Fruit
Imagine a world without fruit. We wouldn’t be very healthy. We get a lot of important vitamins from eating fruit.
We think of fruit primarily as something to eat.___26___Fruit is part of a flowering plant and it carries the seeds. The purpose of fruit is to protect a plant’s seeds and help them get spread about. Wind and water spread seeds. So do animals when they eat fruit and drop the seeds.___27___
There are two main types of fruit: fleshy and dry. Fleshy fruits are soft and juicy. Pears, bananas and apples are all fleshy fruits.___28___Grains like wheat and rice, or nuts like chestnuts (板栗), are dry fruits.
But wait: You’ve eaten oranges and grapes without seeds. How can they be fruits? It’s because people have changed the way they grow fruit. They can now grow seedless fruit. Seedless fruit comes from special plants that are made by combining two varieties of a fruit to form a new variety. These special plants grow and produce seeds.___29___These plants cannot reproduce themselves. They can make fruit, but the fruit has no seeds.
Fruits are a source of substances that keep us alive and healthy. So people make use of fruits for many foods. We make juices from them. We make jams and sweets. ___30___Beer comes from grains and wine comes from grapes, and some particular wines are made from apples, peaches, or other fruits.