There’s nothing wrong with a tomato that isn’t perfectly rounded or a peach with an extra dimple (浅凹) or two; they still carry the same benefits and flavors as the versions we’re used to seeing in grocery stores. Farmers conventionally throw away these imperfect items, as many grocery chains won’t buy them for fear that they are unsellable. However, a growing group of grocery chains are fighting to make these deserted fruits and vegetables part of consumers’ buying habits.
One such business is Imperfect Produce, a start-up that delivers fresh ugly produce to consumers. Through this service, you can get up to 20 pounds of fruit and veggies for around $20 a week. This is about a 30 percent discount compared to what’s currently sold in stores. Recently, the company had a major breakthrough when Whole Foods accepted their partnership and agreed to sell the misshapen (畸形的) produce.
While this movement might be a new trend here in the US, it’s already gained serious momentum (势头) in Europe. In 2014, the E. U. announced the Year Against Food Waste, with French grocery chain Intermarche launching a very successful campaign called Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables and England’s Waitrose selling weather blemished apples. In Portugal, a similar company to Imperfect Produce called Fruta Feia has also taken off.
Buying these unfortunate-looking foods should be appealing to consumers not only because of the affordability,but also because of the support it gives to farmers and the direct impact it has on decreasing food waste and the environmental pollution. It is believed that when the discarded fruits and vegetables decompose they release methane, a greenhouse gas that, when released into the atmosphere, is about 86 times as powerful as carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Waste is, in fact, the ugliest thing of all.
1. What do farmers do with imperfect fruits and vegetables traditionally?| A．Throw them away. | B．Tun them into fertilizer. |
| C．Donate them to charity. | D．Store them for the winter. |
| A．To make better profits. | B．To sell imperfect produce. |
| C．To get discounts from farmers. | D．To compete with Whole Foods. |
| A．It has more successfully-run food chains. |
| B．It produces less misshapen fruits and vegetables. |
| C．It addresses the problem of misshapen produce earlier. |
| D．It faces a more serious problem of unfavorable weather. |
| A．It pollutes the farms. |
| B．It gives out a bad smell. |
| C．It contributes to global warming. |
| D．It produces lots of carbon dioxide. |
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【推荐1】Contrary to advertisements seen on television, read in magazines, or heard on the radio, spending a lot of money on a gift for a friend or loved one is totally unnecessary. Many people collect photos or mementos (纪念品) from special events, trips, or celebrations throughout their lives, throwing them in a drawer or cardboard box somewhere, intending to sort them out later. It seems, though that “later” never comes. So, the next time you’re ready to buy a silk scarf or pair of leather gloves for that special someone, consider sorting through that junk drawer filled with mementos and special photos.
For example, you can decorate an inexpensive picture frame with colorful buttons for your mother who is interested in sewing, or use tiny machine parts for your workshop-crazed brother. Inserting a special photo of you and that certain someone will create a gift that will be treasured forever. Shadow boxes are a wonderful way to display several objects from a single special event, such as a wedding. Take the original wedding invitation, a dried flower from the table centerpiece, or anything else that you can gather from the wedding, and display them in the box.
When you have many photos and mementos, make a photo album or scrapbook (剪贴簿) for a friend or family member. Today, the options for decorating your book are nearly endless. Entering a scrapbooking store can make your head spin. If this happens to you on your first scrapbooking visit, consider taking an introductory class, which many stores offer. Of course, you will have a much better idea of which scrapbook supplies to buy when the class ends.
Pictures or books that can be enjoyed over and over again are one-of-a-kind, original gifts. There is nothing like receiving a gift that comes straight from the heart. Such gifts help people recall happy times and strengthen the bond between the giver and the receiver.
1. What is the author’s attitude to gift advertisements?| A．Tolerant. | B．Doubtful. | C．Uncaring. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．spend time collecting photos | B．overlook their photos or mementos |
| C．miss special events, trips or celebrations | D．forget to clean their drawer or cardboard box |
| A．are more expensive than picture frames | B．are usually made of cheap materials |
| C．can be used to show mementos | D．can be a precious wedding gift |
| A．take beautiful pictures | B．decorate your scrapbook |
| C．start a scrapbooking store | D．write a book on scrapbooking |
| A．A gift from the heart | B．A special photo album |
| C．The first scrapbooking visit | D．The treasured shadow boxes |
【推荐2】Home sweet home
No matter how far you've travelled, there's always something special about coming home. It might be your comfortable bed or your mum' s special dish or walking round your local park that makes you feel so happy and comfortable there.
