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A

Charlotte Hollins faces a battle. The 23-year-old British farmer and her 21-year-old brother Ben are fighting to save a farm that their father worked on since he was 14. Although confident they will succeed, she is aware of farming’s many challenges.

“You don’t often get a day off. Supermarkets put a lot of pressure on farmers to keep prices low. With fewer people working on farms it can be isolating,” she said. “There is a high rate of suicide and farming will never make you rich!”

Like others around the world, Charlotte’s generation tend to leave the farm for cities.

Oliver Robinson, 25, grew up in Yorkshire. But he never considered staying on his father and grandfather’s land. “I’m sure Dad hoped I’d stay,” he said. “I guess it’s a nice, straightforward life, but it doesn’t appeal to me. For young, ambitious people, farm life is hard.”

For Robinson, farming doesn’t offer much “in terms of money or lifestyle”. Hollins agrees that economic factors stop people from enjoying the rewards of farming. He describes it as a career that provides “for a vital human need”, allowing people to work “outdoors with nature”.

Farming is a big political issue in the UK. The “Buy British” campaigns urge consumers not to purchase cheaper imported foods. The 2001 foot and mouth crisis closed thousands of farms, stopped meat exports, and raised public consciousness about the troubles on UK farms.

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver’s 2005 campaign to get children eating healthily also highlighted the issue.

This national concern gives hope to farmers competing with powerful supermarkets. While most people buy food from the big supermarkets, hundreds of independent Farmers’ Markets are becoming popular.

“I started going to Farmers’ Markets in direct defiance of the big supermarkets. I seriously objected to the super-sizing of everything – what exactly DO they put on our apples to make them so big and red? It’s terrible,” said Londoner Michaela Samson, 31.

1. What are the challenges that British farmers face according to Charlotte Hollins?

a. loneliness b. thin profits

c. a lack of good equipment d. long working hours but slow results

A. abc B. abd C. acd D. bcd

2. Why did Oliver Robinson refuse to stay on the farm?

A. He hoped for a simpler life.

B. He was fed up with a hard farm life.

C. Farm life was too demanding though he liked it.

D. He hoped for something challenging and rewarding.

3. Which of the following is an advantage of Farmers’ Markets?

A. Lower prices. B. Flexible sizes.

C. Convenient location. D. Healthier food.

4. What can we conclude from the last two paragraphs?

A. Things are improving for independent farms in the UK. B. Farming in the UK can now match the powerful supermarkets.

C. Most British people are doubtful of food in big supermarkets.

D. Most British people have realized the problems facing farms and begun to help save them.

B

At 10 years old, Flynn McGarry became sick of the meals his mother cooked for him. So the Los Angeles native took matters into his own hands and started making his own dinners. One of his specialties? Trout with braised leeks (韭葱炖鲑鱼).

Now 13, the young chef is being praised as a “food prodigy”. He will spend his summer apprenticing with some of the best chefs at LA’s famous restaurants, MSNBC Nightly News reports.

McGarry began making a name for himself in the culinary world when John Sedlar, owner of the trendy Playa Restaurant, let McGarry take over the kitchen for a special nine-course meal. The meal sold out almost instantly.

“Flynn is a very unusual young man, and he’s very, very passionate,” owner John Sedlar told MSNBC.

By usual teenage boy standards, it’s true. So strong is his passion for cooking that the young man has turned his bedroom into an experimental kitchen laboratory.

Instead of video game consoles, baseball trophies and movie posters, McGarry’s room is lined with mixers, pots and pans, cutting boards and a stainless steel worktable. It’s where McGarry cooks his monthly pop-up dinners, which are served from his family’s dining room, a monthly supper club he calls Eureka.

McGarry is deft (灵巧的) and confident in the kitchen, with skills he’s been practicing since he was a child. What started out as a means of self-preservation from his mom’s unsatisfactory cooking has turned into a passion that the teen hopes to develop into a career.

“My goal? Michelin three stars, a restaurant in the top 50 list,” he told MSNBC. “Hopefully the top five.” Meanwhile, McGarry’s 13-year-old résumé is already richer and more impressive than most cooks many times his age.

McGarry isn’t the only talented young prodigy to surprise experts in his field in recent years. At just 17 years old, physicist Taylor Wilson is already teaching graduate-level courses in physics and has built a functioning nuclear reactor.

5. McGarry first started cooking ______.

A. for himself B. as an experiment

C. in his own bedroom D. with a teacher’s guidance

6. The underlined word “passionate” in Paragraph 4 probably means ______.

A. enthusiastic B. focused C. gifted D. unique

7. Compared with many adult chefs, McGarry ______.

A. has the best cooking equipment in his kitchen

B. is inventive and has many new specialties to his name

C. has much and impressive cooking experience for his young age

D. wants to open his own Michelin three-star restaurant

8. The author mentions Taylor Wilson in the last paragraph to ______.

A. prove that Flynn’s success is not a rare case

B. compare his talent to that of Flynn McGarry

C. introduce a young talent in a different field

D. suggest experts should be trained at a young age

9. Where does this text probably come from?

A. A recipe book. B. A restaurant introduction.

C. A career guide. D. A news report.

C

In the UK, we like a good bargain. People flock to the sales in January, when stores slash their prices to get rid of all their winter stock. But surprisingly, the British hate haggling.

In markets you might see the odd British person battling with a stall owner to bring down the price of a pair of trousers or some furniture. Generally, though, people from the UK are too reserved to haggle. If we think the price of something we want is too high, we’ll simply move on and try somewhere else.

The act of bargaining with someone is very theatrical, in my opinion. It’s a test to see who can stand their ground for the longest. But it’s not in British people’s nature to “perform” in public, especially around strangers.

However, in the US, people are generally more willing to haggle. And if you wander into a market, you’re likely to hear a number of phrases that Americans reserve for such occasions.

First, “you drive a hard bargain” is commonly said by the customer to indicate they think the stall holder is working very hard, probably a little too hard, to get the price he wants.

Or you might hear the buyer telling a stall holder that “the kid’s gotta have braces”, which means they don’t have enough spare money lying around to afford the price being offered.

If the customer is really shocked at the price suggested by the seller, they also might say “you’re killing me” to indicate that they think the price is far too high.

In Britain, it’s difficult to imagine anyone saying anything along these lines. If I were forced to bargain, I’d probably say, very simply: “I’m going to make you an offer.” If that offer were refused, I think I’d just walk away. 　

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