3. Corn (Maize)

Corn or maize was domesticated and cultivated by the native people of the New World when Christopher Columbus first reached its shores.

The cultivation of corn was of primary importance to the daily diet of the Indians, who used it in making a sort of bread, the tortilla.

Columbus took the seeds back to Spain in 1493, but the cultivation of corn began in Europe only around 1520. It was regarded primarily as a garden plant, but in the 16th century it became a culinary fixture and was used to make white and sweet bread —polenta, it was cooked in a mass, then cut with a wire into large, thin slices and arranged on a platter with cheese or with butter. Corn was extensively consumed by poor people because they were primarily concerned with filling their empty bellies.

In the United States, the cereal is almost always called corn, while in Britain it is called maize. Maize, variously spelled, is the cereal's proper name in all European languages. The word is derived from the Spanish maize, taken in turn from the Indian maize. Polenta eventually replaced all of the other cereals and provided nourishment for many generations of poor working people in the countries of the Mediterranean Basin, the Balkans, Africa and Asia.

Nowadays there are a lot of different kinds of polenta and other dishes made with corn in recipe books.

Ответе на вопросы по тексту:

1. Whom was maize domesticated and cultivated by?

2. Who used corn in making the tortilla?

3. When did Columbus take the seeds back to Spain?

3. Working His Way Up

Nick Minelli has been a bus boy at Blake's Steak House for six months. Working as a bus boy was a good beginning for Nick. By doing his job well, he knew he could get a promotion. He has done his job well and has shown that he is dependable and trustworthy.

Recently Nick's supervisor suggested that he started trailing as a waiter. That was great news because Nick suddenly felt closer to his real goal — becoming head chef. Through a combination of hard work, patience and determination Nick planned to work his way up the Ladder of success.

Waiting of tables gave Nick the opportunity to make more money. He made his best tips on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Making salads and baking bread will be Nick's responsibilities if he Sets promoted to assistant chef.

Becoming head chef would be like a dream come true for Nick. He believes that hard work and determination will pay off.

Укажите какие из высказываний являются верными:

1. Nick Minelli has been a bus boy at Blake's Steak House for six years.

2. He knew he could get a promotion because he has shown that he is dependable and trustworthy.

3. Nick's supervisor suggested that he started trailing as a waiter.

4. Nick wanted to become a head chef.

5. Nick made his best tips on and Saturday and Sunday evenings.

19.3. How Do We Taste a Food?

As human being, we have about 10,000 taste buds n our mouths, located in papillae , which are grouped according to receptivity to salty, sour, sweet and bitter. Inside each bud are some fifty taste cells relaying information to neurons, which report to the brain. We primarily taste sweet things at the tip of the tongue, sour substances at the sides, salty all over the surface (but mainly toward the front), and bitter at the back. But every taste is the result of a combination of the four primary tastes.

We can only taste a food when it begins to dissolve; it is through saliva that the taste buds are stimulated.

People's taste in food differs and changes over time. Taste buds themselves only last about a week; the body replaces them. As we get older, however, they are not replaced as quickly, so it takes more intense flavour to create the same sensation in the mouth.

Ответе на вопросы по тексту:

1. How many taste buds do we have as human being in our mouths, located in papillae?

2. How are the taste buds grouped?

3. What the taste buds are stimulated by?