There's a new generation of " children of the world". With more people moving abroad, it's easy to feel like you have many different homes. However, I think this is positive-you lead an enriched life and you learn to value what, where and who really matters to you.
| A．And when the world is your shelter |
| B．Your new town may not be familiar |
| C．Some tips to help with homesickness |
| D．A great wave of homesickness swept over me |
| E．Homesickness is something almost everyone suffers from |
| F．As these are the things that made you cry with homesickness |
| G．Although I'm used to travelling around and living away from home |
【推荐3】Perhaps your doctor has recommended you exercise more, or you’ve been out of shape recently.
For some people, hearing bad news from the doctor is often enough motivation to get started.
However, finding the time and effort to fit exercise into your daily routine is challenging.
One way to overcome these barriers (障碍) might be to attend a group exercise session or join a sports club.
You don’t need to go to a gym with a lot of fancy equipment.
| A．If you find exercise boring |
| B．When you perform aerobic exercise |
| C．Maybe you’ve decided that it’s time to lose some weight |
| D．That’s why it’s important to continue and repeat exercise sessions |
| E．We know being “time poof” is a common reason for not exercising |
| F．Many exercises, including push-ups and sit-ups, don’t need special equipment |
| G．So it’s a good idea to get a health check before starting if you haven’t exercised for years |
【推荐1】When we think of bananas, the image of a vibrant yellow fruit comes to mind. However, there exists a unique variety of blue bananas that adds a colorful twist to this classic fruit. While not as widely available as their yellow counterparts, blue bananas offer a delightful and nutritious addition to fruit lovers. So, embrace the unexpected and seek out the extraordinary blue bananas for a truly unforgettable taste experience.
One of the most well-known blue banana varieties is the Blue Java, also called the “Ice Cream” banana. This distinctive fruit owns a pale blue or silver skin when unripe, which gradually turns to a creamy yellow when fully ripe. Its flesh has a delicate, sweet flavor like vanilla ice cream, earning it the fitting nickname.
Originating from Sri Lanka, the Pisang Ceylon banana is another interesting blue variety. Its striking blue-green skin hides a creamy white flesh that is slightly sweet of citrus. This unique banana is valued not only for its appealing color but also for its nutritional benefits.
There are other related varieties with similar coloration. These include the Namwah Blue, Kluai Khai, and Kluai Namwa Aw. Each exhibits its own distinct flavor, ranging from sweet, creamy to subtly tangy (强烈的) respectively.
Blue bananas are widely used fruits that can be enjoyed in various cooking preparations. Their sweet, creamy flesh lends itself well to smoothies, milkshakes, and desserts. Additionally, their unique color adds a visually striking element to fruit salads or tropical-themed dishes.
Like their yellow counterparts, blue bananas are abundant in vital nutrients. They are a good source of potassium (钾), which supports heart health and helps maintain proper blood pressure. Blue bananas also contain protein, vitamin C, and other beneficial antioxidants that contribute to overall well-being and immune system support.
1. What can we learn about blue bananas from the text?| A．They have become a hit worldwide. | B．They are still limited in supply. |
| C．They have been exported to Sri Lanka. | D．They have the highest medical value in fruits. |
| A．It has light blue skin. | B．It tastes like ice cream. |
| C．It is as sweet as Kluai Namwa Aw. | D．It contains a lot of nutrients. |
| A．They improve the resistance to infection. | B．They cure heart disease. |
| C．They strengthen the digestive system. | D．They contain less sugar. |
| A．Yellow bananas are replaced by blue ones. |
| B．Blue bananas are perfect for delicious cuisine. |
| C．We should raise the awareness of preserving blue bananas. |
| D．It’s time to explore the amazing world of blue bananas. |
【推荐2】Antioxidants (抗氧化剂) in coffee are thought to help protect against stroke — but too much must raise blood pressure, which increases the risk, according to Japanese researchers. Similarly, green tea could also be beneficial for preventing the shocking event, caused when a blood vessel(血管) in or serving the brain is blocked.
The study looked at the drinking habits of more than 83,000 healthy adults, aged 45 to 74, whose health was tracked for 13 years on average. They found that people who drank at least one cup of coffee a day had about a 20 percent lower risk of stroke, compared to those who rarely drank it. To get an equal effect, about four cups of green tea a day were required.
All results were adjusted to take into account differences between the groups in age composition, gender, smoking, alcohol, weight, diet and exercise. Dr. Yoshihiro Kokubo, lead author of the study, published in the journal Stroke, said, “The regular action of drinking tea and coffee, largely benefits cardiovascular (心脏血管的) health.”
Their results for coffee were similar to that of “study of studies”, presented at a European conference, which found that one to three cups a day was associated with a 14 percent reduction. For three to six cups, there appeared to be a similar but weaker association, but there was no benefit from drinking six or more.
Exactly why coffee and green tea appears to lower stroke risk is unclear, although antioxidants are thought to be at work. However, the science is by no means cut and dried. Caffeine raises blood pressure, and there have been indications that too much coffee can raise stroke risk because of this.
