17．
Can you imagine a world without chocolate？It's not something I'd 1ike to do．so I was relieved to read that there's a university with a programme to safeguard the future of chocolate!
The University of Reading，in England，has just opened a new clearing house for all the world's new cocoa varieties．They must be quarantined（隔离检疫）before they can be grown．Why？Cocoa production hit a record high of 4.4million tons last year but about 30%of the precious crop is regularly lost to pests and diseases．Now we don't want that，do we？
Demand for chocolate has been increasing faster than the world supply of cocoa and researchers think that new varieties are key to solving this problem．
The University of Reading has been protecting the quality of the new crops since 1985，after it took over the task from the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew，London．And it has improved its facilities．The leader of the institution's cocoa project，Professor Paul Hadley，says，"One of the main issues concerning cocoa improvement is the supply of reliably clean，healthy，interesting cocoa material．"
The cocoa centre has a collection of 400plant varieties and their greenhouse uses a lot of energy to keep them in tropical conditions．After up to two years in quarantine，clean and safe seeds are sent to some 20countries，including several in West Africa．That's where 75%of the cocoa used for chocolate worldwide comes from．The crop is extremely important for the local economy：it employs about two million people．
Professor Hadley says he works with a small team of skilled technicians who look after the collection．And more of us seem to count on them now．
The scientist says，"there is some concern within the industry that demand is increasing constantly，particularly in countries like China，where the standard of living is increasing and people are getting a taste for different chocolates．"
24．What is the text mainly about？A
A．Safeguarding cocoa seeds．
B．Planting cocoa worldwide．
C．Keeping cocoa in greenhouse．
D．Finding the new market for cocoa．
25．The institution's cocoa project is toC．
A．have cocoa skin removed
B．offer more jobs to people
C．ensure the quality of cocoa
D．supply cocoa for two million people
26．What does the last paragraph tell us？B
A．The taste of chocolates is changing．
B．Demand for cocoa is increasing fast．
C．People are concerned about cocoa varieties．
D．Chinese have a long history of eating chocolates．
27．What's the purpose of the text？D
A．To educate． B．To advertise． C．To warn． D．To inform．
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