阅读理解

ThegovernmentofNorwayisplanningtobuildanunusualstoragecenteronanislandintheArcticOcean．Theplacewouldbelargeenoughtoholdabouttwomillionseeds．Thegoalistopresentallcropsknowntoscientists．TheBritishmagazineNewScientistpublisheddetailsoftheplanlastmonth．Thestructurewillbedesignedtoprotecttheworld’sfoodsupplyagainstnuclearwarclimatechangeandotherpossiblethreats．ItwillbebuiltinamountainontheNorwegianislandofSpitsbergen．ThemountainislessthanonethousandkilometersfromtheNorthPolethenorthernmostpositiononearth．

AninternationalgroupcalledtheGlobalCropDiversityTrustisworkingontheproject．ThedirectorofthegroupCaryFowlerspoketoNewScientist．Hesaidtheprojectwouldlettheworldrebuildagricultureifinhisword“theworstcametotheworst”．Norwayisexpectedtostartworknextyear．Theprojectisexpectedtocostthreemilliondollars．Workerswilldrilldeepinthesideofasandstonemountain．Temperaturesintheareaneverriseabove0℃．Theseedswillbeprotectedbehindconcretewallsameterthickandhigh-securitydoor．

Themagazinereportsaysthecollectionwillrepresenttheproductsoftenthousandyearsoffarming．MostoftheseedsatfirstwillcomefromcollectionsatseedbanksinAfricaAsiaandLatinAmerica．Tolastalongtimeseedsneedtobekeptinverylowtemperatures．Workerswillnotbepresentalthetime．Buttheyplantoreplacetheairinsidethestoragespaceeachwinter．Wintertemperaturesontheislandareabouteighteendegreesbelow0℃．Thecoldweatherwouldprotecttheseedseveniftheaircouldnotbereplaced．

Mr．Fowlersaystheproposedstructurewillbetheworld’smostsecuregenebank．Hesaystheplantseedswouldonlybeusedwhenallotherseedsaregoneforsomereason．Norwayfirstproposedtheideainthe1980s．Butsecurityconcernsdelayedtheplan．AtthattimetheSovietUnionwasmeetinginRomeoftheFoodandAgricultureOrganization．