Feeding a crowd of hundreds doesn’t make Kenny Seals-Nutt nervous.
In fact, he thrives in the kitchen. He’s in his perfect place when dicing tomatoes, making salads and baking cakes.
By the time Kenny, 16, reached his third year of high school at Hickory Grove, North Carolina, US, he had become vice president of his school’s cooking club. He also opened his own food company, called Modern Fusion.
Kenny said he developed his love of cooking by watching his mother, and his grandmother, who owned a catering (饮食业) business herself. Kenny helped them both in order to remember their tips: how long to cook chicken so it stays wet, and the right amount of tomatoes to add to a spaghetti dish.
At the age of 5, he cooked his first dish of shrimp and broccoli. Taking it for his school lunch, he warmed it up in the school’s microwave, while the other kids ate their sandwiches.
“I love to eat, and it started to become more fun to cook than to use a microwave,” he said.
Cooking came easy to Kenny, and he enjoyed adding new ingredients into common dishes. “It started with a passion (热情) and I wanted to know more,” he said. He began to watch the Food Network and read chef blogs.
Last summer, Kenny put his skills to the test by working with his grandmother to cater his uncle’s wedding. While she cooked traditional dishes, Kenny wanted to add new to the expected flavors (风味).
Now Kenny spends his weekends catering his own events: weddings, birthday parties, baby showers. Kenny’s dishes are always a hit.
Chef Frederick Mookie Hicks, owner of a catering business, said Kenny’s success comes from his ability to multitask in the kitchen. Hicks said he has asked Kenny to cook with him on jobs three times now, and he presents Kenny as a positive example of a passionate chef to the students in his cooking classes.
“He’s so vigorous (精神饱满的) about cooking that he doesn’t let anything stop him,” Hicks said. “I knew in the first five minutes of working with the kid that he is something special.”
【小题1】How is Kenny different from other students?

Feeding a crowd of hundreds doesn’t make Kenny Seals-Nutt nervous.

In fact, he thrives in the kitchen. He’s in his perfect place when dicing tomatoes, making salads and baking cakes.

By the time Kenny, 16, reached his third year of high school at Hickory Grove, North Carolina, US, he had become vice president of his school’s cooking club. He also opened his own food company, called Modern Fusion.

Kenny said he developed his love of cooking by watching his mother, and his grandmother, who owned a catering (饮食业) business herself. Kenny helped them both in order to remember their tips: how long to cook chicken so it stays wet, and the right amount of tomatoes to add to a spaghetti dish.

At the age of 5, he cooked his first dish of shrimp and broccoli. Taking it for his school lunch, he warmed it up in the school’s microwave, while the other kids ate their sandwiches.

“I love to eat, and it started to become more fun to cook than to use a microwave,” he said.

Cooking came easy to Kenny, and he enjoyed adding new ingredients into common dishes. “It started with a passion (热情) and I wanted to know more,” he said. He began to watch the Food Network and read chef blogs.

Last summer, Kenny put his skills to the test by working with his grandmother to cater his uncle’s wedding. While she cooked traditional dishes, Kenny wanted to add new to the expected flavors (风味).

Now Kenny spends his weekends catering his own events: weddings, birthday parties, baby showers. Kenny’s dishes are always a hit.

Chef Frederick Mookie Hicks, owner of a catering business, said Kenny’s success comes from his ability to multitask in the kitchen. Hicks said he has asked Kenny to cook with him on jobs three times now, and he presents Kenny as a positive example of a passionate chef to the students in his cooking classes.

“He’s so vigorous (精神饱满的) about cooking that he doesn’t let anything stop him,” Hicks said. “I knew in the first five minutes of working with the kid that he is something special.”

1.How is Kenny different from other students?

A．He opened a cooking club in his high school.

B．He is famous on the Food Network.

C．He owned a food company at 16.

D．He loves to multi-task.

2.What does the underlined word “thrives” probably mean?

A．works energetic                        B．grows fast

C．learns quickly                          D．makes progress

3.Which of the following best describes Kenny’s cooking?

A．Traditional.                            B．Creative.

C．Simple.                               D．Strange.

4.We can conclude from the article that ______.

