If you, like me, distrust school cafeterias, you pack homemade lunches for your children, as I did until my sons ? nished high school. But in the rush to get youngsters up, dressed, fed and off to school on time, the safety of that packed lunch easily can be overlooked.

While there are no statistics on how often schoolchildren are sickened by the lunches they bring from home, it’s far better to be safe than sorry, said Nancy Donley, the president of STOP FOODBORNE ILLNESS, an advocacy organization. Ms. Donley, who lives in Chicago, knows the risks all too well. In 1993 she lost her only child, 6-year-old Alex, to one of the nastiest food contaminants, innocently consumed in store-bought ground meat. Rather than retreat into a fetal position, she channeled her grief and anger into helping others avoid a similar tragedy.

According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in six Americans will be felled by food poisoning this year, with 128,000 hospitalized and 3,000 people dying as a result. Thirty-one organisms are known causes of 9.4 million of these illnesses, but 38.4 million people will be sickened by unknown pathogens. Our extraordinarily complex food supply, with commodities coming in year round from all over the world, has seriously challenged government efforts to keep consumers safe.

“Over the years, we’ve made progress in some areas but gone backward in others,” Ms. Donley said in an interview. “With so many deaths and illnesses each year from contaminated foods, there’s still a long way to go.”

While organizations like hers press for stricter inspection standards from the government and tighter controls from the food industry, Ms. Donley believes that consumers also must protect themselves as best they can.

“It’s important for the public to understand there are risks in food, and it’s up to them to try to mitigate those risks,” she said. And since children are among the most vulnerable to severe consequences of food poisoning, it makes sense to start with the lunches they take to school.

A standard rule of food safety is to keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot until it is time to eat them. Temperatures between 40 degrees and 140 degrees, not uncommon in packed lunches that sit in warm classrooms for hours, are ideal conditions for bacterial growth. Insulated lunch boxes can help keep food safer. The best box (hard-sided or soft) has an insulated lining and a pocket in which to place a thin freezer pack to help keep the contents cold until they are consumed.

What to put in those boxes? Foods like peanut butter and sliced cheese can tolerate room temperatures without spoiling, especially if insulation is lacking. Also consider pantry-safe foods packed in easy-to-open containers, like tuna that can be eaten out of a ? ip-top can, with or without bread.

Boxed milk or juice sold unrefrigerated is also a safe bet. And you can freeze these (as well as a water bottle) ahead of time and use them as cold packs; as they defrost, they’ll keep the rest of the lunch chilled. A number of sandwiches—for example, those made with lunch meats, tuna or egg salad—can be made the night before and frozen as well; they’ll defrost by lunch time. If your child likes lettuce and tomato, pack them separately to be put on the sandwich before eating. If you include cut-up vegetables, be sure they are washed ? rst and packed in a clean container. Dried fruits and whole fruits like apples, bananas, oranges and grapes can round out the meal and can be kept safely at room temperature. But all fresh fruits, even those that will be peeled, must be washed before they are put in the lunch box.

Before preparing food, wash your hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds. Counter-tops and cutting boards should be washed as well; they can be sanitized. For the sake of convenience, I use a spray-on bleach product to clean my countertops and sink, and I wash everything that comes into contact with raw animal products immediately after use.
Of course, any surface, utensil or hand that comes into contact with raw meat, poultry, ?sh or eggs must always be thoroughly cleaned before being used for other foods, including those same foods after they are cooked.

Ideally, children should wash up before lunch, but that may not happen when they have only 15 to 20 minutes to eat. Alternatively, put a pocket-size hand sanitizer or moistened antibacterial towelette in the lunch box and instruct them to use it before they eat.

From The New York Times, August 29, 2011

1. According to the author, the safety of homemade lunches ______.

A. is obviously ensured

B. can be easily ignored

C. is no better than food in school cafeterias

D. is known to all the people

2. Some parties are mentioned in the article in terms of taking responsibility of mitigating the

food poisoning EXCEPT ______.

A. the government ? B. the food industry ? ? ? C. the press??????? D. consumers

3. In order to ensure food safety you should ______.

A. keep packed lunches between 40 degrees and 140 degrees

B. keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot

C. put the food in lunch boxes with a soft lining and a pocket

D. keep the lunch boxes in warm classrooms

4. ______ can perfect the meal.

