[Science ★★]
(P1) A new sweet potato won the 2016 World Food Prize. The sweet potato has extra Vitamin A. This means it has more nutrition. A researcher said farmers didn’t want to help him grow the potato. He said: “They told me it was a bad idea.” The farmers wanted more potatoes, not extra nutrition.
(P2) The sweet potato could stop people dying from not enough Vitamin This harms 140 million children in 118 countries. It affects millions of pregnant women. It also makes children blind. The prize-winning sweet potatoes could help people get enough Vitamin A. Maybe farmers will grow more vegetables with extra nutrition.
WORDS: 103
SOURCE: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1610/161014-sweet-potato-0.html
VOCABULARY: prize, nutrition, farmers, dying, pregnant, blind
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.
- Briefly, summarize the content of the article in your own words.
- Do you like sweet potatoes? Why or why not?
- Have you ever won a prize? If yes, what for?
- Do you think it’s a bad idea to grow sweet potatoes with extra Vitamin A? Why or why not?
READING COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:
- What prize did the new sweet potato win?
- The farmers were against growing the sweet potato. (T or F)
- How many countries are affected by a lack of Vitamin A?
- What can happen to children if they don’t eat enough Vitamin A?
- This new sweet potato has more Vitamin A. (T or F)
EXPRESSIONS or PHRASES:
What do the following expressions or phrases mean?
- grow the potato (P1)
- bad idea (P1)
- makes children blind (P2)
- prize-winning (P2)
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