大学英语阅读理解及解答

Passage 1I’m pretty confident that there will never be a day when all the world is in agreement about the best human diet. I’m an omnivore myself, but I have friends who swear by their paleo, vegetarian, and vegan diets. All of us can make compelling arguments about why we eat the way we do, and all of us can make valid criticisms of diets that are unlike our own.For me, deciding how and what to eat required a close examination of the values and principles that truly matter to me. The type of food we consume has immediate health and economic consequences, but it also has a significant impact on our environment.As a study shows, the manner and scale at which our society currently raises animal for human consumption contributes to climate change in major way. It also wastes water, pollutes our soil, and contaminates fresh water supplies. So if you’re really trying to live a low-impact life, eating less meat and ensuring that the meat you do eat is raised by responsible farmers and ranchers could help you shrink your carbon footprint a lot faster than buying a hybrid or skipping showers.1. The author believes that ( )A. people will be more and more rational in choosing the food they eat.B. the arguments about what should be eaten will never come to an end.C. people will someday reach a consensus on what the best food is.D. people will be more and more fastidious in choosing the food they eat.2. When deciding how and what to eat, the author ( )A. has some important principles to follow.B. will consult with his friends.C. will follow the instructions of his friends.D. considers only his own interests.3. The type of food we eat ( )A. has an indirect but great effect on our environment.B. has nothing to do with our environment.C. has nothing to do with our health.D. is decided only by our economic status.4. What is implied in Paragraph 3 ( )A. We should stop raising animals for human consumption.B. We should stop eating animals.C. The way animals are raised for human consumption should be improved.D. Environmental pollution and climate change are caused by raising animals for human consumption.Passage 2Americans are too busy for lunch breaks, reports AOL. Rather than leaving the office for some much needed relaxation, most workers are opting to dine at their desks. According to a survey, 62% of American office workers usually eat their lunch in the same spot they work all day.In a weakened economy, many employees feel a heightened need to prove their worth or look like a superstar worker who goes above and beyond to get the job done.Plus, when coworkers are working through their lunch breaks, no one wants to be the person who looks like a slacker.For others, it is not just a matter of saving time, but saving money. Eating out routinely gets expensive, so bringing a lunch to eat at the desk is also the thrifty choice for the American worker.On a national level, the United States does not mandate that businesses allow their employees a lunch break. However, 22 states do have explicit laws on the books stating that workers must take a half hour to hour lunch break. Nonetheless, even workers in these states often find themselves ignoring the law to chow down next to their computers.In addition to lunch, 27% will eat breakfast at their desk (at least they are not skipping it altogether), and 50% will snack at their desk throughout the workday. Unfortunately, using the desk as a dining table could be a health hazard. With about two in three workers admitting they clean their desk less than once a month, the unsanitary surface leaves workers susceptible to foodborne illnesses.1. According to the report by AOL, most American office workers usually ( )A. take lunch at their desks.B. take a nap after lunch.C. go out to eat at lunch time.D. enjoy free lunch.2. ( ) makes the American employees feel a heightened need to prove their worth.A. The employers’ encouragementB. An upturn in economyC. The cozy working environment.D. A downturn in economy.3. According to Paragraph 4, ( )?A. most states of America have passed the laws stating that workers must take some lunch break.B. the workers in the 22 states work fewer hours than those in the other states.C. the workers in the 22 states do not necessarily take a better lunch break than those in the other states.D. the workers in the 22 states take a longer lunch break than those in the other states.4. What is a disadvantage of taking lunch at the desk?A. It may save time for the employees.B. It may do harm to the employees’ health.C. It may save money for the employees.D. It may help the employees reduce their weight.Passage 3In many urban centers throughout the world, vibrant waste recycling programs aren’t