europe their hopes of expanding the business are limited. Many Third World countries won't accept GM material for fear of losing their non-GM status, which currently allows them to export to Europe (hence Zambia declining food aid).