114. Reading Skills Comprehension: Vitamin C

Vitamin C

Read the following passage carefully.

1. Maybe you’re bored of bananas, apples and grapes and need a fresh produce pick? A nutrient-rich serving of kiwi fruit may be just what you need. A serving of kiwifruit (2 kiwis) has twice the vitamin C of an orange, as much potassium as a banana and the fibre of a bowl of whole grain cereal–all for less than 100 calories!

2. The fuzzy fruit is sky-high in both soluble and insoluble fibre, both of which are essential for promoting heart health, regulating digestion, and lowering cholesterol levels—that’s a winning trifecta. Kiwifruit has also been considered a “nutritional all-star,” as Rutgers University researchers found that kiwifruit has the best nutrient density of 21 commonly consumed fruits.

3. Along with vitamin C, kiwi fruit is rich in many bioactive compounds that have an antioxidant capacity to help to protect against free radicals, harmful by-products produced in the body. If you want clean energy, think of kiwi fruit because it is rich in magnesium, a nutrient essential to convert food into energy.

4. Kiwifruit also doubles as a peeper-keeper by supplying your eyes with protective lutein, a carotenoid that’s concentrated in eye tissues and helps protect against harmful free radicals. Kiwifruit is also packed with blood pressure-lowering potassium. In fact, a 100-gram serving of kiwifruit—that’s about one large kiwi—provides 15% of the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of potassium.

5. Kiwifruit has been growing in New Zealand for over 100 years. Once the fruit gained popularity, other countries started to grow them including Italy, France, Chile, Japan, South Korea and Spain. At first, kiwis were referred to as ‘Yang Tao’ or `Chinese Gooseberry,’ but the name was ultimately changed to kiwi fruit so that everyone would know where the fruit came from.

6. A ripe kiwi fruit will be plump and smooth-skinned, and free of wrinkles, bruise, and punctures. If you find that your kiwi is a little too firm after buying it, simply let it ripen at room temperature for three to five days. The firmer the fruit, the more tart it will taste. To speed up the ripening process, you can also place kiwis in a paper bag with an apple or banana. If you want to store the fruit longer, you should keep in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

Questions:

1. Answer the following questions briefly.

(a) What does a serving of kiwi offer?

(b) Why has kiwi been considered a “nutritional all-star”?

(d) How can you make a kiwi fruit ripen?

2. Do as directed.

(A) The word ‘compound’ means :

(i) calcium (ii) mixture

(iii) texture (iv) vitamin

(B) The word ‘concentrated’ means :

(i) strong (ii) liquid

(iii) large (iv) replace