He 20th Century technology time line

This passage contains food words that you may not know. These words are not 
important for understanding the meaning of the passage. Quickly read through 
the text and draw a line through all of the food words.

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Eating In, Eating Out | 113
II. READ
Read the text. Mark the words you don’t know, but don’t stop reading to look 
them up.
The average American supermarket now carries almost 400 kinds of vegetables 
and fruits during the course of the year. At any given time, most supermarkets 
have at least 50 vegetables in the produce aisle….
Recent waves of immigration from Asia and Latin America have 
transformed the produce aisle in most of America. Even though the immigrant 
population in my area is relatively low, my local supermarket regularly stocks 
jicama and choyote as well as bok choy and daikon radishes.
In addition to this wide selection of vegetables (the best-ever in history), 
modern cooks have access to more lavoring ideas and cuisines than ever 
before. Thirty years ago my mother (as well as most American mothers) 
prepared asparagus the same way—it was steamed and sauced with butter, 
lemon or hollandaise. That’s how you cooked asparagus.
Today, my mother is just as likely to roast asparagus with rosemary and 
garlic, Italian style, or dress spears with a Thai peanut sauce. We have the world 
and its lavors at our ingertips.
Source: Vegetables Every Day, by Jack Bishop, New York: HarperCollins, 2001, 
page xi
III. COMPREHENSION CHECK
Choose the correct answer for each sentence.
1. The main idea of this passage is:
a. 
There are many kinds of fruits and vegetables in the world.
b. 
The vegetables Americans eat and how they eat them has changed in 
recent years.
c. 
Modern cooks have access to more lavoring ideas and cuisines than 
ever before.
2. One reason Americans have access to different kinds of vegetables is:
a. 
Immigrants have inluenced the selection at the grocery store.
b. 
Farmers have developed new production methods.
c. 
Vegetables are being imported from Latin America.
3. Another way that American habits have changed is:
a. 
People are eating a lot less fat and salt.
b. 
People are cooking more foods with butter and garlic.
c. 
People are using new cooking styles.

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114 | Better Reading English
IV. VOCABULARY BUILDING
A.
Words with multiple meanings
Many words in English have more than one meaning. Sometimes the meanings 
are related, and sometimes they aren’t. Read the following sentences and 
notice the different meanings of the underlined words.
Same part of speech, related meaning:
1. The supermarkets carry hundreds of fruits and vegetables.
The students carry books to school.
2. We buy a lot of vegetables over the course of a year.
The ship took a southern course to avoid the storm.
3. When the economy improved, there was a new wave of immigration.
There were large waves at the beach today.
Sound and light travel in waves.
Different part of speech, different (but related) meaning:
4. The asparagus is in the produce aisle.
Those companies produce a lot of waste.
5. My supermarket stocks some unusual food.
They lost money on the stocks they bought last year.
Unrelated meanings:
6. She is just as likely to cook Italian style or Thai style.
I 
just saw my mother cooking dinner.
B.
Use the new words
Use one of the underlined words from Exercise A in each sentence.
1. The groceries were too heavy to ____________________.
2. Over the ____________________ of the last four years, I have learned a lot 
of English.
3. The customers come to the restaurant in ____________________, at 
breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
4. No, thank you. I ____________________ inished eating.
5. Excuse me, do you ____________________ green tea at this market?
6. What ____________________ does that ship take to Africa?
7. Sound ___________________ travel more slowly than light _______________.

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