Men are spending more and more time in the kitchen encouraged by celebrity (名人) chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver, according to a report from Oxford University.
The effect of the celebrity role models，who have given cooking a more manly picture，has combined with a more general drive towards sexual equality and men now spend more than twice the amount of time preparing meals than they did in 1961.
According to the research by Prof. Jonatahn Gershuny，who runs the Centre for Time Research at Oxford, men now spend more than half an hour a day cooking, up from just 12 minutes a day in 1961.
Prof. Gershuny said. “The man in the kitchen is part of a much wider social trend. There has been 40 years of sexual equality, but there is another 40 years probably to come.”
Women, who a generation ago spent nearly two hours a day cooking, now spend just one hour and seven minutes — a great fall, but they still spend far more time in the kitchen than men.
Some experts have named these men in aprons(围裙) as “Gastrosexuals (men using cooking skills to impress friends)”, who have been inspired to pick up a kitchen knife by the success of Ramsay，Oliver as well as other male celebrity chefs such as Hugh Fearnley－Whittingstall, Marco Pierre White and Keith Floyd.
“I was married in 1974. When my father came to visit me a few weeks later, I was wearing an apron when I opened the door. He laughed,” said Prof. Gershuny. “That would never happen now.”
Two－thirds of adults say that they come together to share at least three times a week, even if it is not necessarily around a kitchen or dining room table. Prof. Gershuny pointed out that the family meal was now rarely eaten by all of its members around a table — with many “family meals” in fact taken on the sofa in the sitting room, and shared by family members. “The family meal has changed a lot, and few of us eat — as I did when I was a child — at least two meals a day together as a family. But it has survived in a different format.”
1.What is one reason behind the trend that men spend more time cooking than before?
A. The improvement of cooks’ status.
B. The influence of popular female chefs.
C. The change of female’ s view on cooking.
D. The development of sexual equality campaign.
2.What does the author think about the time men and women spend on cooking?
A. Men spend more time cooking than women nowadays.
B. Women spend much less time on cooking than before.
C. It will take 40 years before men spend more time at the stove than women.
D. There is a sharp fall in the time men spend on cooking compared with 1961.
3.How did Prof. Gershuny see the family meal according to the passage?
A. It has become a thing of the past.
B. It is very different from what it used to be.
C. It shouldn’t be advised in modern times.
D. It is beneficial to the stability(稳定) of the family.
4.Which is the best title for the passage?
A. The Changes of Family Meals B. Equality between Men and Women
C. Cooking into a New Trend for Men D. Cooking — a Thing of the Past for Women
As a child, visiting the zoo was more a punishment than a treat. I didn’t find the chimps’(黑猩猩) tea parties funny, nor the bird shows entertaining. Feeding time for seals was less painful, but their performances still seemed like they belonged more in a circus.
And I hated circuses, especially the animal acts—men teasing lions, girls balancing on elephants and monkeys playing football. I knew that every trick a circus animal did was unnatural, achieved through strict training and quite possibly cruelty.
Happily, during my lifetime public attitudes and the law have changed. Circuses using wild animals are now almost extinct, and zoos have definitely evolved.
When my children were young, I occasionally took them to our local zoo. The elephants were in tiny cages and the gorillas(大猩猩) looked bored as they sat peeling bananas and staring at teasing visitors. Each cage had a sign which listed the animal’s name and where it came from. But, back then, there was little information included about the environmental challenges they faced.
As a result, environmentalists and animal lovers often oppose zoos. “Animals belong in the wild,” is a common and understandable complaint. But what do the animals themselves prefer?
Generally speaking, zoo animals have a longer life. But — you may protest — they are not free. What? Free to be hunted and killed, free to die of hunger or thirst? Maybe sitting in a cage eating bananas isn’t so bad.
Not that such conditions are acceptable in modern zoos, due to the work of BIAZA, the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums(水族馆). These days every zoo requires BIAZA’s approval to operate, and the association sets the standards, observes conditions in zoos and develops animal-research programmes, both in the UK and abroad. BIAZA also organises the animal exchanges between zoos all over the world.
Consequently, today, most zoo animals are born and raised in zoos, live in large, comfortable enclosures(围场) and are cared for by well-trained, knowledgeable and caring zoo employees. Of course it’s no substitute(替代)for living in the wild but unfortunately this isn’t always possible. Meanwhile, why not visit your local zoo and decide for yourself?
