Chinese scientists have solved a food challenge of the ages. 

Crucian carp (鲫鱼) is a popular freshwater fish with tender meat and a fresh flavor, but its many tiny bones can easily get stuck in people’s throats when the fish is eaten, and it is also difficult to process industrially. But recently researchers from the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences’ Heilongjiang Fishery Research Institute have successfully cultivated the world’s first crucian carp without intermuscular bones (tiny bones). That maintains its flavor and is more commercially viable (可行的).

The research team started the project in 2009 and identified the key gene, from 1,600 candidate genes, that controls the growth of the fish’s intermuscular spine (肌间脊柱). The key gene, named bmp6, was removed without affecting the fish’s growth and reproduction. In 2020, they successfully cultivated the first generation of crucian carps without intermuscular bones with a success rate of 12.96 percent. The second generation in 2021 had a success rate of 19 percent. At the beginning of 2022, researchers released around 20,000 fish of the third generation in the test base, and began large-scale breeding. Results of an examination conducted in August showed that the success rate had reached 100 percent.

Though there is still a long way to go in terms of safety regulation and mass production, many researchers on the team remain excited. “People will no longer have to pick out tiny fish bones,” said Li Shaowu, head of the team. “This can greatly change the global fish diet culture and habits, and have a profound impact on boosting consumption of aquatic (水生的) products in the future.”

1.What does the underlined sentence mean?

A Scientists make crucian carps more popular.

B Scientists change the flavour of a popular fish.

C Scientists find a new way to process crucian carps.

D Scientists produce crucian carps with no small bones.

解析：选D。D句意理解题。根据后文第二段内容可知，鲫鱼是很受欢迎的一种食材，但是它体内细刺太多，食用时容易卡喉，因此这也使得很难对鲫鱼进行大规模的食用和加工。而科学家培育出“无刺”鲫鱼后，这种困扰人们多年的难题就迎刃而解，即这句话指的是“科学家们培育出无刺鲫鱼”。故选D。

2.What can we know about the three generations of crucian carps?

A The first generation took researchers ten years.

B Their gene “bmp6” was not all removed.

C The second generation had a success rate of 12.96%.

D All the third generation fish had no small bones.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据第三段最后一句“Results of an examination conducted in August showed that the success rate had reached 100 percent.”可知，第三代鲫鱼去小鱼刺成功率为100%。故选D。

3.What does Li Shaowu say about the new variety of crucian carps?

A It drives the evolution of fish genes.

B It is significant and very crucial.

C It contributes much to diet diversity.

D It’s key to effective marketing.

解析：选B。B推理判断题。根据最后一段中的“People will no longer have to pick out tiny fish bones”“greatly change”“have a profound impact”等可知，Li Shaowu认为没有小鱼刺的鲫鱼的成功培育具有非常重要的意义。故选B。

4.In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A Food and drink.

B Energy and Environment.

C Science and Technology.

D Life and Entertainment.

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据全文内容可知，文章围绕中国水产科学研究院黑龙江研究培育出没有小鱼刺的鲫鱼（世界上首例没有小鱼刺的鲫鱼）展开，介绍了相关研究情况和成果，属于科技与创新方面的内容。故选C。