Dr. Dale Webb, from the Stroke Association said, “We welcome this study which suggests that the benefits of antioxidants in coffee and green tea may offset the potential harm from caffeine.” He thought, the results show higher consumption of green tea and coffee might reduce the risks of stroke. “We would like to see further research to understand these findings,” he said.
1. What may lead to a stroke according to the first paragraph?| A．Higher blood pressure. | B．Drinking a cup of coffee a day. |
| C．Blocked blood vessels in the brain. | D．Antioxidants. |
| A．The study mainly focuses on middleaged people. |
| B．Drinking one cup of coffee a day benefits health. |
| C．Those who seldom drink coffee are healthier. |
| D．Drinking tea contributes to stroke. |
| A．He saw more findings of this study unsatisfiedly. |
| B．He understood the difficulty of this study. |
| C．He appreciated the achievements of this study. |
| D．He was disappointed to find no following research. |
| A．Drinking coffee raises blood pressure | B．Drinking tea reduces stroke |
| C．Drinking coffee equals drinking tea | D．Drinking tea or coffee properly matters |
【推荐3】Which of these ingredients have you cooked with or eaten, wild rice, rabbits or roses? Actually, they were part of Native American cuisine in the past. Sean Sherman is a chef from the Oglala Lakota tribe, who is attempting something remarkable. Through his company and his restaurant, Sherman is bringing these ingredients back into the public eye.
Sean Sherman grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation. As a reservation kid, Sherman usually didn’t have access to high-quality or tasty food. His family relied on the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which meant canned goods, tasteless food, and powdered milk. After high school, Sherman started working for the Forest Service. As part of his job, he had to learn the names of the plants, which raised his curiosity about indigenous (本土的) plants and foods.
Sherman started doing lots of research on his own, and he started his company in 2014. A few years later, Sherman opened his restaurant Owamni, where he showed native ingredients and flavors. The most significant feature of the restaurant is the native ingredients, none of which is related to European civilizations.
The vibe in the restaurant is totally unique as well. There, a lot of people are really struck by it, because it’s not typical to be able to go someplace and see their native foods on the menu, see native people cooking the food and listen to native music. Therefore, it’s a wholly unique experience and it’s something that’s really special.
Native cuisine allows native people to explore their histories and cultures. It supports local businesses and comes with a host of health benefits. “We should have native restaurants in every city to show the diversity and flavors of all the different tribes across North America and thus have a future where native cuisine is more widespread, and ingredients are more familiar and well known,” Sherman explains.
1. When did Sean Sherman become interested in native foods?| A．As he was a reservation kid. |
| B．Before he entered high school. |
| C．When he worked as a chef in a restaurant. |
| D．When he was working in the forest department. |
| A．The ingredients used are native. |
| B．Native music is played all the time. |
| C．Diverse ingredients are combined in each dish. |
| D．It is a reflection of modern native civilization. |
| A．Service. | B．Decoration. | C．Scenery. | D．Atmosphere. |
| A．To boost the profits of local businesses. |
| B．To help native people to honor their history. |
| C．To present and promote the native cuisine. |
| D．To serve foods with various health benefits. |
【推荐1】Salar de Uyuni is a world-famous area of Bolivia. The extremely dry land is flat and white and covered with salt from the earth, which makes many visitors go to the special place each year.
A young boy is having fun by taking unusual pictures of all the visitors, with a little help from a toy dinosaur. Eleven-year old Piter Condori takes photos of visitors standing on the salt flats and places the small dinosaur in a part of the frame. He does it in a way that makes it look as if the toy were running toward the people. Piter charges the tourists a little bit of money for each photo. At the end of each day, he takes home about $15 to help his family pay for food or to help his brothers and sisters buy toys. Food prices have shot up recently, making it harder for Piter’s family to buy everything it needs.
Piter’s father, Diego, works in the salt business. “We didn’t even have enough money to eat, so we have devoted ourselves to working in tourism as a family,” Diego said, stressing that it was hard for his business during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also said his family had a small amount of money saved which nearly ran out during the last two years. At the moment, Piter’s mother sells hand-made art to the salt flat’s visitors and his brothers and sisters help, too.
The Condori family is the same as many others in Bolivia. The South American nation depends strongly on tourism. One Bolivian tourism organization said visitors have decreased by 90 percent. The 2, 000 people who work in tourism have asked the government to remove some COVID-19 related restrictions.
The salt flats where Piter takes photos are one of the country’s top attractions. Actually the land also contains the material lithium (锂), which is used in electric vehicle batteries. But so far, that has not helped the local economy.
