1 . Over the past ten months of pandemic life, cooking has become a shelter for me. New York Times food editor Sam Sifton referred to Korean fried rice and said it "improves moods, atmospheres and weeks alike".     1     I'd argue it improves physical health, finances and skills, and reduces stress. Really, cooking is a rewarding thing you should do these days.

Cooking food for yourself is beneficial to your physical health. When you cook your own food, you control exactly what goes into your body. It's the best possible way to “dial in” or clean up your diet.     2     A recent survey has found that twice as many Americans are cooking at home than a year ago, and that nearly a quarter are doing so in an effort to eat healthier.

    3       It's considerably cheaper than ordering from restaurants, or buying prepared food from supermarkets. It's found that ordering takeout is five times more expensive. The difference is more obvious if you’re cooking for a family.

In terms of improving cooking skill, you can't help but improve if you do it over and over again. With so many other outlets for hobbies shut down right now, why not view your kitchen as a mini universe to be explored? You've got the tools, not to mention the human requirement to eat. I can't think of another hobby where your body physically requires you to practice several times daily.     4    

How does cooking relieve stress, you might be wondering?     5     If you're organized enough to cook meals in advance, you end the weeknight dilemma of “what's for dinner?”. Furthermore, as you get better at cooking, you will spare the need to order food.

A．Cooking helps kids develop many hobbies.

B．Actually, cooking can bring more benefits.

C．The act itself can be calming to some people.

D．From a financial aspect, cooking cannot be beaten.

E．You can save money as well as improve your mental health.

F．If improving health is your main reason for cooking, you're not alone.

G．You're likely to improve your cooking skills and they will stick with you for life.

2 . When Chef Enrique Olvera opened his restaurant, Pujol, 13 years ago, his only goal was to have the best restaurant in the neighborhood. Olvera's budget was so small that he had to do all the things himself. But Pujol is now widely thought of as Mexico's finest restaurant and the 36th best in the world. He reached his position by making his cuisine 'fancier and fancier, and more complex' over time. Pujol now serves a tasting menu of sophisticated food that wouldn't look out of place even at New York's Momofuku Ko. To decode his rocket soar in world cuisine circus, Olvera insists on mixing elaborate, cutting-edge techniques with a strong emphasis on local ingredients to create a cosmopolitan cuisine that's at once international yet unmistakably Mexican, matching the direction of Mexico City itself.

A visit to the 48-seat Pujol reveals a space-age kitchen containing 27 cooks, with one making his fifth attempt to reshape the egg liquid and another coloring potatoes. Pujol tolerates any grotesque attempt a chef could imagine and the restaurant is the trial site for its staff. That makes Pujol a hot place to attract free labor. The chef has also thought more about bringing Mexican cooks home from the U.S. Many are returning to move past the glass ceiling that exists in America. “Despite the number of Mexicans working in U.S. restaurants, you rarely see a Mexican head chef in a New York kitchen,” said Olvera. “Then why not come back here to attract diners here for the most local but also novel dishes?”

And for foreign diners, Mexican restaurants have another wonder to offer. Just think that merely 30 dollars can sustain you for a 4-course feast in an ordinary Mexican restaurant and no one could resist the temptation. To achieve such high cost performance, Olvera states that you have to keep looking for and exploring with the simple ingredients from which to accomplish amazing dishes. “You always cherish where you come from, but there’s also the need for new sensations. Keep exploring with new ideas until you get a better dish.” After all, it’s the soul of modern cuisine.

1. Why has Pujol become so successful?

A．Because Olvera aimed low in the first place.

B．Because Olvera forms the habit of doing things by himself.

C．Because Olvera attracts excellent cooks from the U.S.

D．Because Olvera combines cooking skills with local characteristics.

2. The underlined word grotesque is closest in meaning to _____.

A．forceful.

B．weird.

C．abstract.

D．painful.

3. Why would many Mexican chefs come back to the country?

A．Because Pujol provides them with high titles and salaries.

B．Because they find it hard to rise to senior positions in U.S. restaurants.

C．Because they cook Mexican food better than American food.

D．Because they refer to the high cost performance of the restaurants.

4. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Momofuku Ko is a famous food critic.

B．Olvera relies totally on foreign cutting-edge cooking techniques.

C．Eating in ordinary Mexican restaurants is expensive.

D．One key to success in today’s restaurant business is continuous innovation.