English teenagers will receive cooking lessons in schools. The idea is to encourage healthy eating to solve the problem that many people are overweight. Also, it worries people that basic cooking and food preparation skills are being lost because parents use too much preprepared fast food.
Cooking was once regarded as an important part of education in England—even if it was mainly for girls. In recent years cooking has become less important in schools. But the rising level of obesity has led to rethink about the food that children are given and the skills they should be taught.
“What we want is to teach young people how to do basic, simple meals, which they can use now at home and then in their life，” said Ed Balls, an education expert.
The new lessons will start in September, but some schools without kitchens will be given a longer time to prepare. Also, there may be a shortage of teachers with the right skills, since schools have been teaching food technology rather than practical cooking. Besides, the lessons for handon cooking will only be one hour a week for one term. But the wellknown cookery writer, Pru Leith, believe it will be worth it.
“If we'd done this thirty years ago we might not have to face the problem about obesity and lack of knowledge about food and so on. Every child should know how to cook, not just so that they'll be healthy, but because it's a life skill which is a real pleasure.”
The renewed interest in cooking is an effort to reduce the obesity rate, which is almost the highest in Europe, and according to the government, half of all British people will be obese in 25 years if present trends are not halted.
1．The passage mainly talks about ________.
A．the reason for obesity
B．the lost cooking skills
C．the healthy eating
D．the cooking classes
答案：D
解析：主旨大意题。由第一段第一句是本文的主旨English teenagers will receive cooking lessons in schools.可知，这篇文章主要讲的是烹饪课。故选D。
2．Which of the following is NOT the aim of bringing back cooking lessons in Britain?
A．To encourage teenagers to eat healthy food.
B．To reduce the country's increasing obesity rate.
C．To stop parents from turning to preprepared fast food.
D．To prevent basic cooking and food preparation skills from being lost.
答案：C
解析：细节理解题。由第一段最后一句it worries people that basic cooking and food preparation skills are being lost because parents use too much preprepared fast food可知“阻止父母们去吃预先准备好的快餐”不是在英国带回烹饪课程的目标。故选C。
3．How will cooking lessons do good to the students?
A．All of them will become good cooks in their later life.
B．Students will be healthy and enjoy the pleasure of such a life skill as well.
C．Students will be able to make food experiments with the knowledge and skills.
D．Students will be able to control the level of obesity in the whole country.
答案：B
解析：细节理解题。由倒数第二段最后一句．..not just so that they'll be healthy, but because it's a life skill which is a real pleasure可知，不仅因为学生们将会很健康，而且因为这是一种生活技能，是一种真正的乐趣。故选B。
4．The underlined word “halted” in the last paragraph probably means “________”．
A．continued B．stopped
C．discussed D．kept
答案：B
解析：词义猜测题。根据最后一段The renewed interest in cooking is an effort to reduce the obesity rate, which is almost the highest in Europe, and according to the government, half of all British people will be obese in 25 years if present trends are not halted. 人们重新燃起对烹饪的兴趣，是为了降低肥胖率，这在欧洲几乎是最高的。根据政府的说法，如果目前的趋势没有停止，英国一半的人口将在25年内肥胖。由此推知，画线词的意思是“停止”，故选B。
