学位英语

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.

KEY: ACDCD

相关推荐：2017年职称英语报名时间及入口

报考条件：综合类，理工类，卫生类考试原则上没有严格的界限。职称英语考试报名可在单位报，评职称与户口无关，主要看你的工作单位，所以你可以直接咨询单位的人事部门，如果他们说可以就行，每个省规定不大一样。【查看详情】

报考选择：职称英语报考科目|级别选择|报名条件及相关问题解答

免考规定：取得外语(从事翻译工作人员及外语教师第二外语)专业专科及以上学历的人员申报中、高级职称评审……。【查看详情】

（责任编辑：hbz）

共2页,当前第1页  第一页  前一页  下一页