What do you order when you go to a Chinese restaurant? Do you start with an appetizer of fried dumplings and then move onto General Tso's chicken? 1.
Tofu is made from soybeans（黄豆）.There are different types of tofu, from soft creamy silken tofu to pressed extra firm tofu. The difference is the amount of water in them. The longer the tofu is pressed, the more water is squeezed out and the tofu becomes denser（更密实）and chewier.
2. In the letter to his friend John Bartram, Franklin cites（引用）a description of a type of Chinese cheese made from soybeans called "teu-fu” by Fernandez Navarette who published accounts of his travels to China in the late 1600's.
However, there isn't much documentation of tofu production in the United States. 3.
In 1917, as part of an effort to develop new sources of protein for American soldiers during World War I, the United States Department of Agriculture sent Chinese-born doctor Yamei Kin a dietitian well-known for promoting tofu as an nutritious meat alternative, to China to study soybeans 4.
It wasn't until the 1970's that tofu started to become better known, during a wave of interest in vegetarianism（素食主义），natural food, and less wasteful food sources. 5. And the restaurant. chain Chipotle successfully added tofu to its menu a few years ago.
A. Americans are not big consumers of tofu.
B. Let's take a look at tofu and its history in the United States.
C. Or do you start with deep-fried tofu and then choose Ma Po tofu instead?
D. Today, you can buy different types of tofu in many American supermarkets.
E. Despite the government's efforts, interest among the American public never picked up.
F. One of the earliest references to tofu by an American is in a letter by Benjamin Franklin.
G. It is likely that by the early 1900's, cities with large Asian populations had small tofu shops.
A baby seal robot from Japan has came to the U.S. It's been sold in Japan for several years, but now the company has created a Florida-based unit, Paro Robots U.S. Inc., to sell the creature to places like nursing homes and hospitals. The robot, named Paro, is marketed as a therapeutic（治疗的）device that can help comfort people who have problems that can lead to social isolation（隔离）.
Takanori Shibata, a Japanese engineer, invented Paro. He says the robot, which weighs about 6 pounds, is able to respond to touch, light, and sound.
Shibata says he tried making robotic cats and dogs, but that people didn't find those convincing. "They expected too much,"' he says, and would compare the robot to real animals they had known. Few people have ever seen a live baby seal, so they aren't likely to draw comparisons between the robot and the real thing. So they accept Paro as a cute little companion.
The Vinson Hall Retirement Community in McLean held a recent event to showcase the robot and Virginia Long slowly came into the activity room. When a nurse put the robot on her lap, it began to shake slightly, and Long talked to it gently. “Why are you shaking? Are you cold?" she asked. The robot made a high sound, and Long laughed. She said she used to have a cat, “but somebody stole him." "Petting a seal is unusual," she said, "but a lot of people have strange animals.
But some experts say a robot is no replacement for a real animal. "One of the things that we've learned is that it is the unexpected and natural behavior of the living creature that adds so much value to people's experience. Any kind of newness can get the attention of people who are lonely and bored, but that doesn't necessarily help them live a meaningful life. It doesn't solve the problem that is really causing their lack of enjoyment of life," says Bill Thomas, a professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
1.What is the role of Paro?
A.To look after baby seals. B.To give relief to Patients.
C.To replace home-raised pets. D.To Provide medical examinations.
2.How did people feel about robotic cats?
A.Disappointed. B.Astonished.
C.Concerned. D.Amused.
3.What was Long's reaction to Paro?
A.She refused to get close to it. B.She showed it much affection.
C.She regarded it as her new cat. D.She was frightened to talk to it.
4.What do Bill Thomas's words suggest about Paro?
A.It is of great value to people.
B.It is not of great use in solving real problems.
C.It fails to catch older people's interest.
D.It can take the place of a living creature.
Valerie Stull begins her mornings with a breakfast shake, into which she puts peanut butter, cocoa powder, banana, and milk. The last thing to go in is a powder made from insects.
Stull works at the Global Health Institute. She's in a group of researchers who study the impacts of eating insects. There's a name for dining on insects: entomophagy.
About two billion people regularly eat insects. That's almost one in every four. Most North Americans and Europeans tend to find the idea of entomophagy disgusting. Yet even in their parts of the world, insect eating is starting to catch on. That's especially true when the insects are eaten, as Stull's are, in a form that doesn't show their eyes, wings and feet.
"Some scientists view eatable insects as mini-livestock（小型牲畜）.” Compared to raising cattle and more traditional livestock, insects need far less natural resources such as land and water. Insects also are nutritious. They're packed with protein, vitamins and minerals. Plus, their outer shells contain chitin—a source of fiber.
Stull wondered if chitin and other fibers in insects might offer health benefits similar to other fibers found in a typical American diet. To find out, she teamed up with Tiffany Weir, who's a scientist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Breakfasts enriched with insects changed the amount of different bacteria in the gut（肠道），the two now report. And those changes were in a direction that should improve a diner's health.
These findings suggest that insects work as prebiotics（益生元）.Scientists think probiotics, which fuel the growth of helpful gut bacteria （肠道细菌），have longer and larger benefits than probiotics（益生菌）do. Probiotics exist in your gut, and you can also add them to your diet. But, Stull explains, “When you have probiotics, you're taking in a whole bunch of beneficial bacteria. But if you don't feed those beneficial bacteria, they're not going to stick around very long."
It's possible that insects offer larger benefits to people who eat them regularly. In a future study, Stull's team would like to test that idea.
