So you thought the hamburger was the world's most popular fast food? After all, McDonald's Golden Arches span the globe . But no, there is another truly universal fast food, the ultimate fast food. It's easy to make, easy to serve, much more varied than the hamburger, can be eaten with the hands and it's delivered to your front door or served in fancy restaurants. It's been one of America's favourite foods for over 50 years. It is, of course, the pizza. It's kind of silly to talk about the moment when pizza was "invented". It changed over the years, but one thing's for certain--it's been around for a very long time. The idea of using pieces of flat, round bread as plates came from the Greeks. They called them "plakuntos" and ate them with various simple toppings such as oil, garlic , onions and herbs. The Romans enjoyed eating something similar and called it "picea". By about 1000 AD in the city of Naples, "picea" had become "pizza" and people were experimenting with more toppings: cheese, ham, anchovies and finally the tomato, brought to Italy from Mexico and Peru in the sixteenth century. Naples became the pizza capital of the world. In 1889, King UmbertoIand Queen Margherita heard about pizza and asked to try it. They invited pizza maker, Raffele Esposito, to make it for them. He decided to make the pizza like the Italian flag, so he used red tomatoes, white mozzarella cheese and green basil leaves. The Queen loved it and the new pizza was named "Pizza Margherita" in her honour. Pizza went to America with the Italians at the end of the nineteenth century. The first pizzeria in the United States was opened in 1905 at 53 Spring Street, New York City, by Gennaro Lombardi. But the popularity of pizza really exploded when American soldiers returned from Italy after World WarII and raved about "that great Italian dish". Americans are now the greatest producers and consumers of pizza in the world. What's the best title of the passage? A) McDonald's and Pizza B) Global Pizza C) Pizza in the United States D) How to Make Pizza
B
(Question)
I was born into a family of five children. As the youngest child, I didn't have many new clothes. Though my parents worked very hard, we could hardly make ends meet. The only time we would receive new clothes was at Christmas. The family across the street lived a much better life. They just had two daughters and they were often seen wearing new dresses. The younger girl named Anna was of my age. One afternoon, she walked on the street wearing a beautiful white dress. She looked like an angel in that dress. I, together with many little girls, followed her. We just couldn't keep our eyes off her dress. We all wished we would have such a dress one day! That day, after coming back, I told my mom that I wanted a dress like that. My mom frowned she thought such a beautiful dress like that must cost an arm and a leg, but my mom kept that in mind. She worked five days a week at that time, but when Christmas was getting close, she worked even on every Saturday. However, several days before Christmas, I changed my mind. It was Anna's birthday that day and I was invited to her home with some other girls. After that party, I asked if I could try on her white dress. "Of course," she said, "and you can take it if you like it." I couldn't believe my ears. How could she give such a beautiful dress to someone else? After trying it on, I knew why. The dress looked beautiful, but it was uncomfortable to wear. As a matter of fact, my back was quite itchy after I put it on. From that day on, I stopped admiring what others had. They may not be as good aswe think. The writer's mother started working on very Saturday because she _ . A) wanted to buy a new dress for herself B) had to buy all her children expensive gifts C) prepared herself for the busiest Christmas. D) wanted to buy the dress the writer wanted
(Answer)
D
Ques: "People should have one meat-free day a week if they want to make a personal and effective sacrifice that would help deal with climate change," the world's leading authority on global warming has told The Observer. Dr Rajendra Pachauri, chair of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that people should then go on to reduce their meat consumption even further. Pachauri, who was re-elected the panel's chairman for a second six-year term last week, said diet change was important because of the huge greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental problems associated with raising cattle and other animals. "It was relatively easy to change eating habits compared to changing means of transport," he said. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated that meat production accounts for nearly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. These are produced during the production. For example, ruminants , particularly cows, give off a gas called methane, which is 23 times more effective as a global warming agent than CO2. Pachauri can expect some opposite responses from the food industry to his advice, though last night he was given unexpected support by Masterchef presenter and restaurateur John Torode. "I have a little bit and enjoy it," said Torode. "Too much for any person is bad. But there's a bigger issue here: where the meat comes from. If we all bought British and stopped buying imported food, we'd save a huge amount of carbon emissions." Professor Robert Watson, the chief scientific adviser for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, said government could help educate people about the benefits of eating less meat, but it should not regulate. "Eating less meat would help, there's no question about that," Watson said. However, Chris Lamb, head of marketing for pig industry group BPEX, said the meat industry had been unfairly targeted and was working hard to find out which activities had the biggest environmental impact and reduce them. "Some ideas were... Who holds a view opposite to the others' in the passage? A) Rajendra Pachauri. B) John Torode. C) Robert Watson. D) Chris Lamb.
Ans: D
Ques: Who says constant texting is just a bad habit? The teenager with the fastest thumbs in the country was crowned on Wednesday at the LG US National Texting Championship in New York City, winning $50,000 after a series of fierce texting battles. 16-year-old Austin Wiershke comes from Rhinelander, Wisconsin of the United States. He took home the top prize at the fifth annual texting event, beating 11 other competitors in the final, including last year's champion Brianna Hendrickson from Brooklyn, New York. Wiershke, who was wearing a gray shirt and having Justin Bieber's hairstyle, sailed through each level of the competition by typing passages of text on a QWERTY keyboard rapidly without any mistaken. One special round even included being blindfolded on the state to make up phrases by memory. "I'm extremely nervous," Wiershke said while waiting for the results after the final round. "I'm getting ready to hear Brianna's name. When I heard my name was announced, I really couldn't believe my ears." After the announcement was made, confetti dropped from the ceiling and Wiershke was met on the stage by the singer who said that she liked texting very much. She was Ashley Tisdale, a famous and beautiful singer, who awarded him his check. In August, a film on Music Television called "Thumbs" took a behind-the -scenes look at the teenager's life. It shows how he practiced texting to be the fastest. The film followed a series of young texting competitors, including Brianna Hendrickson, in the weeks leading up to this year's LG US National Texting Championship. Besides showing the always -connected lifestyle of these teenagers nationwide, the mover also shows the studies, sports , dreams and friendships among these competitors. During the special round, competitors were required to text _ . A) among confetti B) without using their eyes C) using a special keyboard D) extremely difficult words
Ans:
B