A．Kenny proved himself by catering his uncle’s wedding alone

B．Kenny likes to follow his mother’s recipe when cooking

C．Kenny was able to cook his first dish in primary school

D．Kenny’s success in cooking has a lot to do with his family

　Charlie came from a poor village. His parents had __1__ money to send him to school when he was young. The boy was very sad. Mr. King lived next to him. He found the boy __2__ and had pity on him and lent some money to him. So the boy could go to school. He studied hard and __3__ all his lessons. When he finished middle school, the man introduced him to his friend in the town. And he began to work.
　　Once Mr. King was seriously hurt in an accident. Dying, he asked Charlie to take care of his daughter, Sharon. The young man __4__ and several years later he married the girl. He loved her very much and tried his best to make her happy. He often bought beautiful clothes and delicious food for her. He was good at cooking and he cooked __5__ for her. So she became very fat and she felt it difficult to walk. And one day she found there was something wrong with her heart. Her husband wasn’t at home and she had to go to __6__ at once. The doctors looked her over and told her __7__ eat meat, sugar, chocolate and things like these. She was afraid __8__ the doctor’s words and wrote all the names of the food on the paper. When she got home, she put the list on the table and __9__. When she returned home that afternoon, she found many kinds of food: meat, sugar and chocolate in the kitchen. Charlie was busy __10__ there. As soon as he saw her, he said happily, “I’ve bought all the food you like, dear!”

　　1. A. no　　　　　　　　 B. some　　　　 　 C. much　　　　　　 D. enough
　　2. A. lazy　　　　　　 B. clever　　　　 C. careful　　　　　　 D. hard
　　3. A. did well in　 B. was poor at　 C. was working　 D. was good for
　　4. A. was angry　　 B. thought hard C. agreed　　　　　　 D. said “No.”
　　5. A. a little　　　　　 B. a few　　　　　　 C. many　　　　　　 D. a lot
　　6. A. rest　　　　　　 B. sleep　　　　　 　 C. hospital　　　　 D. work
　　7. A. should　　　　 B. would　　　　　　 C. to　　　　　　　　 D. not to
　　8. A. to remember B. to forget　　 　 C. to catch　　　　 D. to teach
　　9. A. slept　　　　　 B. went out　　　 C. cooked　　　　　 D. ate
　　10. A. reading　　　　 B. seeing　　　　 C. cooking　　　　 D. writing

My interest in Chinese food started many years ago, when I had my first job. I was a young reporter for the Daily Journal in San Francisco. Our office wasn’t far from Chinatown. I usually managed to arrange my time so that I could go there at least two or three times a week for a good meal.

The first time I ever ate Chinese food I loved it. And since then, it just tastes better and better to me. The first thing I noticed was the fresh tastes of the meat and vegetable. When I learned more about the food, I began to understand why it has this special feature.

 About 5000 years ago, China lost much of its wood because of over population and poor management of its forest. This loss was very bad for the country, of course, but it turned out to be very good for the food. Wood became very expensive and hard to get, so the Chinese had to learn how to use it better.

 In order to use less wood in cooking, they started to cut their meat and vegetable into small pieces before they put them in the hot oil. That way, the food cooked faster and they saved their fuel. The food prepared in the manner kept its fresh flavor(风味)--- and its this flavor that attracts people to the art of Chinese cooking.

 I often wonder if the Chinese appreciated their solution to that ancient energy problem as much as I do now --- whenever I eat Chinese food.

1.This passage is mainly about ___________.

A. why Chinese food tastes fresh

B. what Chinese food tastes like

C. how Chinese food is cooked

D. what makes Chinese food special

2.The author got to know Chinese food _______________.

A. when he worked as a reporter in China

B. from a news story in the Daily Journal

C. after he got a taste of it in the Chinatown

D. before he got his first job in San Francisco

3.The author thought the Chinese cut meat and vegetable into small pieces in order to _____________.

A. keeping its fresh flavor

B. saving their hard –to-get wood

C. producing a different kind of food

D. attracting westerners to their food

4.The word “ fuel” in the 4th paragraph most probably means ____________.

A. fresh flavor              B. meat and vegetable

C. hot oil                  D. firewood

5.According to the passage, the special freshness of Chinese food is the result of _______________.

A. the wood used to make the cooking fire

B. the fast speed at which it is cooked

C. the high quality of Chinese meat and vegetable

D. the well –developed art of Chinese cooking