Abe-chan, a famous pork skewer restaurant in Tokyo’s Azabu Juban shopping district, was recently featured on a popular Japanese television show where it was revealed that one of the secrets to its success was a jar covered in a gelatinous (胶状的) mass. The dark brown mass around the jar is the sauce that spilled over and hardened over sixty years. According to the third-generation owner of Abe-chan, the jar has never been cleaned in the last six decades, which apparently contributes to the rich taste of the sauce. Instead of cleaning the sauce jar every day, after closing, the staff at Abe-chan simply pours more sauce over the leftovers of the day.

Abe-chan was reportedly founded in 1933 by the grandfather of the current owner, and the sauce jar has been around since those early days. The tradition of adding to the sauce without actually cleaning the container has been respected by all three generations, and the current owner is convinced that it contributed to the success of the family business.

During the television show, experts were asked about the potential hygiene hazards of simply adding new sauce in a container that hasn’t been cleaned in several decades. One of them said that if the sauce is heat-treated long enough, there shouldn’t be any danger of bacterial pollution. Also, an experiment where clean water was added to a container full of black water 365 times showed that most of the original contents didn’t even exist by the end. So it’s not like the sauce jar actually contains sauce from 60 years ago.

The television program sparked controversy online, and while some Abe-chan fans defended the restaurant, claiming they had been eating there for years and had never experienced any health problems because of the food, others claimed that the sauce jar posed some serious hygiene concerns.

1.What can be learned about the jar from the text?

A It is cleaned very day.

B It looks old and unclean.

C It is famous around Japan.

D It is over a hundred years old.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据第一段的“a jar covered in a gelatinous mass”和“The dark brown mass around the jar is the sauce that spilled over and hardened over sixty years.”可知，这家店用来装酱汁的陶罐外围积满60多年来溢出并变硬的酱汁，即罐子看起来又旧又脏。故选B。

2.Why doesn’t the owner clean the container?

A He is too lazy to do that.

B He always forgets to do that.

C It’s too heavy to move.

D It’s his family tradition.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据第二段第二句的“The tradition of adding to the sauce without actually cleaning the container has been respected by all three generations”可知，在不清洗容器的情况下添加酱汁的传统受到了他家三代人的尊重，现任老板相信这有助于家族企业的成功，因此这是他们家的传统。故选D。

3.What does the third paragraph mainly discuss?

A Potential health risks to consumers.

B How the delicious sauce was made.

C Why the sauce could be kept long.

D The original contents in the jar.

解析：选A。A段落大意题。根据第三段的关键词句“the potential hygiene hazards”“there shouldn’t be any danger of bacterial pollution”以及“So it’s not like the sauce jar actually contains sauce from 60 years ago.”可知，节目请来专家解说这种祖传老酱到底有没有潜在的卫生问题，即本段主要讨论的是对食客的潜在健康风险。故选A。

4.What does the underlined word “controversy” mean?

A Excitement.

B Argument.

C Anger.

D Unhappiness.

解析：选B。B词义猜测题。根据划线词后面的内容：一些食客为这家店辩护称酱汁没有问题，而另一些人则声称这个酱罐会造成严重的卫生问题。由此可知，节目的播出让这家店在网上引起了网友的争论。故选B。