A. Peanut butter or sliced cheese???????? B. Boxed milk or juice

C. Tuna or egg salad? ???D. Dried fruits and whole fruits

5. If there is not enough time to have lunch, children can wash up by using ______.

A. a spray-on bleach product?? B. warm water

C. soap? ???D. a pocket-size hand sanitizer

1. B

本題為細節(jié)題。根據(jù)題干我們可以參考文章第一段But in the rush to get youngsters up, dressed, fed and off to school on time, the safety of that packed lunch easily can be overlooked得知 ，人們常常對學(xué)校食堂提供的食物抱有不信任的態(tài)度 ，但是早上為了幫助孩子起床 、穿衣、吃飯并準時出發(fā)去學(xué)校，時間會非常匆忙，以至于會忽視所準備的午飯的安全性。因此選擇B 。

2. C

本題為細節(jié)題。文章第五段While organizations like hers press for stricter inspection? standards? from the government and tighter controls from the food industry, Ms. Donley believes that consumers also must protect themselves as best

they can這段話中提到需要對食物安全進行監(jiān)督的方面有政府、食品行業(yè)以及消費者自身，并沒有提到媒體，所以應(yīng)該選擇C。

3. B

本題為細節(jié)題。文章第七段第一句話告訴我們A standard rule of food safety is to keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot ，因此選項B正確；本段還提出不要把食物保持在40~ 140攝氏度之間 ，因為此溫度有利于細菌的滋生，因此選項A和D錯誤 ；同時本段還提到了有隔熱作用的午餐盒（Insulated lunch boxes can help keep food safer. ），并且文章還指出，最好帶有隔熱襯里和一個可以放置輕薄冷凍包裝的小袋子，因此選項C錯誤 。綜上所述應(yīng)選擇B 。

4. D

本題為細節(jié)題。文章第八段提到選項A（foods like peanut butter and sliced cheese）可以放在常溫下；第九段提到選項B（boxed milk or juice sold unrefrigerated）也是一個安全的選擇，你也可以提前冷藏一下，那么當解凍的時候，正好也可以冷卻其他的午餐。這一段還提到了選項C（tuna or egg salad）可以前一天晚上準備并冷藏起來。同時還可以吃一些水果dried fruits and whole fruits ，使午餐更加完美，當然水果可以放在常溫下。綜上所述應(yīng)選擇D。

5. D

本題為細節(jié)題。先分析一下四個選項 ：選項A可以用來清洗廚房的工作臺面和洗滌槽? （I use a spray-on bleach product to clean my countertops and sink ）；選項B和C是在準備食物之前用來洗手的；選項D是在沒有太多時間吃午飯的時候 ，方便起見用來洗手的。綜上所述應(yīng)選擇D 。

參考譯文

如果你也像我一樣討厭學(xué)校餐廳的伙食，你就會為你的孩子裝一盒自己做的午飯，我就是這樣做的，直到我的兒子們高中畢業(yè)。但是你每天早上要叫孩子們起床、給他們穿衣服、做早飯并及時把他們送到學(xué)校，你很容易就會忽視所準備的午飯的安全性。

南希 ? 唐利是倡導(dǎo)組織 “防止食源性疾病” （STOP FOODBORNE ILLNESS ）的總干事，她認為，雖然沒有數(shù)據(jù)統(tǒng)計學(xué)生吃 自備午餐的發(fā)病率 ，但注意安全總不會出錯。唐利女士住在芝加哥 ，她非常了解其中的危險。1993年，她6歲的獨子亞歷克斯因食用從商店購買的含有食物污染物的碎 肉而無辜中毒身亡。她并沒有因此自憐自哀 ，而是把痛苦和憤怒轉(zhuǎn)化成力量 ，幫助別人避免類似的悲劇。

根據(jù)疾病控制與防治中心（Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ）最新的數(shù)據(jù)，今年將會有六分之一的美國人因食物中毒而病倒，其中12.8萬人將接受住院治療，最終有3000人死去。在諸多食物中毒的病例中，有940萬例是由已知的31種有機物導(dǎo)致的，但是有3840萬人因未知病原體致病。每年源源不斷地從世界各地進口的食品，種類異常繁多，保障食品安全成了政府的一大挑戰(zhàn)性工作 。

?“這些年，我們在一些領(lǐng)域取得進步，但在其他領(lǐng)域卻倒退了?！碧评吭谝淮尾稍L中說， “每年有這么多因受污染食物導(dǎo)致的死亡和疾病事故 ，我們還有很長的路要走”。 雖然有像她這樣的組織強烈要求政府建立更嚴格的檢驗標準并且更加嚴格地控制食品產(chǎn)業(yè) ，但唐利女士認為消費者也必須盡量自我保護。

