while the food market as a whole grew by only one percent. Yet only seven percent of British shoppers account for nearly 90 percent of organic sales. However popular the idea of organic farming may be, it is still an interest for only a few people.

So what makes the idea of organic farming popular? Organic farming means farming with natural materials, rather than with man-made fertilizers or pesticides. Organic farmers rely on many methods - such as crop rotation (农作物的轮作) and the use of resistant varieties, because they are necessary for organic farmers to compensate for the shortage of man-made chemicals.

Organic farming is often supposed to be safer than traditional farming for the environment. Yet after a long research on organic farming worldwide for a number of years, science continues to be against this opinion. The House of Commons committee on agriculture publicized that, even with complete research work, it would fail to find any scientific evidence to prove "that any of claims （宣称） made for organic farming is always true".

However, the talk about the benefits of organic farming is going on. This is partly because many people depend on their individual farm, the soil, the weather, and so on.

4. The first paragraph mainly tells us _____.

A. organic farming has been performed only in Europe over the past 10 years

B. governments of European countries have cared less about organic farming

C. organic farming is far from being as popular as expected

D. European countries need organic food more than the other countries in the world

5. The underlined words "compensate for" in the second paragraph probably mean "________".

A. argue for B. care for C. struggle for D. pay for

6. According to the third paragraph, _____.

A. organic farming is safer than traditional farming for the environment

B. the idea that organic farming is safer has not been proven by science

C. organic farming is accepted by the UK's House of Commons committee