Reading "A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE"

Read the text below. For tasks 1–6 choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D). Circle out letters A, B, C or D. For each correct answer you get 1 point.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE

The tasty secret of the cacao tree, which chocolate is made from,
was discovered 2,000 years ago in the tropical rainforests of the
Americas.
The first people who made chocolate were the ancient cultures
of Mexico and Central America. These people, including the Maya
and Aztec, mixed ground cacao seeds with various spices to make
a hot, bitter drink.
The drink was considered so precious that it was initially intended
only for the most important people in society: rulers, priests,
decorated soldiers and honoured merchants. Chocolate also
played a special role in both Maya and Aztec royal and religious
events: priests presented cacao seeds as offerings to the gods and
served chocolate drinks during sacred ceremonies.
Europe’s first contact with chocolate came during the conquest
of Mexico in 1521. The Spanish recognised the value attached to
cacao and followed the Aztec custom of drinking chocolate. Soon
afterwards, the Spanish began to transport cacao seeds back
home. Slowly they started adding cinnamon and other spices to
it and began sweetening it with sugar. They managed to keep
their delicious drink a Spanish secret for almost 100 years before
the rest of Europe discovered what they were missing. Sweetened
chocolate soon became extremely popular.
Because cacao and sugar were expensive imports, only those with
money could afford to drink chocolate. In fact, in France, chocolate
was a state monopoly that could be consumed only by the
aristocracy. Like the Maya and the Aztecs, Europeans developed
their own special protocol for the drinking of chocolate. They even
designed special porcelain and silver serving sets for chocolate that
acted as symbols of wealth and power.
For centuries, chocolate remained a handmade luxury, drunk only
by society’s upper classes. But by the 1800s, mass production had
made it affordable to a much broader public: the steam engine
made it possible to grind cacao and to produce large amounts
of chocolate cheaply and quickly. Later inventions like the cocoa
press made it possible to create smooth, creamy, solid chocolate
for eating—not just liquid chocolate for drinking.
New processes and machinery have improved the quality of
chocolate and the speed at which it can be produced. However,
cacao farming itself remains basically unchanged. People grow
cacao in equatorial climates all around the world today using
traditional techniques first developed in Mesoamerica: cacao is still
harvested, fermented, dried, cleaned, and roasted mostly by hand.
Today, additional steps in the processing of cacao have helped
to create a variety of new flavours and forms. One thing has not
changed, though: chocolate still remains people’s favourite sweet.
As someone nicely put it: ‘I could give up chocolate but I’m not
a quitter’.

1. Chocolate was discovered

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE

The tasty secret of the cacao tree, which chocolate is made from,
was discovered 2,000 years ago in the tropical rainforests of the
Americas.
The first people who made chocolate were the ancient cultures
of Mexico and Central America. These people, including the Maya
and Aztec, mixed ground cacao seeds with various spices to make
a hot, bitter drink.
The drink was considered so precious that it was initially intended
only for the most important people in society: rulers, priests,
decorated soldiers and honoured merchants. Chocolate also
played a special role in both Maya and Aztec royal and religious
events: priests presented cacao seeds as offerings to the gods and
served chocolate drinks during sacred ceremonies.
Europe’s first contact with chocolate came during the conquest
of Mexico in 1521. The Spanish recognised the value attached to
cacao and followed the Aztec custom of drinking chocolate. Soon
afterwards, the Spanish began to transport cacao seeds back
home. Slowly they started adding cinnamon and other spices to
it and began sweetening it with sugar. They managed to keep
their delicious drink a Spanish secret for almost 100 years before
the rest of Europe discovered what they were missing. Sweetened
chocolate soon became extremely popular.
Because cacao and sugar were expensive imports, only those with
money could afford to drink chocolate. In fact, in France, chocolate
was a state monopoly that could be consumed only by the
aristocracy. Like the Maya and the Aztecs, Europeans developed
their own special protocol for the drinking of chocolate. They even
designed special porcelain and silver serving sets for chocolate that
acted as symbols of wealth and power.
For centuries, chocolate remained a handmade luxury, drunk only
by society’s upper classes. But by the 1800s, mass production had
made it affordable to a much broader public: the steam engine
made it possible to grind cacao and to produce large amounts
of chocolate cheaply and quickly. Later inventions like the cocoa
press made it possible to create smooth, creamy, solid chocolate
for eating—not just liquid chocolate for drinking.
New processes and machinery have improved the quality of
chocolate and the speed at which it can be produced. However,
cacao farming itself remains basically unchanged. People grow
cacao in equatorial climates all around the world today using
traditional techniques first developed in Mesoamerica: cacao is still
harvested, fermented, dried, cleaned, and roasted mostly by hand.
Today, additional steps in the processing of cacao have helped
to create a variety of new flavours and forms. One thing has not
changed, though: chocolate still remains people’s favourite sweet.
As someone nicely put it: ‘I could give up chocolate but I’m not
a quitter’.

2. During the Maya and Aztec civilisations, chocolate was

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CHOCOLATE

The tasty secret of the cacao tree, which chocolate is made from,
was discovered 2,000 years ago in the tropical rainforests of the
Americas.
The first people who made chocolate were the ancient cultures
of Mexico and Central America. These people, including the Maya
and Aztec, mixed ground cacao seeds with various spices to make
a hot, bitter drink.
The drink was considered so precious that it was initially intended
only for the most important people in society: rulers, priests,
decorated soldiers and honoured merchants. Chocolate also
played a special role in both Maya and Aztec royal and religious
events: priests presented cacao seeds as offerings to the gods and
served chocolate drinks during sacred ceremonies.
Europe’s first contact with chocolate came during the conquest
of Mexico in 1521. The Spanish recognised the value attached to
cacao and followed the Aztec custom of drinking chocolate. Soon
afterwards, the Spanish began to transport cacao seeds back
home. Slowly they started adding cinnamon and other spices to
it and began sweetening it with sugar. They managed to keep
their delicious drink a Spanish secret for almost 100 years before
the rest of Europe discovered what they were missing. Sweetened
chocolate soon became extremely popular.
Because cacao and sugar were expensive imports, only those with
money could afford to drink chocolate. In fact, in France, chocolate
was a state monopoly that could be consumed only by the
aristocracy. Like the Maya and the Aztecs, Europeans developed
their own special protocol for the drinking of chocolate. They even
designed special porcelain and silver serving sets for chocolate that
acted as symbols of wealth and power.
For centuries, chocolate remained a handmade luxury, drunk only
by society’s upper classes. But by the 1800s, mass production had
made it affordable to a much broader public: the steam engine
made it possible to grind cacao and to produce large amounts
of chocolate cheaply and quickly. Later inventions like the cocoa
press made it possible to create smooth, creamy, solid chocolate
for eating—not just liquid chocolate for drinking.
New processes and machinery have improved the quality of
chocolate and the speed at which it can be produced. However,
cacao farming itself remains basically unchanged. People grow
cacao in equatorial climates all around the world today using
traditional techniques first developed in Mesoamerica: cacao is still
harvested, fermented, dried, cleaned, and roasted mostly by hand.
Today, additional steps in the processing of cacao have helped
to create a variety of new flavours and forms. One thing has not
changed, though: chocolate still remains people’s favourite sweet.
As someone nicely put it: ‘I could give up chocolate but I’m not
a quitter’.

3. In the hundred years after chocolate was taken to Spain