1.What can we learn from the underlined sentence in paragraph 3?
A.Insect eating is one of Stull's favorite lifestyles.
B.Insect eating is quite different from entomophagy.
C.Insect eating is becoming more and more acceptable.
D.Insect eating is the most scientific way of getting nutrition.
2.what's the advantage of insect farming compared with traditional livestock farming?
A.It's face-saving. B.It's time-saving.
C.It's labor-saving. D.It's resource-saving.
3.What has Stull and Weir's study found out?
A.Insects are rich in fiber. B.Chitin is similar to other fibers.
C.Eating insects is good for health. D.Insects can keep gut bacteria in balance.
4.How do prebiotics prebioties differ from probiotics?
A.Prebiotics are good bacteria. B.Prebiotics can be added to the diet.
C.Prebiotics need to be fed regularly. D.Prebiotics can inspire good gut bacteria.
A small supermarket is decorated with a lot of red lanterns. There are piles of red envelopes on sale, for filling with cash and handing out as gifts. Such festive trappings can be seen everywhere in China in the build-up to the Lunar New Year. But this is Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar, where Han Chinese are a mere 2.5% of the country's population. They are a sign that Chinese New Year is becoming a global holiday.
Several countries in Asia celebrate the Lunar New Year in their own way. But dragon and lion dances in Chinatowns over the world have helped make China's the most famous. In Tokyo, window cleaners dress up as the animals of the Chinese zodiac （生肖）.America, Canada and New Zealand have issued commemorative stamps for the Year of the Rooster. Last year New York City made the Lunar New Year a school holiday for the first time.
The spread of the Spring Festival, as China calls it, is partly due to recent emigration（移民）from China: 9.5 million Chinese people have moved abroad since 1978, many of whom are far richer than earlier waves of migrants. It also reflects the wealth and ambitions of China's new middle class: festivities in other countries are partly aimed at the 6 million Chinese who are expected to spend their week long holiday abroad this year.
It's hoped that the festival will promote Chin's cultural "soft power" abroad. So related events are welcomed, such as a display this year of martial arts in Cyprus and a traditional Chinese temple-fair in Harare, Zimbabwe. More and more Chinese are glad to see foreigners enjoy such festivities. Though there is a growing enthusiasm among Chinese for Western celebrations such as Christmas, Chinese New Year is a welcome chance to reverse（逆转）the cultural flow.
1.The scene in a supermarket shown in the first paragraph is to________ .
A.stress the importance of the Spring Festival
B.explain why the Lunar New Year is popular
C.present the popularity of Chinese New Year
D.show how other countries celebrate the Spring Festival
2.What are the best-known celebration activities for the Lunar New Year in Chinatowns?
A.Dragon and lion dances.
B.Eating dumplings and singing and dancing.
C.Dressing up as animals and dancing.
D.playing cards and letting off fireworks.
3.Some countries celebrate the Spring Festival in order to .
A.reflect on their own cultures
B.show respect to the Chinese traditions
C.promote the values of Chinese customs
D.attract Chinese to spend the holiday there
4.What's the best title for the text?
A.Celebrating Chinese Festivals Becomes a Trend.
B.Welcoming China's Cultural "Soft Power*',
C.China's Biggest Festival Is Going Global.
D.Foreigners' Love of China's Festivals.
Guide to what's worth watching
I Feel Bad
Don't let the depressing name of the show mislead you. Based on the novel I Feel Bad: All Day. Every Day. About Everything, this new half-hour situation comedy finds humor in the endless small failings of its heroine—a working mom in her 40s who depends on her parents for child-care help when she escapes her chaotic family life to manage an all-male team of much younger video-game developers. Sarayu Blue stars. Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 10 pm., NBC.
Dead Lucky
Among plenty of imported police crime dramas, Dead Lucky has one major edge: It has Rachel Griffiths as its lead. The Golden Globe-winning Australian actress plays a moody but gifted detective whose pursuit追捕）of a killer leads into comers of Sydney new to most American viewers. That, and co-star Brooke Satchwell, might be enough. Thursday, Sept 20, Sundance Now.
Art in the Twenty-First Century
Do you suffer from dandruff-like（如同有头屑一样的）symptoms when faced with contemporary art? The series that's long been a cure for such head-scratching returns with new episodes that will focus on innovative创新的）artists in Johannesburg, Berlin, and the San Francisco Bay Area, and on how place shapes the artists* work Friday, Sept 21, at 9 pm., PBS.
Maniac
Psychological dark comedies seem to be trending this fail. In this 10-part series, Emma Stoneand Jonah Hill co-star as unhappy strangers who develop a deep connection when they both volunteer for a drug trial. Saturday, Sept. 22, Netflix.
1.What can be learned about the program that is aired on NBC?
A.It is an amusing B.It is based on a true story
C.It is popular among children. D.It is a Golden Globe-winning series.
2.Which Program would you recommend to someone interested in detective stories?
A.Maniac. B.I Feel Bad.
C.Dead Lucky. D.Art in the Twenty-First Century.
3.On which day can you see a series about artists?
A.Saturday, Sept. 22. B.Friday, Sept. 21.
C.Thursday, Sept. 20. D.Wednesday, Sept. 19.
假定你是李华，近期你校举办了主题为“美丽中国”的现场国画（traditional Chinese painting）比赛。请为校报英文专栏写一篇活动报道。内容包括：
1. 活动时间、地点：
2. 活动概况：
3. 活动意义。
注意：
1. 词数100左右：
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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