Passage Three
It is the world’s fourth-most-important food crop, after maize, wheat and rice. It provides more calories, more quickly, using less land and in a wider range of climates than any other plant. It is, of course, the potato.
The United Nations has declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato. It hopes that greater awareness of the merits of potatoes will contribute to the achievement of its Millennium Development Goals, by helping to reduce poverty and promote economic development. It is always the international year of this or month of that. But the potato’s unusual history means it is well worth celebrating.
Unlikely though it seems, the potato promoted economic development by supporting the Industrial Revolution in England in the 19th century. It provided a cheap source of calories and was easy to cultivate, so it liberated workers from the land. Potatoes became popular in the north of England, as people the
A. enrich people’s daily food supply
B. be used to replace other food crops
C. help deal with environmental issues
D. be a solution to some economic problems
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