THE WORLD’S FAVORITE FLAVOR

What’s the world’s favorite flavor? If you guessed chocolate,

you’re right. In fact, the average American eats over 11 pounds of
chocolate a year! From a tree in the rain forest to the sweet sauce on
your ice cream, the story of chocolate is a fascinating one.
Chocolate has been around for at least 2000 years. The Indigenous people of Mexico
enjoyed a spicy drink called xocolatl. It was made from beans that grew on a small tree called a
cacao. The drink tasted bitter and was often mixed with chili peppers. But the Mayan people
loved it so much that they drank it every day, and sometimes with every meal.
Legend says that Christopher Columbus first brought cocoa beans from Mexico to
Europe in 1502. At first, people in Europe didn’t like the spicy chocolate drink of the Mayans.
So they started to add sugar, cinnamon and other flavorings. By the 1600s, there were fancy
“chocolate houses” all over Europe, where rich people would gather for hot cocoa and gossip.
At first, chocolate was only a drink. In 1847, the J.S. Fry Company in England poured
chocolate into square molds, creating the first chocolate bars. But they were bitter and not very
popular. In 1875, Swiss chocolate makers added milk and sugar to liquid chocolate. This was the
first milk chocolate. About 25 years later, the American candy maker Hershey started to make
bars from milk chocolate. Everyone loved them.
Chocolate has come a long way from its beginnings as a bitter-tasting bean. Today, there
are over 30,000 kinds of chocolate candies to satisfy your sweet tooth. And if that’s not enough,
there is even chocolate toothpaste, chocolate pasta, and chocolate soap! Every day, all over the
world, people are enjoying the world’s favorite flavor.

©High Interest Publishing

hip-books.com
BEFORE READING:

The word chocolate appears 20 times in this passage! If you can read that word, you’ve already
mastered a big chunk of the passage. Everybody knows what chocolate is. But did you know
that it started as a spicy drink in Mexico over 2000 years ago? Read to find more about the
history of chocolate.

DURING READING:

One of the things that makes this passage difficult is long sentences. If you come to a very long
sentence, try breaking it into smaller parts.

AFTER READING:

Some things to think about:

1. Why does the author start a sentence with “Legend says…”

2. Why do you think only rich people could afford chocolate houses?

3. Why would anybody buy chocolate soap or chocolate toothpaste?

4. Something to research: How is chocolate made?

Something to do: ALPHABOXES

How many interesting or important words can you find in this passage? Write them in the
correct boxes in the ALPHABOX organizer.

©High Interest Publishing

hip-books.com
One of the things that makes this passage hard to read is a lot of LONG sentences. But it’s easy
to break long sentences into shorter chunks.

Here’s a clue that writers give readers to help them break down long sentences: COMMAS!

Try chunking this sentence at each comma: Every day,/ all over the world, /people are enjoying
the world’s favorite flavor. Isn’t that easier to read?

Every day, / all over the world,/ people are enjoying the world’s favorite flavor.

Who/What is it about? People What about them? are enjoying the world’s
favorite flavor
When? every day Where? all over the world

Now you try it!

By the 1600s, there were fancy “chocolate houses” all over Europe, where rich people
would gather for hot cocoa and gossip.
Who/What is it about? What about it/them?

When? Where?

But the Mayan people loved it so much that they drank it every day, and sometimes with
every meal.

Who/What is it about? What about it?

When?

In 1847, the J.S. Fry Company in England poured chocolate into square molds, creating the
first chocolate bars.

What’s it about? What about it?

When? Where? Why?

©High Interest Publishing

hip-books.com
 ALPHABOXES
Can you find at least 20 IMPORTANT WORDS from the passage to fill in the
alphabet boxes? (Words like the, and, to and from don’t count.) There’s one to
get you started.

It’s okay to have more than one word in a box. And it’s okay to have some
boxes without any words.

A B C D

chocolate

E F G H

I J K L

M N O P

Q R S T

U V WX YZ

©High Interest Publishing

hip-books.com