1 . Advice for Cooking on a Tight Schedule

From my experience, there are three main reasons why people don’t cook more often: ability, money, and time.

    1    Money is a topic that I’ll talk about another day. So today I want to give you some advice about how to make the most of the time in the kitchen. Here are three tips for great cooking on a tight schedule:

Think ahead. I usually think cooking is a pain when I’m already hungry and there is nothing ready to eat. So think ahead of the coming week. When will you have time to cook? Do you have the right materials already?    2    

Make your time worth it. When you do find time to cook a meal, make the most of it and save yourself time later on. Are you making one loaf of bread?    3    It takes around the same amount of time to make more of something. So save yourself the effort for a future meal.

    4    This may surprise you, but one of the best ways to make cooking worth your time is experimentation. It gives you the chance to hit upon new ideas and recipes that can work well. The more you learn and the more you try, the more ability you have to take control of your food and your schedule.

Hopefully that gives you a good start.    5    And don’t let a busy schedule disappoint you and stop you from making some great changes in your life!

A．Try new things.

B．Ability is easily improved.

C．Make three or four instead.

D．Understand your food better.

E．Cooking is a burden for many people.

F．Let cooking and living simply be a joy rather than a burden.

G．A little time planning ahead can save a lot of work later on.

2 . Porridge doesn't have a very tasty name, does it? It doesn't have a very tasty reputation, either. I'm here to try and convince you that porridge isn’t boring and tasteless, that it can be a delicious, convenient and very healthy way to start the day.

If you’ve never eaten it (although you probably have), porridge is a type of food served for breakfast. It is usually a type of grain, like rice or oat (燕麦), mixed with either milk or water, and often heated up. It is often thicker than liquid, but not solid and is very easy to digest, so it's a better option for people who are ill, and it provides long-lasting energy for the day.

Porridge preparation--the amount of ingredients (配料) and cooking time—depends on what you choose to use as your porridge base. If I'm cooking for myself, I put a very big handful of ‘rolled’ oats in a saucepan, add a little bit of water and about 200ml of milk, and let the mixture boil. I stir the porridge constantly, and it takes about five to ten minutes to cook.

Once it's cooked, the fun part is adding the flavors. Porridge alone doesn't have a very strong flavour. Although some people think this makes porridge boring, I think this is what makes porridge exciting! It is like a blank piece of paper—you can add almost anything you want to the porridge base. Greens, nuts and dried fruits are very healthy options to add and can give you energy for the day. But if you don't like these, or you're allergic, then honey and chocolate are also very tasty options. (Just don’t add to much!)

One of the best things about porridge? You can make it almost anywhere in the world. Either oats or rice or both are “staple foods (主食)” for many people across the world. You can usually buy big bags of either, then add local ingredients to make your porridge interesting—whatever is cheap and convenient to find, wherever you are. I am currently in Mexico, and I love to heat my oats up with milk, then mix in peanuts and pumpkin seeds and cacao nibs, and I put a layer of sugar over the top to make my porridge sweeter.

Porridge? Hopefully it sounds a lot tastier now!

1. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To give brief introduction to various porridge.

B．To show how to prepare porridge for the patient.

C．To warn us not to have porridge for breakfast.

D．To introduce the benefits of porridge.

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Porridge is often thicker, liquid and solid.

B．Porridge alone has a very strong flavor.

C．Porridge is to many people's liking.

D．Porridge is only served for breakfast.

3. According to the author, what is the best thing about porridge?

A．It provides long-lasting energy for the day.

B．It is cheap and convenient to make.

C．It's a better option for people.

D．It is never boring and tasteless.

4. What's the author's favourite flavor?

A．Porridge with Sugar.	B．Porridge with oats.
C．Porridge with fruit.	D．Porridge with milk.

3 . How to Make a Chinese Hot Pot

Eating a Chinese hot pot is a very common experience. People gather around the pot, dipping their food, waiting for it to cook, mixing their own seasonings (调味品) and enjoying each other's company.     1    

Firstly, prepare a large pot of soup. There is no right or wrong way to prepare a soup, so feel free to make your own. A simple soup can be made by boiling water with the addition of meat bones or fish heads and a mixture of herbs, seasonings and vegetables.

Then, cut a variety of meats and fish into thin slices.    2    . Choose any food that you enjoy. Some common choices for Chinese hot pot include thin pieces of beef, pork, lamb and so on. You can make your hot pot using the more traditional method of using the meats and seafood that are local to you. Meanwhile, select, wash and prepare some vegetables.     3     Mushrooms of all kinds are also common to Chinese hot pot preparations.

    4    At home, a single hot pot would work well up to 4-8 people depending on the size of the pot. Make sure everyone is sitting in a circle and has easy access to everything on the table. Prepare a separate small dish for each guest to mix their seasonings.     5    !

A．Finally, arrange the seating reasonably

B．Now comes the turn to enjoy your hot pot

C．It will guarantee that the items will cook quickly and fully

D．Here are some easy steps to make a Chinese hot pot at home

E．For more variety, consider dumplings, rice cakes and tangyuan

F．Popular choices include: cabbage, pea leaves, winter melon and tomato

G．It usually lasts a couple of hours because you are cooking and eating in small parts