Задания 10-17
Doughnuts
Doughnuts, a delicious snack, need no special occasion to eat them; they are the side order to coffee, tea or milk and can easily make you popular around the office. They are consumed all over the world – the USA alone makes more than 10 billion doughnuts a year.
The origin of the doughnut is heavily debated. The idea of fried dough does not belong to one country or culture. The exact place, time and person responsible for creating the doughnut is also unknown. However, the two countries generally associated with this sweet snack are the United States and Holland.
Records show that the Dutch were making olykoeks, or ‘oil cakes’, as early as the mid-19th century. These early doughnuts were simply balls of cake fried in pork fat until golden brown. However, there was a problem with doughnuts. The centre of the doughnuts did not cook as fast as the outside and remained mostly uncooked. That was the reason why the cakes were stuffed with fruit, nuts, or other fillings that did not take long to cook.
The doughnuts got a hole inside only after their arrival in America. There is a very popular half-true story about a sea captain and his mother, which explains how it happened. As legend has it, Mrs. Gregory sent her son, Captain Hanson Gregory, on one of his sea voyages with several doughnuts and her recipe to make more. But Hanson didn’t like nuts, so he took them out and ordered the ship’s cook to prepare all doughnuts with holes in the centre.
We may never know if Captain Gregory really invented the first doughnut hole. However, we can be sure that this hole was a very positive change. Now it was much easier to get well-done and cooked-through doughnuts.
By the 1920s, doughnuts were being mass-produced in America. Their association with breakfast was only the beginning and the doughnut was very popular as a snack in theatres. To satisfy the growing need for doughnuts in one New York neighborhood, a Russian immigrant named Adolph Levitt created the first doughnut machine. In 1934 the doughnut was declared ‘the hit food of the Century Of Progress’. Levitt made twenty-five million dollars annually from the sale of his doughnut machines to bakeries.
The 1940s and 50s, saw the arrival of doughnut chains such as Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and Dunkin’ Donuts. They say it was the Dunkin Donuts chain that popularized the ‘donut’ spelling of the word ‘doughnut’ by making it part of its name! Today, most writers outside the USA still prefer ‘doughnut’. ‘Donut’ appears about a third of the time in published American writing. However, as ‘donut’ is a simpler spelling it will certainly become more commonly used.
The Americans are so fond of doughnuts that they celebrate National Doughnut Day. It is on the first Friday in June and honours the ‘Doughnut Girls’. These were the female volunteers who made doughnuts and served them to American soldiers fighting in France during World War I. The French women wanted to bring comfort and optimism into soldiers’ life by giving them a taste of the food they had back home.
10. The USA produces more doughnuts than all the other countries in the world.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
11. The fillings in doughnuts were first added to make them well-cooked.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
12. Mrs. Gregory was the best doughnut cook in her town.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
13. Mrs. Gregory invented doughnuts with a hole in the centre.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
14. At the beginning of the 20th century, doughnuts became very popular in the United States.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
15. The doughnut machine brought its inventor lots of money.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
16. The spelling ‘donut’ is more popular in the US than anywhere else.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
17. The ‘Doughnut Girls’ was the name for women who served in the army during World War I.
1) True
2) False
3) Not stated
