Section 2---Unit 13 Food and Health
All
Things Pumpkin
Every
October, in windows of homes across North America, glowing faces appear. Some
have scary grins, and others just look funny, but all of them are carved from
pumpkins and are called jack-o'-lanterns.
Jack-o'-lanterns
didn't start out being carved from pumpkins. In Great Britain and Ireland, long
before people brought back pumpkins from the Americas, people carved scary
faces onto turnips and put them outside their homes to keep spirits away. When
these people moved to the Americas, they started using pumpkins because they
were larger and easier to carve.
Pumpkins
are used for a lot more than just Halloween decorations. They are good for your
health, too! The chemical that makes pumpkins orange helps fight against cancer
and is useful for keeping your eyes healthy. The meat of the pumpkin is also
low in fat, making it great for people who are worried about their weight.
If
you've carved some jack-o'-lanterns and have eaten your fill of pumpkin pie,
what do you do with the rest of the pumpkins? How about tossing them into the
air at the annual Punkin Chunkin contest?
This
contest got its start in 1986 when four friends in Delaware wanted to see who
could get a pumpkin to fly the farthest. They built catapults to throw the
pumpkins and had a marvelous time. The next year, a few more people took part.
Now, tens of thousands of people come to watch catapults and cannons fire
"punkins" through the sky.
The
next time you see a pumpkin at the grocery store, think about how useful it is.
You can carve it up for Halloween, eat it to improve your health, or even use
it to participate in a strange but fun competition. When it comes to pumpkins,
the sky really is the limit.
  | against | 第二級 | [介系詞] 反對 |
| | annual | 第四級 | [形容詞] 一年一次的;每年的 |
| | being | 第二級 | [名詞] 存在;生存;生命;本質 |
| | cancer | 第二級 | [名詞] 癌症 |
| | carve | 第四級 | [動詞] 刻,雕刻 |
| | carved | 第四級 | [動詞] carve(刻,雕刻) 的過去式及過去分詞 |
| | chemical | 第二級 | [形容詞] 化學的; [名詞] 化學製品;化學藥品 |
| | competition | 第四級 | [名詞] 競爭,角逐 |
| | contest | 第四級 | [動詞] 競爭,角逐;爭辯; [名詞] 爭奪,競爭 |
| | decorations | 第四級 | [名詞] decoration(裝飾,裝潢) 的複數 |
| | glowing | 第三級 | [動詞] glow(發白熱光,灼熱) 的現在分詞 |
| | grins | 第三級 | [動詞] grin(露齒而笑) 的第三人稱單數現在式; [名詞] grin(露齒的笑) 的複數 |
| | grocery | 第三級 | [名詞] 食品雜貨; 食品雜貨店 |
| | improve | 第二級 | [動詞] 改善 |
| | lanterns | 第二級 | [名詞] lantern(燈籠) 的複數 |
| | limit | 第二級 | [動詞] 限定; [名詞] 限度 |
| | marvelous | 第三級 | [形容詞] 了不起的 |
| | onto | 第三級 | [介系詞] 到...之上;向...之上 |
| | participate | 第二級 | [動詞] 參加,參與 |
| | pumpkin | 第二級 | [名詞] 南瓜 |
| | pumpkins | 第二級 | [名詞] pumpkin(南瓜) 的複數 |
| | scary | 第三級 | [形容詞] 膽小的;提心吊膽的 |
| | spirits | 第二級 | [名詞] spirit(精神) 的複數 |
| | tossing | 第三級 | [動詞] toss(拋,扔,投) 的現在分詞 |
| | used | 第二級 | [形容詞] 習慣於; 舊的;用舊了的 |
| | weight | 第二級 | [名詞] 重量 |
Reading Comprehension
( ) 1. What is paragraph two mainly about?
(A) How pumpkins
are popular in Europe and America
(B) The history
of jack-o'-lanterns
(C) Comparing
pumpkins and turnips for making jack-o-lanterns
(D) How to carve
scary faces onto turnips
( ) 2. According to this article, why did
people start carving pumpkins instead of turnips?
(A) Turnips are
smaller than pumpkins.
(B) Turnips are
easier to carve than pumpkins.
(C) Pumpkins are
more common than turnips.
(D) Pumpkins are
cheaper than turnips.
( ) 3. How is the annual Punkin Chunkin
contest played?
(A) Contestants
see who can eat the most pumpkin pies.
(B) Contestants
see who can build the best catapult.
(C) Contestants
see who can carve the best jack-o'-lantern.
(D) Contestants
see who can get a pumpkin to fly the farthest.
( ) 4. What does "the sky really is the limit" in the last sentence mean?
(A) There are a
lot of pumpkins in the world.
(B) There are
many things you can do with a pumpkin.
(C) There are
pumpkins that get shot into the sky.
(D) You can buy
as many pumpkins as you want.
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