Would you eat one of the world’s most poisonous creatures?
The blowfish, known in Japan as fugu, is one of the deadliest fish in the sea. Its organs are filled with tetrodotoxin, a poison that affects the muscles in the body. Tetrodotoxin is so lethal that an amount the size of a pinhead can kill a human being. Each fugu contains enough poison to kill 30 people. Victims who eat tetrodotoxin will feel the effects within half an hour. First, their mouths will begin to tingle. Then, they will experience sweating, headaches, nausea, and uncontrollable shaking. Finally, if they do not receive treatment, they will stop breathing and die.
It is difficult to believe that an animal this dangerous is also a popular food item in Japan and a few other East Asian countries. Japanese people eat nearly 10,000 tons of fugu each year. Fugu can be found on the menus of many Japanese restaurants. Fugu is most often served raw in a dish called sashimi, but it is also eaten baked, fried, stewed, or as part of a salad.
No matter how fugu is served, it has to be prepared very carefully so that it is no longer poisonous. According to Japanese law, fugu can only be served by licensed chefs. Chefs who want to serve fugu must first receive two to three years of difficult training. After the training, the chefs take a test to prove that they are able to correctly prepare the fish. Only 35% of the people who take the test actually pass it.
To prepare fugu correctly, chefs have to separate the poisonous organs from the rest of the meat. Fugu chefs slice the fish with a special knife called a fugu hiki that is stored separately from other knives. Accidentally cutting the organs during this process will cause the poison to spread to the rest of the fish. After the chefs have removed the poisonous parts, they are sealed in a bag and stored in a locked box. The fugu parts are then taken to a special location where they are destroyed.
So what does fugu taste like? Some have said that it is the most delicious food they have ever eaten; others say that it is tasteless and somewhat chewy. Since there are so many different opinions, the only way you can know for sure is to eat some yourself—if you dare!
The passage begins with a rhetorical question. Based on the way it is used in the passage, a rhetorical question is most likely something that
A. is asked just to make a point or gain a reader’s interest; the author does not expect the audience will actually answer it
B. is asked to confuse readers or make them think; no one can possibly answer it
C. the author answers him or herself in the passage; it is used to deliver information to the audience
D. the audience never finds out the answer to; the author uses it to create a mystery for the readers to solve on their own