Task 1
Read the text below and answer the questions.
For each question, choose the correct answer A, B, C or D.
A. The world is in the midst of a chocolate shortage, and chocolate makers say it could get worse. According to Mars lnc. and Barry Callebaut, two of the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers, people are eating more cocoa than farmers can grow. Last year, globally, people ate 70,000 tons more cocoa than was produced. Chocolate makers say that the deficit could reach 1 million tons by 2020 and 2 million tons by 2030.
B. Most of the world's cocoa is grown in Africa. Cocoa trees bear bright fruit pods that each contains 30 to 50 cocoa seeds. These seeds are removed from the pods and left to fermented for several days, a process that produces the distinctive chocolate flavour. The seeds are then dried and roasted, and the shells are removed to reveal the cocoa nib inside. Finally, the nibs are ground and mixed with sugar, vanilla and sometimes milk to create the final product: a bar of dark, milk or white chocolate.
C.High temperatures and dry weather in West Africa have greatly hurt production. Growers and chocolate makers are also concerned about the increase in plant diseases that are destroying crops. The International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) estimates that one such disease, known as frosty pod' (a type of fungal infection), has reduced world cocoa production by 30 to 40 per cent.
D. “To try to grow more chocolate, farmers are converting diverse tropical forests to cocoa farms,” says Peter Läderach, a scientist with the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture in Vietnam. This expansion is destroying large areas of the Guinean Rainforest. The area has been identified as a biodiversity hotspot with a high concentration of plant and animal species which are being threatened. The slash and burn technique used by farmers not only destroys the forest, leaving the soil infertile, but also forces wildlife into smaller and smaller areas. (A)
E. (B) Another factor contributing to the deficit is the rapidly increasing demand for chocolate. (C) People in China ate 40,000 tons of chocolate in 2010 and are expected to consume 70,000 tons this year. (D)
F. As cocoa prices continue to rise, confectionery companies may produce smaller bars in an attempt to conserve cocoa. Farmers have been producing a new strain of cacao, the seed from which cocoa is made, called CCN-51. This strain is resistant to some of the diseases affecting cocoa production, and it produces about seven times more cocoa beans than typical cocoa strains, but its taste is less flavourful.
G.The picture isn't completely pessimistic, though. One Central American research organization has developed more new strains of cacao that are disease-resistant but still taste good. Lãderach also points out that if current climate warming patterns continue, cocoa could be grown in areas of the world where it wasn't possible before.
H. And some experts believe reports of the shortage have been exaggerated. “While our projections show that supply deficits are likely to occur in the next several years,” the ICCO said in a statement, stocks of cocoa beans should cushion this development before production growth accelerates. So the world's chocolate lovers may not need to panic just yet.
Task 2
Read the text below and answer the questions.
For each question, choose the correct answer A, B, C or D
A hatter is a person who makes hats. Hatters are also known as milliners. People have been wearing hats for a long time. So, millinery is an old profession. We can trace the use of the word back to the 1600s.
Perhaps the most famous real-life milliner is Coco Chanel. She founded the Chanel brand after World War I. Her brand is still popular today. But the most famous milliner of all may be the Hatter from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
The Hatter first appears in Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel in “Chapter Seven – A Mad Tea-Party”. The Hatter claims to Alice that it is always six o'clock and so it is always tea-time. He speaks in riddles to which he does not know the answer. And he changes his seat at the table at random. This character is known as "the Mad Hatter," and even the Cheshire Cat calls him mad.
In Carroll's time, many hatters suffered from mental illness. In fact, the phrase "as mad as a hatter" was in print in 1829. This was several decades before Carroll's character appeared. It is now understood that this madness was due to mercury exposure.
Mercury was once a secret ingredient in hatting. Hatters would steam and press animal fur. Then they would add a compound made from mercury to stabilize the fur. They called this process felting. It made for some nice hats. It also gave hatters mercury poisoning.
Erethism, also known as "mad hatter disease," is a mental disorder. It is due to having too much contact with mercury. Those who suffer from it shake beyond their control. Their personalities may change. They may lose their memories. Or they may hallucinate. It is a damaging condition.
Speaking of madness, the small city of Danbury, Connecticut, was once known as "Hat City." During the 1800s and 1900s, as many as 75% of American-made hats came from Danbury. And a lot of workers from this city got mercury poisoning. There were so many cases that the condition was known as the "Danbury shakes." The madness of it all is that people knew the cause.
Although the hazards of mercury had long been known, it wasn't studied until the 1860s. Yet by 1869 science proved the health hazards that mercury posed to hat makers. And in 1874 and 1888 people created new, safer methods of felting using acid. But the American hat industry continued to use mercury for another 60 years. Isn't that maddening?
The use of mercury in hatting finally ended during World War II. It wasn't because people discovered that it was hazardous to workers. (They already knew that.) It was because mercury was needed to create detonators for the war effort. Connecticut banned the use of mercury in hat-making in 1941. To this day the banks of the Still River in Danbury still test high for levels of mercury waste.