just eco-minded niceties, but they serve an essential role in keeping communities clean and clutter-free. But thanks to one forward-thinking initiative in the Brazilian city of Jundiaí, trading in trash has never been tastier.Ten years ago, the city’s Municipal Utilities D epartment launched “Delicious Recycling”, a program aimed at enc ouraging residents to get into the habit ofcollecting recyclable waste in exchange for fresh vegetables, grown locally in a public-run garden — and boy did it take off. Today, the garden boasts more than 30 thousand plants to meet the demand of thousands of veggie-loving recyclers, turning aluminum cans and plastic bottles into edible greens.Ultimately, the program has done wonders for the health of the environment as well, by ridding the city of improperly disposed waste.“What once cluttered and even choked the flow of water from storm drains is today used as currency for healthy food,” local mayor Miguel Haddad tells Jundiaí Online. “Everybody wins with this.”As innovative as Jundiaí’s “Delic i ous Recycling” may seem, it’s actually not the first of its kind, but given the program’s success, it’s no wonder why though a number of other Brazilian municipalities offer similar incentives to reward recyclers with food, the idea seems to be catching internationally — like in Mexico City, where residents recently exchanged trash for nearly three tons of vegetables!1. Waste recycling programs ( )A. are paid little attention to in many urban centers.B. help make communities clean and tidy.C. have nothing to do with the sanitation of communities.D. are inactive in many urban centers.2. The purpose of “Delicious Recycling” is ( )A. to teach residents how to make delicious food.B. to reward residents who do well in classifying rubbish.C. to encourage residents to trade recyclable waste for meat or vegetables.D. to encourage residents to trade recyclable waste for vegetables.3. According to local mayor Miguel Haddad, ( )A. water in storm drains is flowing more freely than before because the trash in it has been removed.B. water in storm drains can be exchanged for healthy food.C. water in storm drains is essential to the growing of fresh vegetables.D. there is more trash in storm drains now than there used to be.4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?A. “Delic i ous Recycling” has failed to achieve the desired result.B. There are no waste recycling programs in other Brazilian municipalities.C. Mexico City is probably imitating Jundiaí’s “Delicious Recycling”.D. Waste recycling programs in other Brazilian municipalities are more successful than Jundiaí’s “Delicious Recycling”.Passage 4A class action lawsuit has been filed against General Mills for misrepresenting the product it calls Yoplait Greek. It isn’t Greek, and it isn’t yogurt. The sales of Yoplait Greek already lag far behind other brands such as Chobani and Fage in an exploding Greek yogurt market, and this latest lawsuit won’t help any.“Yoplait Greek does not comply with the standard of identity of yogurt,” the lawsuit states. “Indeed, Yoplait Greek contains Milk Protein Concentrate (“MPC”) which is not among the permissible ingredients of yogurt, non-fat yogurt, and low-fatyogurt (collectively “yogurt”) as set forth under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.”Authentic Greek yogurt is thicker in consistency and richer in protein because it’s strained of liquid whey. But MPC offers an alternative to this process. It is, as described on FoodNavigator-USA, “a very high protein dry milk product, which has been touted for use in Greek-style products to increase their protein content and pr ovide a thick, creamy texture without the need for expensive straining.”In its corporate eagerness to claim a larger share of the Greek yogurt market, General Mills adds MPC to Yoplait Greek because, as reported in the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Jour nal, it is “cheaper to store and transport than wet milk and costs less than dry milk due to minimal tariffs on MPC imports and lower foreign milk prices.” New Zealand is the biggest supplier of MPC to the United States. In short, as stated in the lawsuit, “The use of MPC is financially advantageous to defendants.” It allows General Mills to manufacture more product at lower cost, and that’s the only reason it’s in the yogurt.Never mind that the use of the substance in yogurt flouts FDA rules for the stand ard of identity of the food. So far the extent of General Mills’s defense is that the FDA never explicitly prohibited MPC in yogurt. That’s a lesson in logic. Any substance that is not explicitly prohibited is officially permitted.Never mind, as well, the questionable safety of the