new foods and the new world
in the last 500 years, nothing about people---not their clothes, ideas, or languages---has changed as much as what they eat. the original chocolate drink was made form the seeds of the cocoa tree by south american indians. the spanish introduced it to the rest of the world during the 1500’s. and although it was very expensive, it quickly became fashionable. in london shops where chocolate drinks were served became important meeting places. some still exist today.
the potato is also from the new world. around 1600, the spanish brought it from peru to europe, where it soon was widely grown. ireland became so dependent on it that thousands of irish people starved when the crop failed during the "potato famine" of 1845-6, and thousands more were forced to emigrate to america.
there are many other foods that have traveled from south america to the old world. but some others went in the opposite direction. brazil is now the world’s largest grower of coffee, and coffee is an important crop in colombia and other south american countries. but it is native to ethiopia. it was first made into a drink by arabs during the 1400’s.
according to an arabic legend, coffee was discovered when a goatherd named kaldi noticed that his goats were attracted to the red berries on a coffee bush. he tried one and experienced the "wide-awake" feeling that one-third of the world’s population now starts the day with.
1. according to the passage, which of the following has changed the most in the last 500 years?
a) food.
b) chocolate.
c) potato.
d) coffee
2. "some" in "some still exist today" means
a) some cocoa trees.
b) some chocolate drinks.
c) some shops.
d) some south american indians.
3. thousands of irish people starved during the "potato famine" because
a) they were so dependent on the potato that they refused to eat anything else.
b) they were forced to emigrate to america.
c) the weather conditions in ireland were not suitable for growing the potato.
d) the potato harvest was bad.
4. coffee originally came from
a) brazil.
b) colombia.
c) ethiopia.
d) arabia.
5. the arabic legend is used to prove that
a) coffee was first discovered by kaldi.
b) coffee was first discovered by kaldi’s goats.
c) coffee was first discovered in south american countries.
d) coffee drinks were first made by arabs.
参考答案：acdcd
编辑推荐：
1、凡本网注明“来源：医学教育网”的所有作品，版权均属医学教育网所有，未经本网授权不得转载、链接、转贴或以其他方式使用；已经本网授权的，应在授权范围内使用，且必须注明“来源：医学教育网”。违反上述声明者，本网将追究其法律责任。
2、本网部分资料为网上搜集转载，均尽力标明作者和出处。对于本网刊载作品涉及版权等问题的，请作者与本网站联系，本网站核实确认后会尽快予以处理。
本网转载之作品，并不意味着认同该作品的观点或真实性。如其他媒体、网站或个人转载使用，请与著作权人联系，并自负法律责任。
3、本网站欢迎积极投稿
4、联系方式：
编辑信箱：mededit@cdeledu.com
电话：010-82311666
京公网安备11010802020153号
