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Watch:

Glossary

• angle – the precise viewpoint from which something is considered
• to tuck into – eat food heartily (BrE; infml)
• to stall – try to avoid doing something until later
• binary – involving a choice or condition of two alternatives
• to commit to – to devote or dedicate oneself to someone or something

Answer the questions:

• What kind of behavior does Graham Hill consider hypocritical?
• What effects of eating meat does he list?
• In what context does he use the word “culprits”?
• What results has he achieved with his “Weekday veg” project?

Practice Makes Perfect

Fill in the blanks

ACTIVE vs. PASSIVE: Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verb in brackets. Go to https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/food-matters/face-off-a-debate-about-eating-anything-with-a-face to check your answers.

Face Off! A Debate About Eating Anything With A Face

It’s possible this debate could soon extend to include meat without a face.

Over eighty years ago, Winston Churchill (1. PREDICT) ………., “Fifty years hence, we shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.” Although it (2. TAKE) ……….. 30 years more than Churchill (3. ESTIMATE) ……….., his dream might soon become a reality.

In August of this year, the world’s first lab grown hamburger  (4. MAKE) ………. its debut in London. Scientist Dr Mark Post created the burger using about 20,000 muscle fibers that (5. GROW) ……… from stem cells of cows, then combined with some other ingredients, including beetroot juice, saffron, and breadcrumbs. This burger may have ethical and environmental plusses; since it (6. GROW) ……….. from cells, there was no animal suffering involved and methane production (7. AVOID) …… also ……. . These are aspects to consider for the future–for now, it isn’t quite ready for the market but it seems test tube meat is past its embryonic stage.

ANSWERS: 1. predicted; 2. has taken; 3. estimated; 4. made; 5. were grown; 6. was grown; 7. was also avoided

Replace the bolded phrases in the article with the words below.

Fill in the gaps with the words in bold below. You can check your answers here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/veggie-cat-food

munch on          wreak havoc (on)      feline

omnivores           vehemently          derived

Veggie Cat Food? Why Not All Cats Need Meat

Unlike dogs and other animals that eat a variety of food of both plant and animal origin, cats are true (so-called “obligate”) carnivores: They meet their nutritional needs by consuming other animals and have a higher protein requirement than many other mammals. (…) Without a steady supply of these nutrients, cats can suffer from liver and heart problems, not to mention skin irritation and hearing loss.

As such, a cat’s ideal diet is made up mainly of protein and fats that come from small prey such as rodents, birds and small reptiles and amphibians. Some cats eat grass or other plants by chewing them slowly, thoroughly, and rather noisily, but most biologists agree that such roughage serves only as a digestive aid and provides limited if any nutritional value.

Of course, providing your domestic cat with a steady stream of its preferred prey is hardly convenient or humane—and cats can devastate local wildlife populations if left to forage on their own. So we fill them up on dry “kibble,” which combines animal products with vegetable-based starches, and meat-based canned “wet” foods. (…) Most cats adapt to such diets, but it is far from ideal nutritionally.

Veterinarian Marla McGeorge, a cat specialist, argues that the problem with forcing your cat to be vegetarian or vegan is that such diets fail to provide the amino acids needed for proper (belonging or relating to the cat family) health and are too high in carbohydrates that they have not evolved to be able to process. As to those powder-based supplements intended to bridge the nutritional gap, McGeorge says that such formulations may not be as easily absorbed by cats’ bodies as the real thing.

Some would disagree though in a strong and intense manner. Evolution Diet, makers of completely vegetarian foods for cats, dogs and ferrets, says that its meatless offerings, on the market for 15 years, are healthy and nutritious, and, if anything, have extended the lives of many a feline and canine, even reversed chronic health problems. (…)

ANSWERS: omnivores; derived (from); munch on; wreak havoc; feline; vehemently

 

 

Discuss

• What images spring to mind when you hear the word ‘vegetarianism’?
• Would the world be a better place if everyone was a vegetarian?
• Is there anything unhealthy about a vegetarian diet, in your opinion?
• What do you think of the quotations:”I think if you want to eat more meat you should kill it yourself and eat it raw.” (Margi Clark);

  “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.” (Paul McCartney)

• If you are a meat eater, would you eat meat from cloned animals?

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Explore it more to create your own teaching-learning experience!

 

These Plastic Baby Toys Are Made From Vegetables

Read:

https://www.inc.com/kate-l-harrison/these-plastic-baby-toys-are-made-from-vegetables.html

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