Text 1
More than two billion cups of coffee are drunk every day and for many,
working life would feel impossible without it. As traditionally tea-drinking
countries like China are seduced by coffee’s charms, it may soon become the
world’s favourite drink. What is driving this insatiable thirst, and how has the
beverage come to conquer the world? Coffee’s story starts in the lush
highlands of Ethiopia, the natural homeland of the delicate Coffee arabica
plant. Although they are called “coffee beans”, the plant is not a legume, and
the fruits of the coffee tree look more like cherries when they are first picked.
The seeds inside are extracted and dried before the process of roasting turns
them into the hard, nutty nodules we feed into our grinders.
The Oromo people from Ethiopia are thought to have been the first to have
noticed the stimulating effects of these “beans”, and coffee still remains an
important element of their traditional cuisine. Exactly how and when it
spread beyond Ethiopia is still the subject of many legends, but the available
historic records suggest that the Sufis of Yemen were the first truly devoted
drinkers outside Africa in the Middle Ages. Its caffeine helped them to
continue their practices late into the night, while the roasting of the bean
was apparently taken as an analogy for the transcendence of the human
soul.
Coffee houses soon spread across the Middle East and the Ottoman Empire,
where they caught the attention of Western traders, who took the beguiling
drink back to their home countries in the 17th Century. (…). One newspaper
advert in 1657 described the drink as “having many excellent virtues, closes
the orifice of the stomach, fortifies the heart within, helps digestion, brights
up the spirit.”
Some studies suggest that coffee can offer some protection from certain
common diseases. A recent review of the evidence by Susanna Larsson at
the Karolinska Institute in Sweden found that each cup of coffee per day is
associated with a 6% reduction in the risk of type 2 diabetes. Laura Van
Dongen at Wageningen University, meanwhile, has found that regular coffee
drinkers were at least 20% less likely to die from heart disease.
1. If coffee houses … to the middle east and Ottoman Empire, Western
traders probably wouldn’t have brought coffee back home
A. didn’t spread
B. hadn’t spread
C. wouldn’t spread
D. Wouldn’t have spread
E. Were not spread
2. If someone drank a cup of coffee each day, he/she …. the risk of
diabetes.
A. would decrease
B. wouldn’t decrease
C. has decrease
D. wouldn’t have decrease
E. had decrease
Text 2
However, while not especially serious, eating onions can also cause
problems for some people. The carbohydrates in onions may cause gas and
bloating. Onions, especially if consumed raw, can worsen heartburn in
people who suffer from chronic heartburn or gastric reflux disease.
Moreover, research published in Integrative Cancer Therapies found that
consuming fresh yellow onion helped lessen insulin resistance.
Eating a large amount of green onions or rapidly increasing your
consumption of green onions may interfere with blood thinning drugs,
according to the University of Iowa. Green onions contain a high amount of
vitamin K, which can decrease blood thinner functioning.
It is also possible to have a food intolerance or an allergy to onions, but
cases are rare. People with onion allergies may experience red, itchy eyes
and rashes if an onion comes into contact with the skin. People with an
intolerance to onions may experience nausea, vomiting and other gastric
discomfort.
People have to make sure their onions are fresh. Onions spoil much faster if
they are chopped or sliced. Research published in the Journal Food
Protection that unrefrigerated yellow onions showed potential growth of
E.coli and salmonella, though refrigerated ones did not.
3. … fresh yellow onion, it wouldn’t have helped reduce insulin
resistance.
A. If people had eaten
B. If people would eat
C. Had people not eaten
D. If people would eat
E. If people ate
