题目内容：
回答题：“Salty”RicePlantBoostsHarvests
Britishscientistsarebreedinganewgenerationofriceplantsthatwillbeabletogrowinsoilcontainingsaltwater.Theirworkmayenableabandonedfarmstobecomeproductiveoncemore.
TimFlowersandTonyYeo,fromSussexUniversity’sSchoolofBiologicalSciences,havespentseveralyearsresearchinghowcrops,suchasrice,couldbemadetogrowinwaterthathasbecomesalty.
Thepairhaverecentlybegunathree-yearprogramme,fundedbytheBiotechnologyandBiologicalSciencesResearchCouncil,toestablishwhichgenesenablesomeplantstosurvivesaltyconditions.Theaimistobreedthiscapabilityintocrops,startingwithrice. Itisestimatedthateachyearmorethan100hectares（公顷）ofagriculturallandarelostbecausesaltgetsintothesoilandstunts（妨碍生长）plants.Theproblemiscausedbyseveralfactors.Inthetropics,mangroves（红树林）thatcreateswamps（沼泽）andtraditionallyformedbarrierstoseawaterhavebeencutdown.IntheMediterranean,aseriesofdroughtshavecausedthewatertabletodrop,allowingseawatertoseep（渗透）in.inLatinAmerica,irrigationoftencausesproblemswhenwaterisevaporated（蒸发）bytheheat,leavingsaltdepositsbehind.
Excesssaltthenenterstheplantsandpreventsthemfunctioningnormally.Heavyconcentrationsofmineralsintheplantsstopthemdrawingupthewatertheyneedtosurvive. Toovercometheseproblems,FlowersandYeodecidedtobreedriceplantsthattakeinverylittlesaltandstorewhattheydoabsorbincellsthatdonotaffecttheplants’growth.Theyhavestarted to breed these characteristics into a new rice crop, but it will take about eight harvests before the resulting seeds are ready to be considered for commercial use.
Once the characteristics for surviving salty soil are known, Flowers and Yeo will try to breed the appropriate genes into all manners of crops and plants. Land that has been abandoned to nature will then be able to bloom again, providing much needed food in the poorer countries of the world.
Which of the following statements about Flowers and Yeo is true?
A．They are students at Sussex University.
B．They are rice breeders.
C．They are husband and wife.
D．They are colleagues at an institution of higher learning.
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