The history of ice cream is amystery. No one knows exactly how and when people began to eat it. There is onestory that the Roman emperor Nero (A.D. 37—68) sent slaves to the mountains tobring back snow. The snow was served to him sweetened with honey and fruit pulp.Marco Polo (1254—1324) tasted flavored ices, too, during his famous travels inthe Far East. He brought the recipes back toItaly.
Recipesfor ices spread fromItalyto the rest of Europe in the 1500’s. The chefs of kings constantly experimentedwith new combinations to please their masters, and at some point cream andbutter were added to the recipes for ice. The new dish was called cream ice.Cream ice, molded into amusing shapes, began to be served on the tables ofkings across Europe. Louis XIV (1638—1715)surprised his court with a dessert of eggs in cups of silver and gilt. Theeggs, of course, were really cream ice.
Graduallycream ice took the name it has today. One of the earliest advertisements forice cream was put in a New Yorkpaper in 1786. The ad announced that “Ladies and gentlemen may be supplied withice- cream every day at the City Tavern by their humble servant, Joseph Crowe.”But ice cream was still not an everyday event. It was usually presented infancy shapes at the end of dinner parties. Policy Madison (1768—1849) was famous for herimaginative dinners, and she was the first to serve ice cream at the WhiteHouse. When her guests came into the dining room, they found a table coveredwith delicious dishes, and in the center of the table, a huge mound of pink icecream on a silver platter.
Icecream was such a delicacy because it was so hard to make. At first it wasbeaten and then shaken by hand in a pan of salt and ice until it became firm. Afreezer that was cranked by hand was developed around 1846. Making ice creamwas still a chore, but cranking the freezer was much easier and faster thanshaking the mixture in a pan.
“Icecream socials” became a popular way to entertain friends. Everyone helped turnthe crank of the freezer, and homemade peach or strawberry ice cream was thereward. The development of the continuous freezer in the 1920’smade the manufacture of ice cream very quick and economical. It soon was easierto buy packaged ice cream than to make it at home. Eskimo pies and popsiclesbegan to be sold at the same time.
Possiblyice cream cones began with the World’s Fair in 1893. Vendors there sold FriedIce Cream. The ice cream was covered with a fritter batter and then quicklydipped in very hot lard or olive oil. Putting the ice cream in an alreadyprepared cone was the next step. Today there are many novelty products, fromfrozen drumsticks to ice cream pies.
16.According to the passage, which of thefollowing served ice cream disguised as eggs？
A. Policy Madison
B. Joseph Crowe
C. Louis XIV
D. Marco Polo
17.Newspaper advertisements for ice cream first appeared in_________.
A.1846
B.1893
C.1768
D.1786
18.The text would most probably be found in_________.
A. a history book
B. anadvertisement
C. a cookingbook
D. an encyclopedia
19. The main purpose of the writer is to_________.
A. explain how ice cream was invented
B. tell us the history of ice cream
C. describe why ice cream is so popular
D. persuade us the difficulties involved inmaking ice cream
20.Ice cream was so delicious, the reason is that_________.
A. it was difficult tomake
B. it was easy to make
C. it was beaten andthen shaken
D. it was complicated tomake
