The History of the Fridge 

　　1 The fridge is considered a necessity. It has been so since the 1960s when packaged food first appeared with he label:”store in the refrigerator.”

　　2 In my fridgeless Fifties childhood, I was fed well and healthily. The milkman came daily, the grocer ,the butcher, the baker, and the ice-cream man delivered two or three times a week. The Sunday meat would last until Wednesday and surplus bread and milk became all kinds of cakes. Nothing was wasted and we were never troubled by rotten food .Thirty years on, food deliveries have ceased fresh vegetables are almost unobtainable in the country.

　　3 The invention of the fridge contributed comparatively little to the art of food preservation. A vast variety of well-tried techniques already existed—natural cooling drying, smoking, salting, sugaring, bottling...

　　4 What refrigeration did promote was marketing—marketing hardware and electricity, marketing soft drinks, marketing dead bodies of animals around the globe in search of a good price.

　　5 Consequently, most of the world's fridges are to be found, not in the tropics where they might prove useful ,but in the wealthy countries with mild temperatures where they are climatically almost unnecessary. Every winter, millions of fridges hum away continuously and at vast expense ,busily maintaining an artificially-cooled space inside an artificially-heated house—while outside ,nature provides the desired temperature free of charge.

　　6 The fridge's effect upon the environment has been evident, while its contribution to human happiness has been insignificant. If you don't believe me, try it yourself. Invest in a food cabinet and turn off your fridge next winter. You may miss the hamburgers but at least you'll get rid of that terrible hum.

　　练习：

　　23 Paragraph 2

　　24 Paragraph 4

　　25 Paragraph 5

　　26 Paragraph 6

　　A The Invention of the Fridge 

　　B The Pollution Caused by Fridges 

　　C The Widespread Need for Fridges 

　　D The Days Without the Fridge 

　　E The Waste of Energy Caused by Fridges 

　　F The Fridge's Contribution to Commerce

　　27 Before fridges came into use, it was still possible for people to have fresh foods because

　　28 The invention of the fridge has not provided

　　29 An important contribution made by the invention of the fridge is that

　　30 If you stop using the fridge, at least you won't be troubled by the noise

　　A milk ,meat, vegetables ,etc. were delivered 

　　B it has promoted the sales of many kinds of commodities 

　　C a new ,economical way to preserve food 

　　D most kids like iced soft drinks 

　　E something every housewife needs 

　　F produced by the fridge when it is working

　　答案：DFEB ACBF

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（实习编辑：高奕飞）