第三期

Nowadays, food has become easier to prepare. Has this change improved the way people live?
Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

参考译文：

参考1:
Man, through the ages, has undergone many changes, from a period when he hunted for his food to the present era when man is dependent on preprocessed foods. During this period not only has man changed his mode of eating but his whole lifestyle as well. In pursuit of more in this competitive world, man no longer has time as he once had. He is caught in a race against the clock. A person who finishes more in lesser time is considered more efficient. This pressure to do more in less time has affected his eating habits as well and, as a result, man no longer has time to cook food. Early man's only objective( a thing aimed at or wished for; purpose 目标; 目的) was to seek food to sustain((a) keep (sb/sth) alive or in existence 维持（某人[某物])的生命或存在 )him and his family. Nowadays finding food has taken a back seat to other priorities(thing that is (regarded as) more important than others （被视为）优先的事物), such as career and education.昔时算得上人的唯一任务，今朝被更重要的事情取代。

Food is no longer of that importance. This is not an encouraging trend. People are too dependent on preprocessed(预处理) or precooked food, which no longer has the freshness it once had. Such foods loose their mineral and vitamin content and are not as healthy as fresh food. That is why the number of diseases is also rising. People have also shifted to high calorie content food like French fries, pizzas, and ice cream, etc., which is causing obesity(being obese 过度肥胖), fatigue(great tiredness, usu resulting from hard work or exercise 疲乏; 疲劳; 疲倦), etc. As man is becoming busy and too involved in his busy schedule((a) programme of work to be done or of planned events 进度表; 预定计画表)), he has no time even to take care of his own personal needs.作者持不支持态度。原因1）今朝食物不如昔时重要，所以今朝用快餐。带来健康问题。

Furthermore, cooking is an art which is dying out. People once enjoyed cooking . It was a means of eliminating( ~ sb/sth (from sth) remove (esp sb/sth that is not wanted or needed) 消除, 清除, 排除（尤指不必要或不需要的某人[某物])) stress and tension. People were once able to relax during this time and reflect on(反思) their lives.原因2）没了一项艺术即将灭绝。人也没了放松反思的机会。

People may tend to argue that by using precooked and preprocessed food they are efficiently using time and can use this precious time saved for other purposes. But is it really worth it? This is a question whose answer can invite much speculation(思考) about whether by saving this little time we are inviting lots of other problems, which could easily be avoided. It is actually making our lives not simpler but more complicated. We have lost many of the simpler things in our lives, like the simple acts of selecting our evening meal, preparing it, and enjoying it with our loved ones, and
we are worse off for it.原因3）人们可能不同意，认为可以节省时间。作者认为，这时间节省的不一定有价值。

本人略评：好文章，灵活运用俚语和固定搭配，句式多样而不感繁杂，对简单形式的词汇有深刻理解，因此应用了一些常见词汇的罕见意义。从扣题来说，突出今昔的对比，有较强的说服力。

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参考2:
Nowadays, wherever we turn our gaze(look at sb/sth 看某人[某事物]) , we can see different types of food that are easier to prepare. For instance, we can buy frozen foods in a supermarket and just prepare it in a couple of minutes, whereas(but in contrast; while 然而) before it could have taken us maybe hours to prepare this kind of meals. I would accept that this so-called improvement has changed our lives, but I believe that there are some drawbacks（disadvantage; problem 不利条件; 缺点; 障碍） as well.
论点鲜明:有缺点