Task 2
Directions: This task is the same as Task 1. The 5 questions or unfinished statements are numbered 41 through 45.
Increasingly over the past ten years, the general population(and especially young people) has become aware of the need to change its eating habits, because much of the food we cat, particularly processed foods, is not good for our health. Conversely, there has been a growing interest in natural foods: foods which do not contain chemical additives and which have not been grown using chemical fertilizers widely used in farming today.
Natural foods, for example, are vegetables, fruits and grains which have been grown in soil that is rich in organic matter. In simple terms, this means that the soil has been nourished by unused vegetable matter, which provides it with essential vitamins and minerals. This type of farming is a natural process compared to farming with the use of chemicals and fertilizers, the main purpose of which is to increase the amount—but not the quality—of goods grown in commercial farming areas.
Natural foods also include animals which have been allowed to feed and move freely in a healthy environment. Compare this with what happens in the mass production of poultry: there are mechanized farms, for example, where thousands of chickens live crowded together in one building and are fed on food which is little better than rubbish. Chickens kept in this way are not only tasteless as food; they also produce eggs which lack important vitamins. There are other aspects of healthy eating which are now receiving increasing attention from experts on diet. Take, for example, the question of sugar. This is actually a nonessential food! In large quantities, it can actually be harmful, and it does seem to be addictive: the quantity we use has grown steadily over the last two centuries. There are no vitamins in it, no minerals and no fiber.
It is significant that nowadays fiber is considered to be an important part of a healthy diet. In white bread, the fiber has been removed. But it is present in unrefined flour and of course in vegetables. It is interesting to note that in countries where the national diet contains large quantities of unrefined flour and vegetables certain diseases are comparatively rare. Hence the emphasis has been placed on the eating of whole meal bread and more vegetables by modern experts on 'healthy eating'.
The main purpose of this article is to ______.
A．show the difference between processed foods and natural ones
B．explain how natural foods may be better for us
C．compare the difference between processed foods and natural ones
D．point out the problems with modern farming