研究生英语阅读教程 基础级第二版 第十四课.docVIP

14 READING SELECTION A Why Smaller Refrigerators Can Preserve the Human Race By Appletree Rodden 注黄字体为课后生词 [1] Why has this change in size and complexity occurred (appeared) in America? It has not taken place (happen) in many areas (parts) of the technologically advanced world (the average West German refrigerator is about a yard high and less than a yard wide, yet refrigeration technology in Germany is quite advanced). Do we really need (or even want) all that space and cold (capacity)? [2] The benefits (advantages) of a large refrigerator are apparent (obvious): a saving of time (one grocery-shopping trip a week instead of several), a saving of money (the ability to buy expensive, perishable items in larger, cheaper quantities), a feeling of security (if the car breaks down or if famine strikes, the refrigerator is well stocked). The costs are there, too, but they are not so obvious. [3] Cost number one is psychological. Ever since the refrigerator began to grow, food has increasingly become something we buy to store rather than to eat. Few families go to market daily for their daily bread. The manna in the wilderness could be gathered (collected) for only one day at a time. The ancient distaste (hatred) for making food a storage item is echoed (responded) by many modern psychiatrists who suggest (believe) that such psychosomatic disorders as obesity are often due to (because of) the patients inability to come to terms with the basic transitoriness of life. Research into a relationship between excessive corpulence and the size of ones refrigerator has not been extensive, but we might suspect one (correlation) to be there. [4] Another cost is aesthetic. In most (most part) of Europe, where grocery marketing is still a part of the daily rhythm, one can buy tomatoes, lettuce, and the like picked on the day of purchase. Many European families have modest (small) refrigerators for storing small items (eggs, milk, butter) for a couple of days, but the concept (idea) of