Today’s article

“A new technology for extending the shelf life of produce” — Zach Winn, MIT News, May 21, 2025.

Original article: https://news.mit.edu/2025/new-technology-extends-produce-shelf-life-0521

Free to read without login. This is a selected article from May 21, 2025, not news published today. Read the full text at the source; the exercises below are original.

Suggested level: B2–C1 (editorial estimate) · Time: 12–15 minutes to read, plus 8 minutes for the questions.

Introduction

保鲜技术怎样接受检验？今天围绕蔬菜保鲜，练习寻找对照条件，并区分实验中已经发生的事与未来可能实现的应用。先读全文，再定位答案。

Vocabulary

  1. produce — 农产品（此处为名词）
  2. perishable — 易腐坏的
  3. refrigeration — 冷藏
  4. biodegradable — 可生物降解的
  5. baseline — 比较基准
  6. chlorophyll — 叶绿素
  7. senescence — 衰老
  8. threshold — 门槛；阈值

Reading comprehension

Answer questions 1–2 briefly in English. For questions 3–5, choose TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN according to the original article.

1. Which vegetable was used in the experiment?

Reference answer
Pak choy.

2. Name two measures used to assess the plants’ condition.

Reference answer
Any two: weight, appearance, or chlorophyll concentration.

3. Spraying or dipping the plants in melatonin extended their shelf life in the comparison.

Reference answer
FALSE. Those methods showed no shelf-life difference from untreated plants.

4. The researchers attached the patches manually in this experiment.

Reference answer
TRUE. They applied them by hand; automated application is a future possibility.

5. The article gives an exact retail price for each patch.

Reference answer
NOT GIVEN. It discusses affordability without stating a retail price.

Reading strategy

把处理方式、对照组和评价指标分别圈出。留意 could、in the future：设想不等于实验步骤。判断题需要原文依据；没有给出数字时，不要自行推算。

Expression practice

in contrast — 相比之下。

Original practice sentence (not a quotation from the article): The first plan was expensive; in contrast, the revised plan stayed within our budget.

用 in contrast 比较两种学习方法，写清楚比较的是哪个方面。