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1、Supplementary Text,“The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest”,On April 1, 1957, BBC broadcast a news show about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. The success of the crop was attributed to an unusually mild winter. The audience heard Richard Dimbleby, the shows highly respected anchor, discussin
2、g the details of the spaghetti crop as they watched a rural Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets.,“The spaghetti harvest here in Switzerland is not, of course, carried out on anything like the tremendous scale of the Italian industry,” Dimbleby informed the audi
3、ence. “Many of you, Im sure,” he continued, “will have seen pictures of the extensive spaghetti plantations in the Po valley. For the Swiss, however, it tends to be more of a family affair.”,The narration then continued in a tone of absolute seriousness: “Another reason why this may be a bumper year
4、 consists in the virtual disappearance of the spaghetti pest, the small creature whose damages has caused much concern in the past.”,Dimbleby anticipated some questions viewers might have. For instance, why, if spaghetti grows on trees, does it always come in uniform lengths? The answer was that “th
5、is is the result of many years of patient effort by past breeders who succeeded in producing the perfect spaghetti.”,And apparently the life of a spaghetti farmer was not free of worries: “The last two weeks of March are an anxious time for the spaghetti farmer. Theres always the chance of a late fr
6、ost which, while not entirely ruining the crop, generally damages the flavor and makes it difficult for him to obtain top prices in world markets.”,But finally, Dimbleby assured the audience that, “For those who love this dish, theres nothing like real, home-grown spaghetti.” Of course, the broadcas
7、t was just an April Fools Day joke. But soon after the broadcast was wound up, the BBC began to receive hundreds of calls from puzzled viewers. Did spaghetti really grow on trees, they wanted to know. Others were eager to learn how they could grow their own spaghetti trees. To this the BBC reportedl
8、y replied that they should “place a twig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”,To be fair to the viewers, spaghetti was not a widely eaten food in Britain during the 1950s and was considered by many to be very exotic. Its origin must have been a real mystery to most people. E
9、ven Sir Ian Jacob, the BBCs Director General, later acknowledged that he had to run to a reference book to check on where spaghetti came from after watching the show.,The idea for the show was dreamed up by a cameraman, Charles de Jaeger. He later said that the idea occurred to him when he remembere
10、d one of his grade-school teachers scolding him for being “so stupid he would believe spaghetti grew on trees.”,New Words,bumper a. 丰盛的；丰收的 spaghetti n. 意大利式细面条 attribute vt. (attribute. to.) 把归因于 mild a. 1) 温和的；和善的 2) 温和的；不严酷的 anchor n. 主持人 vital a. 与生命有关的；维持生命所必需的 rural a. 乡下的 pasta n. 意大利面制品, 意大利
11、面食(包括通心粉及 面条等) tremendous a. 极大的；巨大的 scale n. 规模；程度；范围 on a big/large/small scale 大/小规模上地,New Words,plantation n. 种植园 narration n. 叙述 tone n. 音调；语调；语气 absolute a. 完全的；绝对的 virtual a. 实际上的（但未在名义上或 正式获认可） breeder n. 饲养动物者；培育植物者 ruin vt. 毁灭 flavor n. 风味；滋味；香料 creature n. 动物 assure vt. 使(某人)确信(放心)；向(某人)保
12、证 mystery n. 神秘；神秘的事物 scold vt. 责骂,Reading Comprehension,1) According to the passage, all the following factors contributed to the spaghetti harvest except . A. an unusually mild winter B. disappearance of the spaghetti pest C. patient efforts by the spaghetti farmer D. the BBCs broadcast 2) The wor
13、d “exotic” in the last paragraph but one may mean . A. strange B. exciting C. pleasant D. beautiful,1.,Reading Comprehension,The audience was fooled because . A. a highly respected anchor hosted the show and he spoke in a serious tone B. at that time spaghetti was not a widely eaten food in Britain
14、C. spaghettis origin was a real mystery to most people D. All the above. 4) The authors tone in writing the essay is . A. funny B. objective C. subjective D. doubtful,1.,Reading Comprehension,5) Which of the following is true according to the text? A. It was an easy job to grow spaghetti trees. B. S
15、ome viewers doubted whether spaghetti grew on trees. C. Like the Italians, the Swiss produced spaghetti on vast plantations. D. If people placed a twig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce, they would get a spaghetti tree.,1.,Reading Comprehension,The success of the crop was attributed to an unusually mild winter. extremely cold B. severe C. fairly warm D. kind 2) “Many of you, Im sure,” he continued, “will have seen pictures of the extensive spaghetti plantations in the Po
