The real GM scandal – step 4, a true or false exercise

1. [Multiple choice]

People are justified in being afraid of GM technology.

(– they have an ‘irrational fear of gene technology’.)

Answers for Quiz [1].

• 1. True
• 2. False (correct)
• 3. Not obvious from what is said here.

2. [Multiple choice]

Their ignorance is hampering attempts to supply food for the world’s population.

Answers for Quiz [2].

• 1. True (correct)
• 2. False
• 3. Not clear from what is actually said in the recording.

3. [Multiple choice]

In the UK the media often portray GM products as dangerous to health.

Answers for Quiz [3].

• 1. True (correct)
• 2. False
• 3. Not mentioned.

4. [Multiple choice]

Brazil is a country which produces large quantities of GM food each year.

(- although Brazil does do so, in fact.)

Answers for Quiz [4].

• 1. True
• 2. False
• 3. Not mentioned here or in the article online. (correct)

5. [Multiple choice]

Europeans know that GM technology is not harmful to the environment.

(– they are suspicious about it, suspecting that it is.
VB – to spell something out is to make something very clear. Eg “We think he is going to invite us round to his house, but he hasn’t actually spelt it out yet.”)

Answers for Quiz [5].

• 1. True
• 2. False (correct)
• 3. Not spelt out here.

6. [Multiple choice]

In the UK some food chains proudly declare themselves ‘ GM-free’, implying that they are protecting people’s health.

(VB – to spell something out is to make something very clear. Eg “He doesn’t enjoy his job much – not that he has spelt it out, but we feel pretty sure that’s the case.”
)

Answers for Quiz [6].

• 1. True (correct)
• 2. False
• 3. Only hinted at, not actually spelt out.

7. [Multiple choice]

Just under twenty countries worldwide currently produce crops of GM food.

(– about 22 countries did so at the date the article was published.)

Answers for Quiz [7].

• 1. True
• 2. False (correct)
• 3. Not obvious from what I’ve heard here.

8. [Multiple choice]

In India in 2006 planting GM cotton doubled the production of cotton.

(– it tripled it.)

Answers for Quiz [8].

• 1. True
• 2. False (correct)
• 3. Actually, cotton production in India halved in 2006.

9. [Multiple choice]

In India farmers who grew crops of GM cotton found their income increased.

(– for the reason given in the previous answer!)

Answers for Quiz [9].

• 1. True (correct)
• 2. False
• 3. Unclear from the evidence.

10. [Multiple choice]

These same GM-cotton farmers found that their health deteriorated.

(- it benefited farmers financially not to have to use huge quantities of insecticide and this impacted also on their health, which suffered from the need to apply chemicals.)

Answers for Quiz [10].

• 1. True
• 2. False (correct)
• 3. It did to a small extent.

11. [Multiple choice]

Growing GM crops reduces the environmental impact of using pesticides and herbicides.

(Research shows that the “environmental impact” of the use of pesticides and herbicides in GM-growing countries has reduced by 15 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. These two statistics have been well established in research on GM crops.)

Answers for Quiz [11].

• 1. True (correct)
• 2. False
• 3. Unlikely

12. [Multiple choice]

GM companies have generally made their seeds sterile in order to preserve their intellectual property rights.

(- but in fact, this is the unfortunate experience of many farmers. For instance, Kenyan farmers are some of those who have explained they cannot afford to buy new seed every year even for the bigger crops produced by GM seed.)

Answers for Quiz [12].

• 1. True
• 2. False
• 3. Not in the recording (correct)

13. [Multiple choice]

GM companies should develop fertile strains of improved crops, not sterile ones.

(– but the point has been made in the press that if GM companies want to feed the world instead of owning it, they should develop fertile strains of improved crops, not sterile ones. As the seed would tend to revert to its original state, farmers would probably have to renew their seeds every four years, so a reasonably profitable market for food companies would still result.)

Answers for Quiz [13].

• 1. True
• 2. False
• 3. Not in the recording (correct)

14. [Multiple choice]

Unlike conventional crops GM crops have to overcome many regulatory obstacles before they can be licensed.

Answers for Quiz [14].

• 1. True (correct)
• 2. False
• 3. Not spelt out here.

15. [Multiple choice]

If private industry produced reports on the safety of GM crops it might be because it had a vested interest in declaring that they were safe.

(This is the implication made by the facts given about the various reports and independent inquiries – including 81 scientific studies financed by the EU over a 15-year period — that these have not been produced by private industries who might have reasons to gloss over the facts and present ‘facts’ as more reliable than they are. They might be companies which had invested heavily in research or products, so needed to recoup money spent on this investment.
to gloss over sth – to try to conceal or ignore something embarrassing or unfavourable)

Answers for Quiz [15].

• 1. True (correct)
• 2. False