Question: Why Are Pig Farmers Still Using Growth-Promoting Drugs?

It's one of the most controversial practices in agriculture: feeding small amounts of antibiotics to animals in order to make them grow faster. But what if the drugs don't even work very well? There's some good evidence that they don't, at least in pigs. They used to deliver a boost in growth, but that effect has disappeared in recent years or declined greatly. The reason for this is interesting and even paradoxical. Researchers think the antibiotics used to work by suppressing low-grade infections. In recent years, however, pork producers found other ways to accomplish the same thing through improved hygiene . As a result, the drugs have become largely superfluous -- yet many farmers still use them.

To understand how this happened, you have to step back in time, says Steve Dritz, a specialist in pig nutrition at Kansas State University. Sixty years ago, when antibiotics were new, "people started treating animals, and feeding [the antibiotics], and finding that they had increased growth rates and feed efficiencies," he says. Nursery-age pigs, for instance, grew 12 to 15 percent faster with antibiotics. The animals also needed less feed to reach full weight. Other studies showed similar results in chickens and cattle. In the 1980s, a new set of studies found similar effects. So the growth-promoting effects of antibiotics became standard practice among meat producers.

Fast forward to the 1990s. Dritz was starting his career as a scientist at Kansas State University, and pork production was changing dramatically.

Previously, pigs were born and raised in one barn or in several barns close together. This meant infections could easily pass from one generation to the next, the way that kids share germs between their friends on the playground and their parents at home. Under the new system, when piglets are weaned, they move to a whole different place. That new site is carefully scrubbed and free of disease.

Craig Rowles, who runs a large swine operation in Carroll, Iowa, shows me one such room. There's not a piglet in sight. "This room just got completely washed and disinfected, and now it's going to sit here and dry for a while," he says.

A whole group of pigs will come in here together, and later they will move out together to yet another site. "That group of pigs will stay together until they go to market," Rowles says.

The groups are kept strictly separated from each other. If workers move between the groups, they first have to change their boots.

When farmers adopted multisite production, it cut down on disease -- and pigs actually grew faster. 1. what are they feeding to the pigs
2. what were they used for at first Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. antibiotics
2. unknown

Q: So far, there have been so many successful men and women in the world. And it's no surprise for many of us to dream of doing business when we grow up. However, Moziah Bridge tells us quite different story. Moziah Bridges is now the CEO of his Mo's Bow's company. He has already earned $200,000 by selling bow ties and other men's fashion accessories . The boy designs all the bow ties together with seven other workers in the company, including his mother and grandmother. "Mo is the CEO of the company, but I am the CEO of Mo," Bridges' grandma said. About four years ago, when Bridges went shopping for bow ties, he found they were in ugly" black and red. He wanted a change. So he asked his grandma to teach him to sew and finally he developed the talent of creating bow ties. Though his very first bow tie didn't look nice, the young sewer kept on practicing. He used colorful cloth with different pictures. Then his parents and friends started to like his works. At first he tried to sell them online to several stores in the south. Soon Mo's bow ties became popular. With the help of Dayond John, CEO of the famous US clothes brand FUBU, Bridges built his own company. Not only did Daymond John provide money for him, but also produced Bridges to the circle of fashion and business industries. Now the 13-year-old's business has developed rapidly. So you can just start now! You don't have to wait till you're older. If you have a dream, go for it!

1. successful
2. Moziah Bridges
3. Mo's Bow's company
4. $200,000
5. bow ties and other men's fashion accessories
6. seven
7. mother and grandmother
8. CEO
9. black and red
10. no
11. practicing
12. colorful cloth
13. different pictures
14. online
15. Dayond John, CEO
16. FUBU
17. the circle of fashion and business industries
18. go for it

Numbered questions:
1. Men and women have been what?
2. Who tells a different story?
3. Moziah is now CEO of?
4. How much was already earned?
5. By selling?
6. Designs with how many worker?
7. Including which relatives?
8. What is Mo's role?
9. What were the colors that were ugly?
10. Did his first bow tie look nice?
11. So what did he keep doing?
12. What kind of cloth was used?
13. And?
14. He first tried to sell them where?
15. What friend helped?
16. CEO of what company?
17. Daymond exposed to?
18. If you have a dream, do what?

input: Joseph really felt very happy. When he arrived at his seat in the classroom that morning, he found an invitation on his desk. It was from several of his classmates asking him to join them on a camping trip. This was the first time he was asked to join in an out-of school activity. Why were they asking him now? Nobody seemed to like him. In fact, he had been so lonely _ . As a result, he had put on a lot of weight, and this gave the kids something more to make fun of him. Celina, who was standing near Joseph when he read the invitation, went out quickly to tell the others that the trick had worked. Everyone was pleased that Joseph thought that was true. But there was no camping trip. The whole thing was made up. At first, Celina thought it was fun. But later, when Joseph told her that he was going to buy a sleeping bag with his savings, Celina had a second idea. She knew that Joseph's family had little money, and she hated to see him spend his savings on something he would never use. Celina also hated to tell Joseph the truth. Her close friends would be angry with her. What could she do now? 1. What was on the desk?
2. From whom?
3. Did his family have a lot of money?
4. Where was he invited to go?
5. Did they usually ask him to go places?
6. Was he well liked?
7. Was the invite real?
8. Did Celina think it was funny?
9. When did she think it was no longer fun?
10. Was Joseph lonely?
11. Who was standing near when he got to his desk?
12. Where did she go?
13. Why? Return numbered answers in your output.

output:
1. An invitation.
2. Several of his classmates.
3. No.
4. On a camping trip.
5. No.
6. No.
7. No.
8. At first.
9. Joseph told her that he was going to buy a sleeping bag.
10. Yes.
11. Celina.
12. Out.
13. To tell them that the trick had worked.