【2017年8月托福独立作文写作思路】现代农业环境问题

Answer 1

　　托福独立写作题目:Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Modern agriculture methods damage the environment, but providing food for the growing population around the world is more important than protecting the environment.

　　分析：现在综合写作的考查非常经典，而且非常简单，首先题目涉及的是科技领域，都是高中生所比较擅长而且比较熟悉的方面，同时从回忆的内容来看，每一个点与点之间的对应非常清晰，对比的重心非常容易寻找和定位。所以说这次综合写作的考查对于考生完全不构成任何的障碍和影响。

　　托福独立写作思路:

　　这个题目建议大家选择Disagree这个立场，去谈现代农业带来的环境问题的危害性是很大的。

　　Sub-point 1: Pesticides and fertilisers, which are widely used in modern agriculture can contaminate ground water and this can cause health problems.

　　Sub-point 2: Gaseous emissions from modern agriculture can cause the greenhouse gas effect.

　　Sub-point 3: Besides environmental pollution, pesticides also disrupt food chain and food webs as they can affect non-target organisms.

　　现代农业破坏环境：

　　1)过度使用化肥农药

　　2)过度开垦

　　3)过度灌溉

　　4)过度捕鱼

　　5)转基因食物

　　提高粮食产量的必要性：

　　饥饿与贫穷导致很多问题，例如疾病和战乱

　　现代农业不破话环境：

　　1)滴灌，节约用水，提升灌溉效率

　　2)高效利用土地，例如稻田养蟹

　　托福独立写作范文:

　　Over the last few decades, the world has witness unprecedented population explosion, as the result of peace, economic growth and scientific advancement. As the increase gradually becomes uncontrollable in some regions, problems associated with population appear on our overburden earth, like starvation, poverty, diseases, and even conflicts. To address these issues, some governments refer to some modern agriculture methods to increase crop yields, though at the expense of environment. In my mind, this is irresponsible.

　　To begin with, the wide application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, a common practice encouraged by some governments to boost yields, generates pollution and makes the soil infertile gradually. It is true that at the very beginning, crops grow faster and bigger in size with ample nutrients from the fertilizer and with most pests killed. However, this cannot last for long. The deposited chemical components of fertilizers and pesticides contaminate the soil and water system. As a result, the soil will lose its ability to store nutrients for plants and become barren. Even worse, farmers who want to maintain the level of yields may put more fertilizers in the land, which form a vicious cycle. It is the same with the pesticides as pets gradually develop the ability to resist the poison and farmers spray more pesticides. In the long run, the over use of fertilizers and pesticides can just exacerbate poverty and hurt the arable land.

　　Secondly, the irresponsible reclamation of land from nature also can hardly help people provide enough food in the long term. With the improvement of tools, people become more powerful to acquire more land by cutting down trees, draining wetland, and planting around lakes or rivers. The expansion of farmland surely enables people to harvest more crops. However, we can hardly overlook the fact that the reclamation poses threat to local ecosystem. With the equilibrium of ecological chain destructed, people cannot realize sustainable development, which means environment deterioration or even disasters. For example, Chinese government has banned farmers from planting near Po Yang River in south China, as the planting of crops has led to the decline of fish and frog.

　　Thirdly, another even more dangerous practice is the spread of genetically modified food. There are already numerous farmlands and experimental fields planting genetically modified food, like soybeans and corns. Until now, there is no scientific research result that can prove the absolute safety of GM food, and many people worry about the potential threats. At this stage, what we are sure about is the plantation of GM crops do contaminate local environment in an uncontrollable and irreversible way: the spread of pollen by wind or animals. It means with one piece of land growing GM crops, the land surrounding can hardly be immune. Therefore, it is irresponsible to apply such dangerous practice without clearly knowing the downsides and corresponding solutions.

　　In a nutshell, though at present the shortage of food for growing population is a serious threat to our world, it is unwise to adopt agriculture methods that endanger environment. We need to find environment friendly solutions to this problem, so as to realize sustainable development.