Passage A
Hot boning is an energy saving technique for the meat processing industry. It has received considerable attention in recent years when increased pressure for energy conservation has accentuated the need for more efficient methods of processing the bovine carcass. Cooling of an entire carcass requires a considerable amount of refrigerated space, since bone and trimmable fat are cooled along with the muscle. It is also necessary to space the carcasses adequately in the refrigerated room for better air movement and prevention of microbial contamination, thus adding to the volume requirements for carcass chillers.
Conventional handling of meat involves holding the beef sides in the cooler for 24 to 36 hours before boning. Chilling in the traditional fashion is also associated with a loss of carcass weight ranging from 2% to 4% due to evaporation of moisture from the meat tissue.
Early excision, or hot boning, of muscle prerigor followed by vacuum packaging has several potential advantages. By removing only the edible muscle and fat prerigor, refrigeration space and costs are minimized, boning labor is decreased and storage yields increased. Because hot boning often results in toughening of meat, a more recent approach, hot boning often following electrical stimulation，has been used to reduce the necessary time of rigor mortis. Some researchers have found this method beneficial in maintaining tender meat, while others have found that the meat also becomes tough after electrical stimulation.
Which of the following was not mentioned as a drawback of the conventional methods of boning?
文章第一段第三句话“Cooling of an entire carcass requires a considerable amount of refrigerated space”说明 传统方法需要大量空间；第一段第一句话“Hot boning is an energy saving technique”说明传统方法需要大量能 源；第二段第二句话“the traditional fashion is also associated with a loss of carcass weight”说明传统方法会导致 肉的质量减少；只有D选项未被提及。因此，本题的正确答案为D。
Hot boning is becoming very popular because ________.
根据文章第一段第二句话“It has received considerable attention in recent years when increased pressure for energy conservation has accentuated the need for more efficient methods of processing the bovine carcass”可知， 新方法可以减少能源的使用，从而降低成本。因此，本题的正确答案为B。
Carcass chiller means most nearly ________.
从文章第一段最后一句话“thus adding to the volume requirements for carcass chillers”可以看出，carcass chiller是用来冷却各种肉类的装置。因此，本题的正确答案为A。
Early excision means most nearly ________.
文章最后一段第一句话“Early excision, or hot boning”明确指出early excision和hot boning是同一种技术。 因此，本题的正确答案为B。
The toughening of meat during hot boning has been combatted by ________.
由文章最后一段倒数第二句话“hot boning often following electrical stimulation，has been used to reduce the necessary time of rigor mortis”可以看出，为了防止肉变老，要在hot boning之前先进行electrical stimulation。因此，本题的正确答案为C。