| Centuries ago, man discovered that
removing moisture from food helps to preserve it, and that the easiest way to do
this is to expose the food to sun and wind. In this way the North American
Indians produce pemmican (dried meat ground into powder and made into cakes),
the Scandinavians make stockfish and the Arabs dried dates and "apricot
leather". All foods including water — cabbage and other leaf vegetables contains as much as 93% water, potatoes and other root vegetables 80%, lean meat 75% and fish, anything from 80% to 60%, depending on how fatty it is. If this water is removed, the activity of the bacteria which cause food to go bad is checked. Fruit is sun-dried in Asia Minor, Greece, Spain and other Mediterranean countries, and also in California, South Africa and Australia. The methods used vary, but in general, A. is the one most commonly used today B. was invented by the American Indians C. has been known for hundreds of years D. tends to be unhygienic [单项选择]
TEXT B [单项选择]
{{B}}TEXT B{{/B}} If you smoke and you still don’t believe that there’s a definite link between smoking and bronchial troubles, heart disease and lung cancer, then you are certainly deceiving yourself. No one will accuse you of hypocrisy. Let us just say that you are suffering from a bad case of wishful thinking. This needn’t make you too uncomfortable because you are in good company. Whenever the subject of smoking and health is raised, the governments of most countries hear no evil, see no evil and smell no evil. Admittedly, a few governments have taken timid measures. In Britain for instance, cigarette advertising has been banned on television. The conscience of the nation is appeased, while the population continues to puff its way to smoky, cancerous death. You don’t have to look very far to find out why the official reactions to medical findings have been so lukewarm. The answer is simply money. Tobacco is a wonderful com A. Because they are afraid of people. B. Because diseases cost a lot. C. Because they are afraid of the cutting down of their revenue. D. Because they are afraid of manufacturers. [单项选择]
{{B}}TEXT B{{/B}} "The US economy is rapidly deteriorating," says Mr. Grannis. "The odds of a recession are now very high, perhaps by the end of the year." There are already some signs that important pillars are weakening. Consumer confidence has fallen for the past two months. The housing sector, which has been buoyant, is starting to sink. Corporate profits are failing. Some analysts are especially concerned over the sharp fall of commodity prices. They believe it represents the threat of deflation, it could cause a global slowdown. "The Fed will have to act forcefully to arrest the deflationary forces," says Robert Lamorte, chairman of Behavioral Economics, a consulting firm in San Diego. But others counter that the central bank doesn’t need to intervene. They argue the Fed should wait to see real data before acting. "The fundamentals are better than the stock market reflects", says Peter Kretzmer, an economist at Nations-B A. To pacify the market. B. To make a speech on American economy. C. To intervene. D. To cooperate with Russian to pursue sustainable development. [单项选择] {{B}}TEXT D{{/B}}
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