We all have ideas about what kinds of foods are good to eat. We also have ideas about what kinds of foods are bad to eat. As a result, people from one culture often think the foods that people from another culture eat are nauseating(令人作呕的).When the famous boxer Muhammad Ali visited Africa, for example, one member of his group became quite sick when he saw someone pick up a butterfly and eat it. Many people would find it disgusting to eat rats, but there are forty-two different cultures whose people regard rats as appropriate food.
Food likes and dislikes do not always seem related to nutrition. For example, broccoli is first on a list of the most nutritious common vegetables, but it is twenty-first on a list of vegetables that Americans like most to eat. Tomatoes are sixteenth on the list of most nutritious vegetables, but they are first on the list of vegetables that Americans like most to eat.
But dislike is not the only reason why some cultures will not eat a certain food. In some cultures, certain foods are taboo. Some foods are taboo in certain religions, but there are also other food taboos that are not connected to a religion. We do not usually think about why certain things are taboo in our culture. We may not even know why they are taboo. Anthropologists(人类学家) try to discover the hidden reasons for taboos.
Anthropologists believe that most food likes and dislikes are a result of the ways of life of different people. Some people live in areas where there are both large animals and many insects. It is difficult for these people to kill large animals, and it requires a lot of energy. It is easier for them to use insects for food because it is not difficult to catch insects and it does not require a lot of energy. Nomadic(游牧的) people who move around will not want to keep pigs for food. People will not eat pets such as dogs. Americans eat a lot of beef because there is plenty of land for raising cattle and the me
at can be shipped cheaply for long distances by railroads.
小题1: What’s the main topic of this passage?
A．Food and religion.
B．Food and culture.
C．Nutrition of different foods.
D．Different ways of life.小题2:Which of the following statements is TRUE about food likes and dislikes?
A．They are seldom related to nutrition.
B．They are mostly associated with people’s taste.
C．They are mostly connected with people’s life styles.
D．They are usually related to cultures or religions.小题3:The underlined word “taboo” (Line 3, Para. 3) refers to _____.
A．something undiscovered
B．certain religions
C．something forbidden
D．certain foods小题4:What can we infer from the passage?
A．It is believed that brcoccoli is more nutritious than tomatoes.
B．Americans prefer tomatoes to beef.
C．People in Inner Mongolia would probably like to keep pigs for food.
D．The famous boxer Muhamm Ali would like to eat rat rather than butterfly.小题5:Why do Americans prefer to eat beef?
A．Because beef provides a lot of energy people require.
B．Because beef is on the list of the most nutritious foods.
C．Because they have the ideal condition to keep and ship cattle.
D．Because cattle are large animals.
