北京09年4月学位英语B卷真题(5)

he early years of this century, a scientist named Eijkman was trying to discover the cause of beri-beri. At first he thought it was caused by a germ. He was working in a Japanese hospital, where the patients were fed on polished rice which had the outer husk　removed from the grain. It was thought this would be easier for weak and sick people to digest.

　　Eijkman thought his germ theory was confirmed when he noticed the chickens in the hospital yard, which were fed on leftovers （剩饭） from the patients' plates, were also showing signs of the disease. He then tried to isolate the germ, but his experiments were interrupted by a hospital official, who declared that the polished rice, even though left over by the patients, was too good for chickens. It should be recooked for the patients, and the chickens should be fed on cheap rice with the outer layer still on the grain.

　　Eijkman noticed that the chickens began to recover on the new diet. He began to consider the possibility that eating un