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A US perspective on the development of the frozen food industry原文翻译和答案解析

A US perspective on the development of the frozen food industry
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At some point in history, humans discovered that ice preserved food. There is evidence that winter ice was stored to preserve food in the summer as far back as 10,000 years ago. Two thousand years ago, the inhabitants of South America's Andean mountains had a unique means of conserving potatoes for later consumption. They froze them overnight, then trampled them to squeeze out the moisture, then dried them in the sun. This preserved their nutritional value—if not their aesthetic appeal.

Natural ice remained the main form of refrigeration until late in the 19th century. In the early 1800s, ship owners from Boston, USA, had enormous blocks of Arctic ice towed all over the Atlantic for the purpose of food preservation. In 1851, railroads first began putting blocks of ice in insulated rail cars to send butter from Ogdensburg, New York, to Boston.

Finally, in 1870, Australian inventors found a way to make 'mechanical ice'. They used a compressor to force a gas—ammonia at first and later Freon—through a condenser. The compressed gas gave up some of its heat as it moved through the condenser. Then the gas was released quickly into a low-pressure evaporator coil where it became liquid and cold. Air was blown over the evaporator coil and then this cooled air passed into an insulated compartment, lowering its temperature to freezing point.

Initially, this process was invented to keep Australian beer cool even in hot weather. But Australian cattlemen were quick to realize that, if they could put this new invention on a ship, they could export meat across the oceans. In 1880, a shipment of Australian beef and mutton was sent, frozen, to England. While the food frozen this way was still palatable, there was some deterioration. During the freezing process, crystals formed within the cells of the food, and when the ice expanded and the cells burst, this spoilt the flavor and texture of the food.

The modern frozen food industry began with the indigenous Inuit people of Canada. In 1912, a biology student in Massachusetts, USA, named Clarence Birdseye, ran out of money and went to Labrador in Canada to trap and trade furs. While he was there, he became fascinated with how the Inuit would quickly freeze fish in the Arctic air. The fish looked and tasted fresh even months later.

Birdseye returned to the USA in 1917 and began developing mechanical freezers capable of quick-freezing food. Birdseye methodically kept inventing better freezers and gradually built a business selling frozen fish from Gloucester, Massachusetts. In 1929, his business was sold and became General Foods, but he stayed with the company as director of research, and his division continued to innovate.

Birdseye was responsible for several key innovations that made the frozen food industry possible. He developed quick-freezing techniques that reduced the damage that crystals caused, as well as the technique of freezing the product in the package it was to be sold in. He also introduced the use of cellophane, the first transparent material for food packaging, which allowed consumers to see the quality of the product. Birdseye products also came in convenient size packages that could be prepared with a minimum of effort.

But there were still obstacles. In the 1930s, few grocery stores could afford to buy freezers for a market that wasn't established yet. So, Birdseye leased inexpensive freezer cases to them. He also leased insulated railroad cars so that he could ship his products nationwide. However, few consumers had freezers large enough or efficient enough to take advantage of the products.

Sales increased in the early 1940s, when World War II gave a boost to the frozen food industry because tin was being used for munitions. Canned foods were rationed to save tin for the war effort, while frozen foods were abundant and cheap. Finally, by the 1950s, refrigerator technology had developed far enough to make these appliances affordable for the average family. By 1953, 33 million US families owned a refrigerator, and manufacturers were gradually increasing the size of the freezer compartments in them.

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Question 1-7

Complete the notes below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

The history of frozen food

2,000 years ago,South America

·People conserved the nutritional value of ,using a method of freezing then drying.

1851, USA

·was kept cool by ice during transportation in specially adapted trains.

1880,Australia

· Two kinds ofwere the first frozen food shipped to England.

1917 onwards, USA

·Clarence Birdseye introduced innovations including:

 -quick-freezing methods, so thatdid not spoil the food.

 -packaging products with,so the product was visible.

Early 1940s, USA

·Frozen fod became popular because of a shortage of.

1950s, USA

· A large number of homes now had a.

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Question 8-13
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Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

TRUE              if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE             if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN    if there is no information on this

8.The ice transporation business made some Boston ship owners very wealthy in the early 1800s.

9.A disadvantage of the freezing process invented in Australia was that it affected the taste of food.

10. Clarence Birdseye travelled to Labrador in order to learn how the Inuit people froze fish.

11.Swanson Foods invested a great deal of money in the promotion of the TV Dinner.

12.Swanson Foods developed a new style of container for the launch of the TV Dinner.

13.The US frozen food industry is currently the largest in the world.

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