Almost half of all shoppers say they have bought pineapple when shopping for fresh fruit. Besides the great taste and juicy body, what makes this spiky (有尖刺的) fruit so popular?
First of all, it is very healthy. Each 100g of it has only about 50 calories. So this fat-free fruit has fewer calories than both apples and bananas. And don’t throw away that skin! You can use it to make a delicious and heart-healthy tea. All you need to do is boil the skin in some hot water, let it cool, and enjoy it.
Pineapple has an interesting history. It was first found in South America, where it has been planted for centuries. We call it “pineapple” because early travelers from Europe noticed that it looked a little like the pine cone (松果). Do you know it used to be one of the most expensive fruits in the world. In the 1600s, it cost so much money that kings and queens gave it to each other as gifts to show how rich and powerful they were.
This strange-looking fruit has one more surprise for us. It has a chemical (化学成分) called bromelain, which can digest (消化) the cells in your mouth. The light burning you feel on your tongue after eating too much pineapple is, in fact, that the fruit is eating you! So be careful, and remember to enjoy this amazing and healthy fruit properly.
【小题1】Pineapple is considered as a kind of healthy fruit because of its ________.
| A．low calories | B．strange look | C．high price | D．long history |
【小题2】What can we know about the tea made with pineapple skin?
| A．It doesn’t taste good. | B．It is good for our heart. |
| C．It is difficult for us to make. | D．It must be drunk when it is hot. |
【小题3】In the 1600s, kings and queens used pineapple to ________.
| A．show their healthy life | B．show their love for each other |
| C．show their high social position | D．show their influence on the world |
【小题4】According to the writer, ________.
| A．pineapple is high in fat | B．pineapple is juicy and healthy |
| C．pineapple was first grown in South Africa | D．pineapple is still expensive for common people |
【小题5】What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?
| A．Bromelain can hurt our body seriously. | B．Pineapple is in fact a kind of harmful fruit. |
| C．Pineapple is popular with people of all ages. | D．We’d better not eat too much pineapple at a time. |
