Passage 27
学霸导读 看电影时人们最喜爱的爆米花，你知道它的由来和发展历程吗？
Popcorn was f irst discovered thousands of years ago by the people living in what is now Peru （ 秘鲁 ）. It is believed that the f irst use of corn was popping. The English settlers w 1 came to America in the 16th and 17th centuries， learned about popcorn from the Native Americans. Native Americans brought a bag of popped corn to the f irst Thanksgiving. A common way to eat popcorn at that time was to hold an o 2 ear （ 穗 ） on a stick over the f ire， then chew the popped corn off it. Natives throughout America also made popcorn soup and popcorn beer.
Popcorn was very popular in the United States from the late 19th century to the middle of the 20th century. It was a 3 in parks， from street vendors （ 摊贩 ）， and near the theaters. Street sellers used to follow crowds around， pushing steam-powered popcorn machines （ 蒸汽爆米花机 ） through parks and expositions.
During the Depression （ 美国大萧条时期 ）， popcorn which was 5 to 10 cents a bag was one of the few luxuries poor families could a 4 . While other businesses failed， the popcorn business became more and more successful. An American banker， who went broke （ 破产 ） when his bank failed， bought a popcorn machine and started a business in a small store near a theater. A 5 a couple of years， his popcorn business made enough money to buy back three of farms he had lost.
During World War II， when sugar was rationed （ 限量供应 ）， Americans changed their snacking habits—they are three times as much popcorn as they had before. P 6 the favorite place to eat popcorn was at the movies. When television took off （ 开始流行 ） in the 1950s， popcorn sales dropped for a while.
Americans today eat about 15 billion kilograms of popcorn each year. But the United States isn’t just a land of popcorn l 7 . It’s also the land of popcorn. Most of the world now gets its popcorn from Nebraska （ 内布拉斯加州 ） and Indiana.
1.__________2.__________3.__________4.__________5.__________6.__________7.__________
高频词汇
settler /'setlə（r）/ n. 移民
exposition /ˌekspə'zɪʃn/ n. 产品博览会，展销会
luxury /'lʌkʃəri/ n. 奢侈（品）