1.The passage is mainly about ______.
A. how zoos have improved
B. whether a zoo should be closed down
C. a new environmental organisation
D. zoos and circuses
2.From Paragraph 2, we can guess that the writer believes circus animals ______.
A. had much shorter lives than those in the wild
B. were not treated well by their trainers
C. should have been placed in zoos
D. were not as intelligent as those in zoos
3.Which of the following roles are performed by BIAZA?
A. Organising animal study projects and training zoo workers.
B. Checking zoo conditions and arranging animal exchanges.
C. Designing zoos and approving zoo operations.
D. Caring for ill animals and setting zoo standards.
4.Which of the following statements about zoos would the writer agree with?
A. All of the zoo animals ought to be freed into the wild.
B. Zoos are much more popular now than those in the past years.
C. Zoo animals are a lot more restricted than in the past.
D. Zoos now provide better caring living conditions for animals.
Plan on traveling around the USA? There are a number of outstanding websites that can make your American dream come true.
www.101usaholidays.co.uk
This is the latest offering that features 101 holiday ideas to the USA. It’s a diverse selection, ranging from touring in the footsteps of Martin Luther King to a golfing break in Arizona and a cycling and wine-tasting trip in California’s Napa Valley. Narrow down what you’re looking for—whether by price, region, theme and who will be traveling—and then just the photos of the relevant holidays remain on view. It’s a really clever design.
http://byways.org
The National Scenic Byways Program covers 150 memorable roads. Some are natural scenic routes, such as Route 1 along the California coast. Others focus on history (such as Route 66) or man-made attractions (the Las Vegas Strip). For each, you’re provided with a map telling the route’s length and how long is allowed.
www.oyster.com
This is the best website for reviews of hotels in US cities and tourist sites. There are photos of each hotel. Importantly, these are not promotional photos provided by the hotels, but more honest and revealing ones taken by inspectors. From the 243 hotels reviewed in New York, you can narrow down what you are looking for by locations, facilities and styles, or just pick out a selection of the best.
http://seaworldparks.com
SeaWorld in San Diego can make dreams come true, but the price is not affordable for the majority of people. So turn to long-established http://seaworldparks.com, giving big discounts on tickets, hotel and dining at SeaWorld.
1.The text is probably from _________.
A. a science report B. a news article
C. a travel brochure D. a book review
2.Travel ideas for wine lovers are available at _________.
A. www.101usaholidays.co.uk B. http://byways.org
C. www.oyster.com D. http://seaworldparks.com
3.What can be inferred from the text?
A. You can see some man-made attractions driving along Route 66.
B. The National Scenic Byways Program covers all American roads.
C. Photos on www.oyster.com can be trusted by tourists.
D. http://seaworldparks.com is a newly established website.
Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table, reading his book. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to copy him in every way he could.
One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa, I try to read the book just like you, but I don’t understand it, and I forget what I understand as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the book do?”
The grandpa quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”
The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandpa laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again. This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned. Out of breath, he told his grandpa that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, so he went to get a bucket instead. The grandpa said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough.” The boy again dipped the basket into the river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandpa the basket was empty again. Out of breath, he said, “Grandpa, it’s useless!”
“So, you think it is useless?” the grandpa said, “Look at the basket.”
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean.
“Grandson, that’s what happens when you read the book. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you’ll be changed, inside and out.”
1.What puzzled the grandson most was _________.
A. why he forgot what he read soon B. whether it was useful to read books
C. what kind of book he could understand D. how he could read books like his grandpa
2.Why did Grandpa ask his grandson to fetch a basket of water?
A. To get him to realize the use of reading books. B. To punish him for not reading carefully.
C. To clean the dirty basket in the river. D. To train him to run faster.
3.What lesson can we learn from the story?
A. The old are always wiser than the young. B. It is foolish to carry water with a basket.
C. You can’t expect to remember all you read. D. Reading books can change a person gradually.
4.What can be the best title for the text?
A. Grandpa and Grandson B. Carrying Water in a Basket
C. Baskets and Books D. Reading for Total Changing
–Would you have helped her had it been possible?
--Yes, but I __________ busy with my work.
A. was B. had been
C. have been D. am
The discovery of new evidence led to ______________.
A. the thief having been caught B. the thief to be caught
C. catch the thief D. the thief being caught