1. What best describes Piter according to paragraph 2?| A．Creative and considerate. | B．Enthusiastic and naughty. |
| C．Diligent and generous. | D．Independent and reliable. |
| A．He wants to find inspiration from photoing. |
| B．He takes the responsibility to raise family. |
| C．He volunteers to offer service to tourists. |
| D．He is forced by his parents to earn money. |
| A．The high expenses for their life. |
| B．The low income from salt business. |
| C．The serious influence of the pandemic. |
| D．The limited charges of taking photos. |
| A．A plan to make people work in tourism. |
| B．A solution to protecting natural resources. |
| C．An opportunity to develop local economy. |
| D．A suggestion on taking attractive photos. |
【推荐2】Sporting activities are important improved forms of hunting behavior. Viewed biologically, the modern footballer is in reality a member of a hunting group. His killing weapon has turned into a harmless football and his hunted animals into a goal-mouth. If his aim is accurate and he scores a goal, he enjoys the hunter’s victory of killing his preys (猎物).
To understand how this transformation has taken place we must look back at our forefathers (先父). They spent over a million years evolving (进化) as cooperative hunters. Their very survival depended on success in the hunting-field. Under this pressure their whole way of life, even their bodies, became greatly changed. They became chasers, runners, jumpers, aimers, throwers and prey-killers. They cooperated as skillful male-group attackers.
Then about ten thousand years ago, after this extremely long period of hunting their food, they became farmers. Their improved intelligence, so significant to their old hunting life, was put to a new use—that of controlling and domesticating (驯化) their prey. The hunt became suddenly out of date. The food was there on the farms, awaiting their needs. The risks and uncertainties of the hunt were no longer necessary for survival.
The skills and thirst for hunting remained, however, and demanded new ways to practice them. Hunting for sport replaced hunting for necessity. This new activity involved all the original hunting orders but the aim of the operation was no longer to avoid starvation. Instead the sportsmen set off to test their skill against preys that were no longer important to their survival. To be sure, the kill may have been eaten but there were other simpler ways of getting a meaty meal.
1. The author uses the example of the football game to tell us _______________.| A．sporting activities are forms of biological developments |
| B．the difference between sports and hunting |
| C．the reason why man used to go in for hunting |
| D．sporting activities have actually evolved from hunting |
| A．sporting activities | B．domesticating wild animals |
| C．growing crops | D．chasing and killing wild animals |
| A．Sporting activities satisfy the desire of modern men to practice hunting skills which the forefathers developed for survival. |
| B．It is farming that brings human into close contact with nature. |
| C．Sporting activities are important to human existence because they excuse humans from risks and uncertainties. |
| D．It is farming that makes hunting completely out of date and unnecessary. |
【推荐3】It’s easy to think that the globe’s vast oceans would be effective barriers to the movement of land animals. An elephant can’t swim across the Pacific, after all. But it turns out that plenty of plants and animals have unintentionally floated across oceans from one continent to another. Now comes evidence that tiny, trapdoor spiders (蜘蛛) made such a journey millions of years ago.
Moggridgea rainbowi spiders can be found on Kangaroo Island, which sits off the south coast of Australia. These spiders build a silk-lined hole in the ground, notes Sophie Harrison, a biologist in Australia. The hole and trapdoor provide these spiders with shelter and protection. It also provides them an out-of-sight spot from which to wait for approaching creatures.
There is evidence, though, that the ancestors of them might have traveled millions of meters to get to Australia from Africa. That isn’t as unlikely as it might at first seem. Australia used to be connected to other continents, long ago, as part of a supercontinent called Gondwana. And humans have been known to transport species all over the planet. But there’s a third option. The spiders might have rafted (乘筏) long distances across the sea.
To figure out which story was most likely true, Harrison and her colleagues looked at the spider’s genes. They looked at the genes in seven Moggridgea rainbowi spiders from Kangaroo, and five species of Moggridgea spiders from South Africa. The Australian and African spiders split off from a common ancestor some 2 million to 16 million years ago, the genes showed.
If a large swatch of land washes into the sea, filled with arachnids (蛛形纲动物), the spiders may be able to hide themselves throughout the journey. Plus, they can “hold their breath” and survive on stored oxygen during periods of temporary flooding, the researchers note.
1. What is the common belief about land animals according to the text?| A．They are sensitive to natural disasters. |
| B．They are unlikely to move across oceans. |
| C．They can’t make a long ocean voyage. |
| D．They float across oceans accidentally. |
| A．Biologists. | B．Australians. |
| C．The spiders. | D．The creatures. |
| A．By comparing their genes. |
| B．By observing their living habits. |
| C．By making changes to their genes. |
| D．By studying their physical characteristics. |
| A．These Spiders Traveled Globally to Hide Themselves |
| B．These Spiders Became More Adaptive When Traveling |
| C．These Spiders Crossed an Ocean to Australia for Survival |
| D．These Spiders Crossed an Ocean to Become Australians naturally |
