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Pizza History

1. Pizza has been pleasing taste buds for a very long time. In prehistoric times, people baked large pieces of bread on
flat cooking stones. Later, in Italy, these flat pieces of bread were spiced up with herbs and
called focaccia bread. Italians still love to eat focaccia as an appetizer or snack. This snack
was easy because you did not need utensils. And it could be seasoned with extra bits of
food and fresh produce.
2. When Europeans came to America, they discovered tomatoes, which they then took back
to their home countries. The Italians needed something a little different to add to their breadfilled diet. The people of Naples, Italy were the first to put tomatoes on focaccia bread.
People didn't want to use tomatoes at first because they thought this delicious red fruit was poisonous!
3. The world's first pizzeria, Port' Alba, opened in 1830. Pizzas were baked in an oven lined with lava from a local
volcano! The first pizza delivery occurred in 1889 when an Italian restaurant owner was asked to
create a special dish for the guest of honor, Queen Margherita Terea Giovanni. He wanted to
include the colors of the Italian flag in his dish to honor the queen, so he added tomatoes (red),
mozzarella cheese (white), and basil (green) to focaccia bread. The restaurant owner named this
meal the Margherita Pizza, using part of the guest of honor's name along with part of the name of
his restaurant -Pietro II Pizzaiolo. The pizza was delivered to the palace because the Queen did not
want to go all the way to the restaurant!

4. In 1905, Gennaro Lombardi opened the first American pizzeria


in New York City and it is still there today. However, pizza did not
Queen Margherita
become popular until after World War II, when veterans in Italy
Terea Giovanni
returned home craving the pizza they had eaten there. Soon, premade pizza pie mixes, frozen pizza, and pizzeria shops sprang up around the
America. Today, pizza is one of the most popular and delicious foods in the world!
5. More Interesting Pizza Facts

Pizza Hut is the largest pizza company in the world.


The world's largest pizza measured 37.4 meters in diameter, and was baked in South Africa in 1990.

The world's largest pizza order came from the VF Corporation in North Carolina (U.S.A.) who ordered 13,386
pizzas for its 40,160 employees nationwide.

October is National Pizza Month in America.

Kids between the ages of 3 and 11 prefer pizza over all other foods for dinner.

Three out of the top 10 weeks of pizza consumption occur in January. More pizza is consumed during Super
Bowl week than any other week of the year in America.

62% of Americans prefer meat toppings on their pizza, while 38% prefer vegetarian pizza.

Mozzarella cheese was originally made from the milk of water buffalo!

1- Which paragraph (1-5) in the text talks about each of the following?
following?

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

1 mark each 5 marks

When pizza became popular in America


(paragraph...........)
Where tomatoes came from
(Paragraph...........)
The origins of pizza
(Paragraph...........)
The worlds largest pizza
(Paragraph...........)
The worlds first pizza delivery
(Paragraph)

2- Read the article again and decide if the statements are true (T) or false (F ).

Correct

the ones that are false. 3 marks each 18marks


a. The first Europeans to discover tomatoes, thought they were poisonous (T)
(F)
________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
b. The worlds largest pizza order came from VF Corporation in South Carolina (U.S.A.) (T) (F)
________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
c. Pizza Company is the largest Pizza company in the world. (T) (F)
________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
d. Mozzarella cheese is red (T) (F)__________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
e. Americans eat more pizza during Super Bowl week than any other week (T)
(F)___________
___________________________________________________________________________
f. More Americans like vegetarian pizza (T) (F)________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
3- Match the meanings below to the following words from the text. Read again if necessary.
necessary.
4 marks each

Appetizer

Herb

Volcano

Diameter

utensils

poisonous

Super Bowl

pizzeria

Veteran

a. someone who fought in a war as a soldier, sailor or air force___________________


b. Very harmful or unpleasant. it can make you very sick or even kill you
___________________________________________________________
c. A simple and useful device that is used for doing things in a person's home especially in the
kitchen (Knives and forks are examples)________________
d. A restaurant where mostly pizzas are served and eaten_____________________________
e. a small dish of food served before the main part of a meal________________________
f. the yearly championship game of the National Football League____________________
g. a straight line from one side of something (such as a circle) to the other side that passes
through the centre (Middle)____________________________________
h. a mountain with a hole in the top or side that sometimes sends out rocks, ash, lava, etc., in a
sudden explosion______________________________________________
i. a plant or a part of a plant that is used as medicine or to give flavour to
food________________________________________________________

4. Complete the sentences with the correct prepositions.


prepositions.
1 mark each

in for for of of - on
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

people baked large pieces of bread ___ flat cooking stones


Pizzas were baked ____an oven lined with lava.
who ordered 13,386 pizzas _____ its 40,160 employees nationwide
More pizza is consumed during Super Bowl week than any other week ___ the year in America
It could be seasoned with extra bits _____ food and fresh produce.
an Italian restaurant owner was asked to create a special dish ____ the guest of honor, Queen Margherita
Terea Giovanni

5. Answer the following questions

3marks each

a. Why did early Europeans not eat tomatoes?


_____________________________________________________________
b. What are the colours of the Italian flag?
_________________________________________________________________
c. Why was the first pizza delivery brought to the palace of the queen?
___________________________________________
d. In what year was the first American Pizzeria opened?
__________________________________________________________
e. In what country was the largest pizza ever baked?
______________________________________________________________
f. Mozzarella cheese was once made from the milk of what animal?
__________________________________________________

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