READING COMPREHENSION-4

In 1920, after some thirty nine years of problems with disease, high costs and politics, the Panama Canal was officially opened, finally linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by allowing ships to pass through the fifty-mile canal zone of traveling some seven thousand miles around Cape Horn. It takes a ship approximately eight hours to complete the trip through the canal and costs and average of fifteen thousand dollars, one tenth of what it would cost an average ship to round the Horn, More than fifteen thousand ships pass through its locks each year.

The French initiated the project but sold their rights to the united states, which actually began the construction of the project. The latter was to control it until the end of the twentieth century when Panama was to take over its duties.

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READING COMPREHENSION-3

Hot boning is an energy saving technique for the meat processing industry. It has received significant attestation in recent years when increased pressure for energy conservation has accentuated the need for more efficient methods of processing the bovine carcass. Cooling an entire carcass requires a considerable amount of refrigerated space, since bone and trimmable fat are cooled along with the muscle.It is also necessary to space the carcasses adequately in the refrigerated room for better air movement and preventative of microbial contamination, thus adding to the volume requirements for carcass chillers.

Conventional handling of meat involves holding the beef sides in the cooler for 24 to 36 hours before boning. Chilling in the traditional fashion is also associated with a loss of carcass weight ranging from 2 percent to 4 percent due to evaporation of moisture from the meat tissue.

Early excision or hot boning of muscle prerigor followed by vacuum packaging has several potential advantages. By removing only the edible muscle and fat prerigor, refrigeration space and costs are minimized, bowing labor is decreased and storage yields increased. Because hot boning often results in the toughening of meat, a more recent approach, hot boning following electrical stimulation, has been used to reduce the necessary time of rigor mortis.

Some researches have found this method beneficial in maintaining tender meat, while others have found that the meat also becomes tough after electrical simulation.

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READING COMPREHENSION-2

      The Stone Age was a period of history which began in approximately 2 million B.C. and lasted until 3000 B.C. Its name was derived from the stone tools and weapons that modern scientists found . This period was divided into the paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic Ages. During the first period (2 million to 8000 B.C.), the first hatchet and use of fore for heating and cooking were developed. As a result of the Ice Age, which evolved about 1 million years into the paleolithic Age, People were forced to seek shelter in caves, wear clothing and develop new tools.

       During the Mesolithic Age (8000 to 3000 B.C.),  people made crude pottery and the first fish hooks, took dogs hunting and developed the bow and arrow which were used until the fourteenth country A.D.

   The Neolithic Age (6000 to 3000 B.C.) saw humankind domesticating sheep, goats, pigs and cattle, being less nomadic than the previous eras, establishing settlements and creating governments.

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READING COMPREHENSION-1

The fork, which did not become a standardized item in Europe until the eighteenth century, was almost unheard of in America. With the absence of forks, it can be assumed that colonists used a spoon instead. The knife was probably held in the right hand, generally the preferred hand for manipulating utensils or tools. The spoon would have been held in the left hand with concave part of the bowl facing downward.
In this position, the dinner would be more adept at securing a piece of meat against a plate while the cutting took place. Once the meat was cut, the down-turned spoon would have been suitable for picking up the morsel. Probably the dinner would have put the knife down and shifted the spoon to the right hand. This action would bring the spoon into the correct position for scooping up the bite of food. The practice of shifting utensils back and forth between hands continued when the fork made its way to America and replaced food against the plate more adequately, and its curving lines served the same function as the bowl of the spoon. The custom of shifting the fork made from the left hand to right was no longer necessary, but people continued to use the style that they were used to. This American style of handling eating utensils persists to this day.

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