The history and production of chocolate (Đề thi IELTS READING 8/6/2024)

READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 on pages 2 and 3.
 

The history and production of chocolate
Early history in central America
The climate of tropical rainforests contains great quantities of rainfall with high year-round temperature and humidity. This results in the perfect conditions for the cultivation of the cacao tree plant from whose bean chocolate is derived. This tree has grown in the wild in Central America for about 10000 years. The Olmec Indians, whose civilisation flourished in what is now southern Mexico from 1500 to 300 BC, are believed to have been the first to grow cocoa beans as a domestic crop.
The cacao tree was worshipped from about 600 AD by the Mayan people of central America and southern Mexico, who believed it to be of divine origin. Cacao, which the early explorers referred to as cocoa, is actually a Mayan word meaning 'god food'. The Mayans brewed a spicy, bitter sweet drink by pounding the cocoa beans with maize and chilly peppers and letting the mixture ferment. This drink was reserved for use in traditional ceremonies as well as for drinking by the wealthy and by priests, who also ate a porridge made the beans
In about 1200 AD, the Aztecs of central Mexico were introduced to cocoa beans and came to highly prize them, but because they lived further north at more arid, higher altitudes not suitable for the cultivation of the cacao tree, they had to acquire the beans through trade of by force. The Aztecs used coca beans as currency and taxes were paid in the beans to their rulers. In fact, the Aztec royal treasury consisted not of precious metals but of cocoa beans. The Aztecs also enjoyed a beverage made from the beans, and this again featured prominently in rituals and as a luxury available only to the very wealthy. The Aztecs called this drink xocoatl. The Spanish explorers found this word almost impossible to pronounce and so corrupted it to 'chocolat', which the English subsequently changed to the chocolate.>> Form đăng kí giải đề thi thật IELTS 4 kĩ năng kèm bài giải bộ đề 100 đề PART 2 IELTS SPEAKING quý đang thi (update hàng tuần) từ IELTS TUTOR
Introduction to Europe and North America
ope and North America 79926
Chocolate was brought back Spain in the early 16th century by Spanish explorers, who at first found the Aztec drink distasteful because of its bitterness. However, they learned to improve its taste by mixing the ground roasted beans with sugar and vanilla. Chocolate factories were established in Spain and by the early 17th century, chocolate powder was being exported to other parts of Europe. The Spanish kept the source of the drink – the beans - a secret for many years, so successfully. In fact, that when English pirates boarded a Spanish ship, they thought carried great treasure and only found a load of cocoa beans, they burned the ship in frustration. If only they had known that chocolate at that time was extremely valuable.

Within a few years, the cocoa beverage produced in Spain was sought after throughout Europe. The first chocolate house in England opened in 1657, followed rapidly by many others. These establishments were used as clubs where wealthy people could meet to talk to their friends and to discuss business over a cup of chocolate. The first recorded instance of chocolate being eaten in a solid form occurred when a baker in England began adding cocoa powder to cakes in the mid-1600s. Then in 1828, a Dutch chemist, Johannes Van Houten, invented a method of extracting the bitter-tasting cocoa butter from the roasted beans. His aim was to make the cocoa drink smoother and more palatable. However, unknowingly he paved the way for the chocolate bar that we consume today.
In the early 15th century, certain companies owned by prominent English families, including the Frys, Rowntrees and Cadburys, began making chocolate. Many of these chocolate factory owners were noted for their enlightened treatment of employees, providing not just jobs but facilities such as housing and schools. In fact, the Cadbury company constructed a large purpose-built town near Birmingham. And interestingly, Milton Hershey, founder of perhaps the most famous US chocolate-making company of its day, also established a town in Pennsylvania in 1900.>> IELTS TUTOR có hướng dẫn kĩ SỬA BÀI IELTS WRITING TASK 2 ĐỀ THI THẬT NGÀY 22/8/2020 của HS IELTS TUTOR đạt 6.5 Writing
The production of chocolate
Producing chocolate is a time-consuming and complicated process. After being harvested and separated from the pods which contain them, the beans are allowed to ferment and then dried either in the sun (which produces the best chocolate) or artificially, using specially-designed machines, (which creates an inferior chocolate). After that, the beans are roasted according to various formulas which affect the flavour of the final product. The beans are then lightly crushed the outer layer or shell discarded and the internal kernel or 'nibs' retained. At this point, the nibs, which contain high quantities of a fat known as cocoa butter, may be treated to develop their flavour and colour. The nibs are finely ground, and in the grinding process heat is produced which liquefies the product into a substance called the 'liquor'. This is cooled and allowed to solidify. After this stage, the chocolate is made into any of a multitude of solid forms or is ground into cocoa power, depending on the ultimate intended use.

Questions 11-13

Complete the flow-chart below

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer

Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet

The chocolate manufacturing process

After being separated from their pods, cocoa beans are 11________naturally or mechanically.

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Beans then 12 ________.to create distinctive tastes

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Nibs are separated from the shells

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Heat generated during the grinding of the nibs produces 13________

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Further treatment produces desired final chocolate product