In the book The True History of Chocolate，authors Sophie and Michael Coe prove that the earliest linguistic (语言学的) evidence of chocolate consumption dates back three or even four thousand years.

　　Valuable and Fashionable Chocolate Beverage

　　It's hard to discover exactly when chocolate was born，but it's clear that it was cherished from the start.For several centuries in pre－modern Latin America，cacao beans were considered valuable enough to use as currency.100 beans could purchase a good turkey hen，according to a 16th－century Aztec document.

　　Sweetened chocolate didn't appear until Europeans discovered the Americas and sampled (品尝) the native cuisine.Chocolate didn't suit the foreigners' taste at first—one described it in his writings as “a bitter drink for pigs”—but once mixed with honey or cane sugar，it quickly became popular throughout Spain.By the 17th century，chocolate was a fashionable drink throughout Europe，believed to have nutritious，medicinal functions.But it remained largely a privilege of the rich until the invention of the steam engine made mass production possible in the late 1700s.

　　The Birth of Solid Chocolate

　　In 1828，a Dutch chemist found a way to make powdered chocolate.His product became known as“Dutch cocoa”，and it soon led to the creation of solid chocolate.In 1847，Joseph Fry created the first modern chocolate bar.By 1868，a little company called Cadbury was marketing boxes of chocolate candies in England.Milk chocolate hit the market a few years later.

【2016届高考英语二轮复习精品资料（高考押题）：专题14 阅读理解（解析版）】相关文章：

★ 【课堂新坐标】2017届高考英语（通用版）二轮复习短文改错专题训练：训练1 短文改错（Ⅰ）（含解析）

★ 【北师大版】2014届高考英语一轮复习指导课时作业：Unit 11 A卷 Word版含解析

★ 【课堂新坐标】2017届高考英语（通用版）二轮复习书面表达专题训练：Ⅱ卷强化增分练 训练4（含解析）

★ 湖南省汝城二中2014届高考英语一轮复习阅读训练 (15)

★ 湖南省长沙县实验中学2016届高三英语二轮复习书面表达复习重点话题指导专题15 生活习惯话题指导（教师版）

★ 2016年高考英语第二轮复习如何才能快速提分

★ 【北师大版】2014届高考英语一轮复习指导课时作业：Unit 2 A卷 Word版含解析

★ 【课堂新坐标】2017届高考英语（通用版）二轮复习书面表达专题训练：技法4 巧妙的过渡连贯的衔接（含解析）

★ 2017届高考英语二轮复习大题冲关秘籍语法填空：名校模拟（含解析）

★ 天津市武清区杨村第四中学2016届高考英语一轮复习语法专题六《定语从句》课件外研版