1 . By now, most people know they should be eating more vegetables. But are there ways to get more from the vegetables you already eat? A research shows that when it comes to vegetables, it’s not only how much we eat, but also how we prepare them, that decides the vitamins and other nutrients that enter our body.
Many studies show that people who eat lots of vegetables have less heart disease, and eye problems and even cancer. But raw vegetables are not always best. The researchers found that 198 Germans who eat raw food were short of lycopene, the matter found in tomatoes and other red vegetables. “There is an idea that raw foods are always going to be better,” says Steven K. Clinton, a professor at Ohi o State University. “For fruits and vegetables, sometimes a little bit of cooking can be helpful.”
A number of factors decide how the vegetables do good to people’s health before they reach the table, including where and how they were grown and stored before being bought. No single cooking way is best. Some nutrients are easily lost in cooking if they are cooked in different ways.
Vitamins C and B are often lost. In January, another report said that boiling was better for carrots than frying or serving them raw. Frying was the worst way to cook.
What cooked with the vegetables can also be important? When the vegetables were cooked with fat, the diners can get more nutrients. Fat can also make the taste of vegetables better, meaning that people will eat more of them. Putting on some other things that make it taste better—a little salt—can make the food taste better.
1. The writer mainly wants to tell us that ________.| A．people should eat more vegetables |
| B．the way people eat vegetables is important |
| C．eating vegetables is good for us |
| D．how much vegetables one should eat |
| A．have the eyes problems | B．have heart disease |
| C．be in need of lycopene | D．hate eating tomatoes |
| A．the place where the vegetables are grown |
| B．the way how the vegetables are stored |
| C．the way how the vegetables are prepared |
| D．the price at which the vegetable are sold |
| A．It’s better to cook vegetables with fat |
| B．the more fat in the cooking, the fewer vegetables people will eat |
| C．It’s better to cook the vegetables without salt |
| D．the fat will increase the nutrition of the vegetables |
2 . 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.
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?
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?
Hopefully that gives you a good start.
| 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 . Over the centuries the French have lost a number of famous battles with the British. However, they’ve always felt superior in the kitchen. France has for centuries had a reputation for cooking excellence, and Britain for some of the worst cooking in the world. But according to a recent survey, that reputation may no longer reflect reality.
In the survey, 71% of the Britons said they cook at home every day, while only 59% of the French said they cook daily. British home cooks spend more time cooking each week and also produce a greater variety of dishes than French home cooks.
The reaction in London was predictably enthusiastic. British food has greatly improved since the 1990s. Once upon a time, the menu for many family meals would have been roast beef, potatoes and over-cooked vegetables, but not now. Home cooks are experimenting with the huge range of ingredients now available in British supermarkets and are preparing all kinds of new dishes, using the cookbooks that sell millions of copies every year. As a result, there’s much more diversity in British food now, compared to French food, which tends to be very traditional.
Some French people say that the survey did not show the whole picture. They agree that during the week French women don’t cook as much as they used to because most of them work and don’t have much time. They tend to buy ready-made or frozen dishes, but many of them make up for it on the weekend. There’s also a difference between Paris and the countryside. It’s true that people in Paris don’t cook much, but elsewhere, cooking is still at the heart of daily life.
For many French people, opinions about British food have not changed. When Bernard Blier, the food editor at a magazine, was asked about British food, he replied: “I don’t go out of my way to try it. It is not very refined. You can say that I’m not a fan at all.”
1. According to the passage, nowadays British people ______.| A．cook less at home than the French every day. |
| B．no longer eat roast beef and over-cooked vegetables. |
| C．are more willing to try cooking all kinds of new foods. |
| D．buy more cookbooks than French people do. |
| A．French women cook less often now. |
| B．The French prefer ready-made dishes. |
| C．French women seldom cook on the weekend. |
| D．Cooking is at the heart of people’s life in Paris. |
| A．He would love to try it. | B．He shows no interest in it. |
| C．He considers it worse than before. | D．He considers it better than before. |
| A．The history of British food. | B．The history of French food. |
| C．The change in British food. | D．The change in French food. |
4 . Many of us put real effort in when we cook for others but when we are alone, we reach for the takeaway menu. Somehow it just doesn’t seem worth bothering if no one else is going to eat it.
That’s the attitude Signe Johansen wants to change and it’s the inspiration behind her new book Solo: The Joy of Cooking for One.
“Cooking for yourself is an acceptance of your self-worth, ” Signe says. “I think it’s important that you recognize your worth all the time, not just if you live alone, but on the weekend if your partner is away or whatever. If you take the time to look after yourself, you are essentially saying you are worth the effort. ”
With nearly a third of UK households containing just one person, Signe believes it’s time to overturn the idea for solo dining. “When I’ve told people I’m writing a book on solo cooking, they’ve interpreted it as recipes for sad people, ”she says. “But for me , and for many, some of the happiest times I’ve had cooking have been when I’ve been by myself.”
Food has always been a big part of Signe’s life. Growing up in Norway, much of her childhood was spent on her grandparents’ farm, picking produce and learning to cook, before going on to study at Leiths School of Food and Wine in London.
But it’s the recent trend for self-sufficiency that motivates her to champion the idea of enjoying a more selfish approach to food preparation. “You can just make whatever you want, which is really liberating.” Besides, cooking for yourself is one of the fundamental things we should start with in life.
1. What attitude does Signe want to change in her new book?| A．Cooking only for others. | B．Being selfish in the kitchen. |
| C．Willingness to cook when alone. | D．Hesitation to order takeout food. |
| A．It offers a way of self-care. | B．It communicates a sense of joy. |
| C．It means recognition of self-worth. | D．It indicates a feeling of unhappiness. |
| A．No food going to waste. | B．Sadness coming to an end. |
| C．Enjoying the sense of freedom. | D．Cooking meals with separate tastes. |
| A．A hostess. | B．A single lady. |
| C．A housekeeper. | D．A travelling salesperson. |