substance, which is not included on the FDA list of substances generally recognized as safe (GRAS) or on the FDA list of food additives. In other words, it hasn’t actually been approved for use in food.1. The lawsuit against General Mills ( )A. is a leading factor that has caused the sales of Yoplait Greek to lag behind other brands.B. will make the sales of Yoplait Greek lag behind other brandsC. will help increase the sales of Yoplait Greek.D. has no direct relationship with the fact that the sales of Yoplait Greek have already lagged far behind other brands.2. Authentic Greek yogurt ( )A. is strained of liquid whey.B. thicker in consistency than Yoplait Greek.C. richer in protein than Yoplait Greek.D. contains MPC.3. According to the lawsuit, it is ( ) that General Mills adds MPC to Yoplait Greek.A. for the improvement of its qualityB. for the convenience of transportationC. for the reduction of costsD. for the extension of its shelf life4. Which of the following statements is true?A. The FDA has approved the use of MPC in yogurt.B. MPC is on the FDA list of substances generally recognized as safeC. The FDA has neither prohibited nor approved the use of MPC in yogurt.D. MPC is on the FDA list of food additives.Passage 5Apples have become the latest controversial entry into the genetically modified food debate, following a July 12 New York Times piece written by Andrew Pollack. Okanagan Specialty Fruits, a small British Columbia company, wants to start marketing a non-browning apple, and it has applied for approval in Canada and in the United States.The Arctic apple, available so far in the Golden Delicious and Granny Smith varieties, contains an extra copy of a gene which interferes with the enzymatic activity that causes browning. The enzyme is polyphenol oxidase.According to Neal Carter, founder and president of Okanagan Specialty Fruits, the non-browning Arctic apple is just what consumers are looking for. A whole apple, he tells the Times, is “for many people too big a commitment,” and apple slices that have browned just aren’t appetizing. (What a burden we bear —to have to eat a whole apple, let alone an unsightly one.)Carter suggests that it is merely a cosmetic change intended to encourage people to eat more apples. But it’s more than that, of course.It is intended “to turn the apple into an industrialized product,” said Lucy Sharratt, coordinator of the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, as reported in the Times. In Common Ground, a Canadian monthly magazine dedicated to health, wellness and ecology, Yukon farmer Tom Rudge says, “We should eat real food instead of genetically engineering an apple so companies can slice it, wrap it in plastic and truck it across the country.” Organic apple farm er Harry Burton of Salt Spring Island sees it as “an indication of our distancing from nature.”As Pollack reports, the U.S. Apple Association opposes the introduction of the Arctic apple, but not out of any objection to genetic engineering. In fact, they declare on their website that “in order to continue discovering new and valuable benefits from apples, U.S. Apple supports advancements from technology and genetics and genomics research.” The problem for U.S. Apple, Pollack writes, is that the non-browni ng Arctic apple “could undermine the fruit’s image as a healthy and natural food, the one that keeps the doctor away and is as American as, well, apple pie.”1. As to the Arctic apple, which of the following statements is wrong?A. It will not turn brown.B. There is no enzymatic activity in its body.C. It is a kind of genetically modified food.D. The enzymatic activity that causes browning has been reduced.2. According to Neal Carter, ( )A. The non-browning Arctic apple is very popular among consumers.B. A new type of smaller apple will be developed to meet the demand of some consumers.C. The color of apples has nothing to do with one’s appetite.D. The non-browning Arctic apple is more nutritious than other varieties.3. From what the organic farmers said, we know that it is undesirable to ( )A. eat real food instead of genetically modified food.B. attach more importance to industry than to agriculture.C. cultivate farm products in an industrialized way.D. be close to nature.4. Why is the U.S. Apple Association against the introduction of the Arctic apple?A. Because it is against genetic engineering.B. Because it cannot benefit from this kind of apple.C. Because this kind of apple will undermine the fruit’s image as a healthy and natural food.D. The reason is not mentioned in the passage.Passage 11. B.根据第一段可知，人们永远无法对什么是最佳食物这一问题达成共识，人们永远有理由说明自己选择的食物是最好的，别人不同于自己的食物是不好的，所以选B.2. A根据第二段第一句（For me, deciding…）可知，作者在决定怎样吃和吃什么的时候是有原则性的，所以选A。