Page 6 - Book IV Unit 5

Using Language

crop grown in each field every year. For instance, they
may grow corn or wheat in a field one year, and then
grow beans there the next. Why different crops are grown
is that they put important minerals back into the ground,
making it ready for the next batch of crops. Organic
farmers also plant diverse crops that use different depths
of soil to help keep it rich. For example, peanuts grow on
the ground’s surface, but many other vegetables put down

deep roots. The goal of using different organic farming
methods is to grow good food while avoiding damage to
the environment or to people’s health.

Some people would prefer to stop the use of man-made chemicals in agriculture entirely.
What keeps them from doing so is the fact that chemical farming serves the high demand for
food around the world. Organic farming is nowhere near able to meet that need. Therefore,
there is still a long way to find a suitable solution that puts sufficient food on the dinner table
while keeping people and the environment as healthy as possible.

1 Why did many farmers welcome the introduction of chemical farming?
2 What concerns many people about the use of pesticides?
3 What is one problem with the use of chemical fertilisers?

4 How is organic farming different from chemical farming?
5 Why do organic farmers change the kind of crop grown in a field every year?
6 What is the goal of using organic farming methods? Do you think it can be reached? Why or
why not?

2 Match the main ideas (A-D) below with the paragraphs. Then complete the
sentences in the table.

A What organic farming is B Why man-made chemicals are still used in farming
C Organic methods for producing rich soil D The problems with chemical farming

Paragraph Main Idea Detail

1 2 • Pesticides can kill helpful .
• Some pesticides have been because of the
.
• Crops grown with chemical fertilisers usually to be
full of .

3 • Many organic farmers use as fertiliser.

4 • They often grown in each field .
• They also plant crops that use of the soil to help
keep it rich.

5 • Organic farming is nowhere near able to meet the high
.

56 UNIT 5 WORKING THE LAND