Vicki Larrieux, a 22-year-old student from Portsmouth, says she is unable to keep a healthy diet because she is frightened of vegetables. She survives on a diet of meat, potatoes, cereals(谷类食品)and apples but refuses even a single slice of carrot on her plate. She suffers from sweating and panics at the slightest sight of a carrot or a pea.
“I have always had a fear of vegetables. Even as a child I used to freak out if some carrots or a few peas were on my plate.” She said. “But as it continued into adult life, I started to think it might not just be a dislike for vegetables but an actual phobia(恐惧症). Every time I see vegetables, not just on my plate, but anywhere, I would get feelings of panic and my heart would beat faster.”
Miss Larrieux’s condition makes trips to the supermarket or eating out at a restaurant with her boyfriend a major problem. It is an unpleasant experience for her to go to the supermarket. Luckily, her boyfriend is very understanding and does his best to comfort her.
A spokesman for phobia charity Anxiety UK says that around 13 percent of British people suffer a phobia of some form, there are treatment available(有效的)including medication and self-help groups for all manner of phobias.
1. Larrieux eats the following as a daily diet EXCEPT______.
A. meat        B. potatoes        C. peas       D. cereals
2. The underlined part “freak out” in Paragraph 2 means “_________”.
A. feel scared       B. get interested
C. feel relaxed      D. get sad
3. According to the passage, Larrieux’s fear for vegetables _____.
A. was found out recently            B. is a kind of phobia
C. makes her famous                   D. makes her hard to get along with
4. What do we know from the passage?
A. Only a few people around the world suffer from phobias
B. Larrieux is not confident about her future
C. Larrieux’s boyfriend doesn’t like meat
D. Phobia can be treated.

A kindergarten teacher decided to let her class play a game. The teacher told each child in the class to bring along a plastic bag containing a few potatoes. Each potato will be given a name of a person that the child hates, so the number of potatoes that a child will put in his/her plastic bag will depend on the number of people he/she cannot forgive(宽恕).

So when the day came, every child brought some potatoes with the name of the people he/she hated. Some had 2 potatoes; some 3, while some had up to 5 potatoes.

The teacher then told the children to carry the potatoes with them wherever they go (even to the toilet) for one week. With days passing by, the children started to complain because of the unpleasant smell let out by the rotten (腐烂) potatoes they were carrying.

Those children who have 5 potatoes really began to feel the weight of the heavier bags. After one week, the children were happy to hear that the teacher had finally ended the game. The teacher asked: "How did you feel while carrying the potatoes with you for one week?" The children started complaining of the trouble that they had to carry the heavy and smelly potatoes wherever they go.

Then the teacher told them the hidden meaning behind the game. The teacher said: "This is exactly the situation when you carry your hatred(仇恨)for somebody inside your heart. The burden(负担)of hatred will pollute your heart and you will end up carrying an unnecessary burden with you wherever you go.

If you cannot tolerate the smell of rotten potatoes for just one week, can you imagine what a burden it would be to have the hatred in your heart for your lifetime?"

1.According to the teacher, if a Child hates three persons, he or she needs to carry ________.

A.one potato        B.two potatoes       C.three potatoes     D.four potatoes

2.The underlined word “tolerate ” in the last paragraph probably means _____________.

A.carry             B.hate              C.receive           D.stand

3.In fact, the teacher wants to ______________.

A.play a game with the students              B.teach the students a lesson

C.make the students more tired              D.play jokes on the students

4.What is the main idea of the story?

A.It’s best to learn to forgive and forget.

B.Students should love people around them.

C.Children should carry less rotten potatoes.

D.Rotten potatoes are really a heavy burden.

 

British potato farmers were taking to the streets to call for the expression "couch potato" to be taken away from the dictionary on the grounds that it harms the vegetable's image.

The British Potato Council wants the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) to replace the expression with the term "couch slouch", with protests planned outside parliament in London and the offices of Oxford University Press. Kathryn Race, head of marketing at the Council, which represents some 4,000 growers and processors, said the group had complained in writing to the OED but had yet to receive a response.

"We are trying to get rid of the image that potatoes are bad to you," she said Monday.

"The potato has had its knocks in the past. Of course it is not the Oxford English Dictionary's fault but we want to use another term than couch potato because potatoes are naturally healthy."

The OED says "couch potato" originated as American slang, meaning "a person who spends leisure time passively or idly sitting around, especially watching television or video tapes."

John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, said the dictionary first included the term “couch potato” in 1993 and said "dictionaries just reflect the words that society uses."

Simpson said words were never taken out of the full-length dictionary, which includes some 650,000 words contained in 20 volumes. But little-used words can be removed from the smaller dictionaries to make way for newer ones.

“If society stops using words, then they are taken out of the smaller dictionaries”, he added. “The first known recorded use of the expression ‘couch potato’ was in a 1979 Log Angeles Times article,” Simpson said.

Nigel Evans, a member of parliament for the Ribble Valley in Lancashire, has made a motion in support of the campaign, highlighting the nutritional value of the British potato.

1.British potato farmers were taking to the streets _____.

A.to advertise their production

B.to call for a higher price for t heir potatoes

C.to remove the expression “couch potato” from the dictionary

D.to let people know how important the potato is in people’s lives

2.The farmers think that_________.

A.potatoes have had a bad imagine       

B.potatoes are good for people by nature

C.potatoes sometimes do harm to people

D.it's the dictionary's fault to use the expression "couch potato"

3.John Simpson thinks that _________.

A.the expression can be taken out of every kind of dictionary

B.dictionaries do not necessarily reflect the words the society uses

C.little used words can remain in the smaller dictionaries

D.it is impossible to take the word out of the dictionary

4.What is wrong with the expression "couch potato"?

A.It is connected with unfavorable meaning.

B.Potato should be used in the expression. 

C.It is borrowed from American English.

D.It refers to a kind of person.

 

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