单选题 Convenience food helps companies by creating growth, but what is its effect on people? For people who think cooking was the foundation of civilization, the microwave is the last enemy. The communion of eating together is easily broken by a device that liberates household citizens from waiting for mealtimes. The first great revolution in the history of food is in danger of being undone. The companionship of the campfire, cooking pot and common table, which have helped to bond humans in collaborative living for at least 150,000 years, could be destroyed.
Meals have certainly suffered from the rise of convenience food. The only meals regularly taken together in Britain these days are at the weekend, among rich families struggling to retain something of the old symbol of togetherness. Indeed, the day"s first meal has all but disappeared. In the 20th century the leisure British breakfast was undermined by the cornflake; in the 21st breakfast is vanishing altogether, a victim of the quick cup of coffee in Starbucks and the cereal bar.
Convenience food has also made people forget how to cook. One of the apparent paradoxes of modern food is that, while the amount of time spent cooking meals has fallen from 60 minutes a day in 1980 to 13 minutes a day in 2002, the number of books and television programmes on cooking has multiplied. But perhaps this isn"t a paradox. Maybe it is because people can"t cook any more, so they need to be told bow to do it. Or maybe it is because people buy books about hobbies-golf, yachting-not about chores. Cooking has ceased to be a chore and has become a hobby.
Although everybody lives in the kitchen, its facilities are increasingly for display rather than for use. Mr. Silverstein"s new book, Trading Up , look at mid-range consumer"s willingness to splash out. He says that industrial-style Viking cooktops, with nearly twice the heat output of other ranges, have helped to push the "kitchen as theater" trend in home goods. They cost from $1,000 to $9,000. Some 75% of them are never used.
Convenience also has an impact on the healthiness, or otherwise, on food. Of course, there is nothing bad about ready-to-eat food itself. You don"t get much healthier than an apple, and all supermarkets sell a better-for-you range of ready-meals. But there is a limit to the number of apple people want to eat; and these days it is easier for people to eat the kind of food that makes them fat.
The three Harvard economists in their paper "Why have Americans become more obese?" point out that, in the past, if people wanted to eat fatty hot food, they had to cook it. That took time and energy—a good chip needs frying twice, once to cook the potato and once to get it crispy—which discouraged consumption of that sort of food. Mass preparation of food took away that constraint. Nobody has to cut and double-cook their own fries these days. Who has the time?

单选题 What might the previous paragraphs deal with?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 篇章结构题。
根据题干措辞might(表示推测)可知，题干所问的the previous paragraphs是指本文之前的几段，而非本文中的前几段，由此可知，本题的命题老师是在考查考生根据已知信息推理未知信息的能力，当然，这种推理是建立在对上下文篇章结构充分把握的基础上，故在本质上可定性为篇章结构题。
既然对上文未知信息做推断，根据语篇衔接的原理，其推断的依据无疑应是首段首句(承上启下的作用)，细查此句会发现语义转折词but前面的信息应是本题目的题眼，即推断上文未知信息的具体线索，此处讲“方便食品通过自身壮大有助于企业发展”，creating growth明确暗示上文应在讲解方便食品的“发展壮大”，比对选项会发现，C中的rise恰是原文growth的同义转述，故C是本题答案。
思路补充：首段首句中but后的信息是一个疑问句，问“它对人们的影响是什么呢?”可见方便食品对人们的影响引起了作者极大关注，也是整个下文探讨的主题内容；而只有一个事物或现象发展到一定程度才有可能引起人们的关注和讨论，由此可反向推知，上文应是讲述方便食品的崛起。此外，根据“现象一分析”型的惯常行文模式也可知，作者在分析方便食品造成的影响之前，应对其进行简要背景介绍，既然有影响，可见其强大，故而选C选项。

单选题 What is the paradox in the third paragraph?

单选题 Which of the following might the author most likely agree with?

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。
鉴于题干缺乏有效信号词，故考生可参考判断题思路，将四个选项一一代入原文做细致比对：
A：nothing bad自身的语气过于绝对，且与文章主旨“方便食品对人们造成不良影响”相矛盾。
B：对应Para.6①，此处以经济学家的论文为例，讲述人们相比过去更容易吃到fatty hot food(高脂肪热食物)，因此导致美国人愈加肥胖；此外，Para.6作为例子整体上都在扩展论述Para.5①，即“方便食品影响着人们的健康”，而让人“肥胖”即是作者阐述的一个具体影响，故B选项符合题目要求，与作者立场一致。
C：对应Para.2③，但Meals in Britain与原文的the day"s first meal属偷换概念，文中仅讲到“早餐几乎消失”，而非“一日三餐都已消失”。
D：对应Para.1④，但此处的The first great revolution in the history of food(食品发展史上的第一次伟大革命)指的是cooking，即“烹饪是食品发展史上的第一次伟大革命”，而非“方便食品是一场烹饪革命”，D无疑是对原文的概念偷换；此外，根据Para.1中的the last enemy、easily broken、in danger of being undone、could be destroyed可知，方便食品对烹饪是一种“破坏力”，而非“一场革命”。

单选题 It can be inferred that Americans have become more obese because of ______.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 原因推断题。
根据题干信号词Americans have become more obese可回文定位至Para.6①，本句讲“三位经济学家在论文《为什么美国人变得更加肥胖?》中指出……”，无疑论文中“指出(point out)”的内容即是对论文标题的回答，即美国人更加肥胖的原因。鉴于Para.6①仅提及美国人过去的情形(想吃高脂肪热食就得自己烹制)，故考生应继续向下文找寻如今美国人的状况描述，Para.6③④讲到“如今方便食品消涂了以往的限制，人们无需再去花时间和精力亲自去做”，换言之，人们如今可轻易吃到高脂肪热食品，这就是论文中关于美国人越来越肥胖的原因解释，比对选项，考生可发现B选项正好是对此部分信息的同义概述，故B选项正确。
思路补充：
Para.5①讲“方便食品影响着人们的健康”，Para.6以经济学家的论文为例对Para.5①做进一步展开论述，由此也可推知，美国人变得肥胖是因为方便食品的影响，故而选B选项。