?“公眾一定要知道食物中的危險，而且他們自己應(yīng)該盡力減少這些危險的發(fā)生。”她說 。而且 ，由于兒童最容易受到有毒食物的嚴重危害，所以防止此類危險應(yīng)該從為他們做的午餐開始 。

保證食品安全的一個準則是在食物被食用之前，讓冷的食物保持冷藏，讓熱的食物保溫 。華氏40度至140度之間是細菌生長的最適宜溫度 ，而飯盒放在溫暖的教室里幾個小時通常都保持著這個溫度。保溫飯盒能夠讓食物保存得更安全。最好的飯盒（硬盒或軟盒）有一個保溫內(nèi)襯和一個裝有輕薄冷凍包的口袋，保證食物在食用前保持冷藏 。

飯盒里應(yīng)該裝哪些食物呢？像花生醬和切片奶酪這樣的食物能夠在室溫下，尤其是在沒有保溫包裝的情況下保存。還有一些適宜在餐具室中保存的裝在易開容器中的食品，如翻蓋易拉罐裝的金槍魚，可以配面包，也可不配。

未冷凍而出售的盒裝牛奶或果汁也是非常安全的。你可以事先把它們（以及一個裝水的瓶子）凍成冰 ，用作冷藏袋；當它們解凍時，它們會讓其余的食物保持低溫。在前一天晚上可以做一些三明治——例如加午餐肉、金槍魚或雞蛋沙拉的三明治——然后冷凍 ；它們也可以在午飯前解凍。如果你的孩子喜歡生菜和西紅柿，應(yīng)把它們單獨包裝 ，在食用前加入三明治即可。如果你準備了切好的蔬菜，確保先把菜洗好并裝入一個干凈的容器中。水果干和像蘋果、香蕉、橙子和葡萄這樣整個的水果可以放在飯盒外圍，并在室溫下保存。但是所有的新鮮水果，即使是要剝皮吃的，在放入飯盒前也必須清洗。

準備食物前，用溫水和肥皂洗手20秒。洗手池和菜板也要清洗；可以給它們消毒。出于方便，我使用漂白噴劑清潔洗手池和水池，任何接觸過生肉的器具，在使用完后，我都要清洗它們 。

當然 ，任何接觸過生肉、家禽、魚或蛋類的表面、器具或手在接觸其他食物，包括同樣的做熟的食物之前，都要徹底清洗 。

兒童要在午飯前洗手 ，但是由于他們只有15到20分鐘的午飯時間，所以可能沒時間洗手。另一個方法就是在飯盒中放一個小凈手器或者抗菌濕餐巾紙 ，指導(dǎo)孩子在飯前使用。

重點、難點詞匯

advocacy n. 擁護 ，提倡 ；主張???????????????

insulate vt. 隔離 ；使隔絕

contaminant n. 污染物???????????????????

lining n. （用紙、塑料、金屬做成的）襯層

retreat vi. 退縮 ；逃避??????????????????

flip-top adj . 有易拉蓋的

fetal adj . 胎兒的；像胎兒一樣 的?????????????? l

ettuce n. 萵苣

fell vt. 擊倒 ；致 ……于死地?????????????????????????????????

cut-up adj . 切碎的；割碎的

hospitalize vt. 送 ……進醫(yī)院治療???????????????????????????

round out: 使 ……更完美

organism n. 微生物??????????????????????????????????????

countertop n.?? （廚房的 ）工作 臺面

pathogen n. 病原體??????????????????????????????????????

sanitize vt. 給……消毒 ；使 ……衛(wèi)生

mitigate vt. 減輕 ；緩解?????????????????????????????????

bleach n. 漂 白劑

vulnerable adj . 易受傷害的??????????????????????????????

utensil n. 器皿 ，用具

長句疑難句分析

1. While there are no statistics on how often schoolchildren are sickened by the lunches they bring from home, it s far better to be safe than sorry.

本句包含形容詞的比較級better? ... than? ...。在此結(jié)構(gòu)中，常見的比較級修飾語有 ： much、a little、a great deal、far、by far、even、will、still、a bit、a little、rather、any 。

如 ：This movie is far more interesting than I expected. 這部電影比我原想的有意思得多。

2. Of course, any surface, utensil or hand that comes into contact with raw meat, poultry, fish or eggs must always be thoroughly cleaned before being used for other foods, including those same foods after they are cooked.

本句包含that引導(dǎo)的限制性定語從句（限制性定語從句that comes into contact with raw和before引導(dǎo)的時間狀語從句（時間狀語從句before being used for other foods ，由于其主語與主句的主語相同，即any surface, utensil or hand，于是省略主語，用動詞的現(xiàn)在分詞來表示 ）。