Nobody likes home economics . But restoring the program could help us in the fight against obesity and chronic diseases today. The home economics movement was founded on the belief that housework and food preparation were important subjects that should be studied scientifically. The first classes occurred in the agricultural and technical colleges that were built in the 1860s. When most departments of universities rejected women, home economics was a back door into higher education. Indeed, in the early 20th century, home economics was a serious subject When few people understood germ theory and almost no one had heard of vitamins, home economics classes offered vital information about washing hands regularly, eating fruits and vegetables and not feeding coffee to babies. However, today we remember only the fixed ideas about home economics, forgetting the movement's most important lessons on healthy eating and cooking. Too many Americans simply don't know how to cook. Our diets, consisting of highly processed foods made cheaply outside the home, have contributed to many serious health problems. In the last decade, many cities and states have tried to tax junk food heavily or to ban the use of food stamps to buy soda. Clearly, many people are doubtful about any governmental steps to promote healthy eating. But what if the government put the tools of obesity prevention in the hands of children themselves by teaching them how to cook? My first experience with home economics happened two decades ago when I was a seventh grader in a North Carolina public school. A year later, my father's job took our family to Wales, where I attended a large school for a few months. It was the first time I had ever really cooked anything. I remember that it was fun, and with an instructor standing by, it wasn't hard. Those lessons stuck with me when I first started cooking for my husband and myself after college and they still do. Teaching cooking in public schools can help solve some problems facing Americans today. The... Home economics _ . A) is a subject becoming more and more popular with Americans B) is often used to help fight against obesity and chronic diseases C) once offered women a. special approach to university education D) was first taught in the agricultural and technical colleges in the early 1900s
C
A woman was walking her dog along a beach in New Zealand in late June when she saw something that looked like a white ball in the sand. It turned out to be a young Emperor penguin that was lost. At his age, he should have been close to Antarctic, swimming for fish and playing on the ice floes . But this penguin started swimming north and just kept going. The penguin attracted a lot of attention in New Zealand. It has been 40 years since an Emperor penguin was last seen there. Researchers at the Department of Conservation were called in. They decided to watch the penguin closely, but not to disturb it in any way. Many New Zealanders came to Peka Peka Beach to look at the elegant penguin. They were careful to keep their dogs away from it so it wouldn't be frightened. The public nicknamed the animal Happy Feet. Researchers started to notice that Happy Feet didn't seem well. It turns out that he had been eating the sand from the beach, likely thinking it was snow. The public raised more than 11,000 pounds for an operation to get the sand out of his stomach. The operation was a success, and Happy Feet was taken to a zoo in Wellington, NZ. A group of experts met to decide how to help Happy Feet return to the wild. Last Sunday, they put him on a boat called the Tangaroa, in a specially built ice-filled box and took him out into the Southern Ocean, southeast of New Zealand. There, they released him into the ocean, which is his natural habitat. He took one last look at his human helpers and then dived into the ocean. "Emperor penguins spend their first five years at sea," said Peter Simpson of New Zealand's Department of Conservation. " What happens now is up to the penguin." Happy Feet was fitted with a satellite transmitter so they can monitor his progress using the Internet. So far, the trackers shows that he swam northeast for a little while before getting his bearings and heading south. What does Peter Simpson mean by saying " What happens now is up to the penguin."? A) The penguin needs no protection from human. B) Human beings can do noting to help penguins. C) No one knows what will happen to the penguins. D) Whether the penguin can survive depends on himself.
D
Q: John Smith was a writer, who wrote detective stories for magazines , though he never dealt with criminals . One evening he could not finish an end for a story. He sat in his study , but he had no ideas. So he decided to go to the cinema. When he came back, he found that he had had a visitor. Someone had broken into his house. The visitor had had a drink, smoked several of his cigarettes and had read his story. The visitor left him a note. "I have read your story and I don't think it is very good. Please read my suggestions and you can finish it. By the way, I am a thief. I'm not going to steal anything tonight. But if you become a successful writer, I will return." John read the thief's suggestions. Then he sat down and wrote the rest of the story. He is still not a successful writer, and he is waiting for his "visitor" to return. Before he goes out in the evening, he always leaves a half-finished story in his study. The visitor _ . A) stayed in John's house for a night B) took some of John's things away C) left John some advice D) was a good friend of John's
A: C
(Question)
DIY sailor Owen Warboys has finally launched his homemade boat -- after spending nearly 30 years building it in his mum's garden. Owen, 66, a retired engineer from Hordle, New Milton, Hants, first started work on the 40ft--long boat in 1982 because he could not afford to buy his own. He told mum Edith that it would only take five years but after suffering "a few problems" it lasted nearly three decades. When he finally finished, he was left with the head-scratching task of getting the 18-tonne boat out of the back garden. After some time he found a way. A huge crane was brought in to carefully raise it 40ft in the air over his mother's house and onto a lorry. It was then driven to the seaside and, to Owen's delight, it floated and showed no signs of leaking when lowered into the water. Now, 28 years after he first started, Owen is at last preparing to set sail in his beloved boat, Wight Dolphin, with his long-suffering wife Anne. Owen said, "I am so relieved that it's finished. There were times when I thought it would never end but I'm the sort of person who likes to finish something once I've started." At first he persuaded his mum to let him do it in her garden and started taking in sheets of steel and pieces of wood. "My mother was happy for me to build it at her house but only bacause I told her it would only take five years." Which of the following is TRUE about the boat ? A) It was built by Owen and his supportive wife B) It was in good condition after being put in the sea C) Owen's mother was relieved to see it was finished D) Owen and his wife will sail around the world in it
(Answer)
B