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.

3 . 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. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

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

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

4 . In this fast-paced life, it’s hard to find the time to cook. But cooking for other people can be fun and beneficial because it comes with some positive psychological benefits.

    1    

Performing an act for another human being, like cooking for them, is a form of selflessness. And it can make people feel happy and connected to others.

Cooking is a form of nurturing (养育).

When it comes to cooking, you are feeding someone, which is necessary for survival. Cooking for others is nurturing.     2    .

Cooking can create bonds.

If you’re cooking for someone, even if they’re not present during the act, it can absolutely bring a sense of closeness in that you re expressing your love and care for someone.     3    . And cooking for others helps us build and strengthen those connections.

    4    .

Not only does cooking for yourself help you eat more healthfully, but it also sends yourself a message that you are important. Cooking can also help raise your confidence.

Cooking is a practice of mindfulness.

Cooking can encourage us to really focus.     5    : walk away for a minute and you can burn the onions; check in with your phone and your water can overflow.

Cooking brings us together, and it continues to create communities - and with community comes feelings of connection and happiness. Now all you have to do is find the time to add cooking into your busy life.

A．Cooking is a form of self-care

B．It is helping to keep them alive

C．Cooking for others is a selfless act

D．Cooking can strengthen your knowledge

E．It can provide a means for social acceptance

F．If you lose your focus, things can easily go wrong

G．Making connections is one of human’s basic needs

5 . 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 a 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 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．You can eat them easily

6 . 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

7 . English teenagers will receive cooking lessons in schools. The idea is to encourage healthy eating to solve the problem that many people are overweight. Also, it worries people that basic cooking and food preparation skills are being lost because parents use too much pre-prepared fast food.

Cooking was once regarded as an important part of education in England---even if it was mainly for girls. In recent years cooking has become less important in schools. But the rising level of obesity has led to rethink about the food that children are given and the skills they should be taught.

“What we want is to teach young people how to do basic, simple meals, which they can use now at home and then in their life,” said Ed Balls, an education expert.

The new lessons will start in September, but some schools without kitchens will be given a longer time to prepare. Also, there may be a shortage of teachers with the right skills, since schools have been teaching food technology rather than practical cooking. Besides, the lessons for hand-on cooking will only be one hour a week for one term. But the well-known cookery writer, Pru Leith, believe it will be worth it.

“If we’d done this thirty years ago we might not have to face the problem about obesity and lack of knowledge about food and so on. Every child should know how to cook, not just so that they’ll be healthy, but because it’s a life skill which is a real pleasure.”

The renewed interest in cooking is an effort to reduce the obesity rate, which is almost the highest in Europe, and according to the government, half of all British people will be obese in 25 years if present trends are not halted.

1. The passage mainly talks about       .

A．the reason for obesity	B．the lost cooking skills
C．the healthy eating	D．the cooking classes

2. Which of the following is NOT the aim of bringing back cooking lessons in Britain?

A．To encourage teenagers to eat healthy food.

B．To reduce the country’s increasing obesity rate.

C．To stop parents from turning to pre-prepared fast food.

D．To prevent basic cooking and food preparation skills from being lost.

3. How will cooking lessons do good to the students?

A．All of them will become good cooks in their later life.

B．Students will be healthy and enjoy the pleasure of such a life skill as well.

C．Students will be able to make food experiments with the knowledge and skills.

D．Students will be able to control the level of obesity in the whole country.

4. The underlined word “halted” in the last paragraph probably means “      ”.

A．continued

B．stopped

C．discussed

D．kept

8 . Many of us love July because it’s the month when nature’s berries and stone fruits are in abundance. These colourful and sweet jewels form British Columbia’s fields are little powerhouses of nutritional protection.

Of the common berries, strawberries are highest in vitamin C, although, because of their seeds, raspberries contain a little more protein (蛋白质), iron and zinc (not that fruits have much protein). Blueberries are particularly high in antioxidants (抗氧化物质). The yellow and orange stone fruits such as peaches are high in the carotenoids we turn into vitamin A and which are antioxidants. As for cherries (樱桃), they are so delicious who cares? However, they are rich in vitamin C.

When combined with berries of slices of other fruits, frozen bananas make an excellent base for thick, cooling fruit shakes and low fat “ice cream”. For this purpose, select ripe bananas for freezing as they are much sweeter. Remove the skin and place them in plastic bags or containers and freeze. If you like, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice on the bananas will prevent them turning brown. Frozen bananas will last several weeks, depending on their ripeness and the temperature of the freezer.

If you have a juicer, you can simply feed in frozen bananas and some berries or sliced fruit. Out comes a “soft-serve” creamy dessert, to be eaten right away. This makes a fun activity for a children’s party; they love feeding the fruit and frozen bananas into the top of the machine and watching the ice cream come out below.

1. What does the author seem to like about cherries?

A．They contain protein.	B．They are high in vitamin A.
C．They have a pleasant taste.	D．They are rich in antioxidants.

2. Why is fresh lemon juice used in freezing bananas?

A．To make them smell better.	B．To keep their colour.
C．To speed up their ripening.	D．To improve their nutrition.

3. What is “a juicer” in the last paragraph?

A．A dessert.	B．A drink.
C．A container.	D．A machine.

4. From which is the text probably taken?

A．A biology textbook.	B．A health magazine.
C．A research paper.	D．A travel brochure.