It was so dark outside the car window that it was hard to see anything.
“ Can I have a carrot, Mom?” Bruce asked.
“I don’t have any carrots,” his mom said. “How about an apple?”
“No,” said Bruce. “It has to be a carrot.”
“Why do you want a carrot?” asked his mom
“You always say carrots help your eyes.” said Bruce. “If I eat one now, it might help me see in the dark.”
Would eating a carrot really help Bruce? What is special about carrots? What makes a carrot special is its color. Carrots are orange because they contain(包含) bta-carotene( 胡萝卜素). Beta-carotene is a way of saying vitamin A. Your eyes need vitamin A. It helps them work.
When light hits your eye, very small parts inside turn the light into messages. The messages go to your brain（大脑）, and then you know what you’re looking at. Your eye can only turn light into messages when it has a special chemical(化学物质). Your eyes use vitamin A to make the special chemical. Every time your eye changes light into messages, a little bit of the chemical is used up. By the end of the day, you’ve looked at hundreds of things. That uses up a lot of the chemical. Your eyes need to make more.
What should you eat if you don’t like carrots? Don’t worry. Other fruits and vegetables have vitamin A, too. The secret is in their color. Most orange or red fruits and vegetables contain beta-carotene, or vitamin A, Sweet vegetable, red peppers（胡椒）, Mangoes(芒果) are a few foods that have the same orange secret.
小题1: Bruce wanted a carrot because he thought _______.
A. he liked it
B. it could help him see in the dark
C. it was sweet and delicious
小题2:How does vitamin A help your eyes work?
A. The special chemical can stop your eyes from using up vitamin A.
B. The special chemical is used to make Vitamin A which turns the light into messages
C. Vitamin A is used to make the special chemical which turns light into messages.
小题3: Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Carrots are orange because they store beta-carotene.
B. Any food which is orange or red must have some Vitamin A.
C. Most fruits that are orange or red store some beta-carotene or Vitamin A.
小题4: Sweet vegetable, red peppers, and mangoes don’t have the same orange secret, do they?
A. No, they don’t. B. Yes, they do. C. I’m not sure.
小题5: The passage mainly tells us that _______.
A. we can’t see in the dark unless we eat many carrots every day
B. we can’t see unless we eat a lot of orange or red food every day
C. we should eat some food containing vitamin A so that we can see well
