Areorganically grown foods the best food choices? The advantages claimed for suchfoods over conventionally grown and marketed food products are now beingdebated. Advocates of organic foods – a term whose meaning varies greatly –frequently proclaim that such products are safer and more nutritious thanothers. The growinginterest of consumers in the safety and nutritional quality of the typicalNorth American diet is a welcome development. However, much of this interesthas been sparked by sweeping claims that the food supply is unsafe orinadequate in meeting nutritional needs. Although most of these claims are notsupported by scientific evidence, the preponderance ( 优势 ) ofwritten material advancing such claims makes it difficult for the generalpublic to separate fact from fiction. As a result, claims that eating a dietconsisting entirely of organically grown foods prevents or cures disease orprovides other benefits to health have become widely publicized and formed thebasis for folklore. Almost dailythe public is besieged ( 围攻 ) by claims for “no-aging” diets, newvitamins and other wonder foods. There are numerous unsubstantiated reportsthat natural vitamins are superior to synthetic ones, that fertilized eggs arenutritionally superior to unfertilized eggs, that untreated grains are betterthan fumigated grains, and the like. One thing thatmost organically grown food products seem to have in common is that they costmore than conventionally grown foods. But in many cases consumers are misleadif they believe organic food can maintain health and provide better nutritionalquality than conventionally grown foods. So there is real cause for concern ifconsumers, particularly those with limited incomes, distrust the regular foodsupply and buy only expensive organic foods instead. 51. The word “advocate” inLine 2, Para. 1 is closest in meaning to which of the following? A) proponents. B) merchants. C) inspectors. D)consumers. 52. According to the first paragraph, which of thefollowing is true about the term “organic foods”? A) It isaccepted by most nutritionists. B)It has been used only in recent years. C) It has no fixed meaning. D) It is seldom usedby consumers. 53. The author implies that there is cause for concernif consumers with limited incomes buy organic foods instead of conventionallygrown foods because ______. A) organic foodscan be more expensive but are often no better than conventionally grown foods B) many organic foods are actually lessnutritious than similar conventionally grown foods C)conventionally grown foods are more readily available than organic foods D) too manyfarmers will stop using conventional methods to grow food crops 54. From the last paragraph, consumers who believethat organic foods are better than conventionally grown foods are often ______. A) careless B) mistaken C) thrifty D) wealthy 55. What is the author’sattitude toward the claims made by advocates of health foods? A) Veryenthusiastic. B)Favorable. C) Neutral. D) Doubtful.