雅思阅读第108套P3:Black Gold

Reading Passage 3

You should spend about 20minutes on Questions 27- 40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

Black Gold

Dark chocolate used to be anacquired taste. The trouble is, we have all acquired it. As cocoa prices soar,and a shortage looms, our changing tastes could be threatening the very sourceof our pleasure. A 25% jump in dark chocolate sales in the UK pretty muchspeaks for itself. As a nation we are turning our backs on the bland taste ofmilk chocolate, which is often saturated with vegetable oil. Dark chocolate nowdominates counters in many supermarkets. Chocoholics should brace themselves.Fears over a global chocolate shortage have sparked a run on the dark stuff onworld cocoa markets that has pushed the price up of cacao beans (used to makecocoa) to their highest level for more than two years. The price of cocoafutures, which is how the beans are traded on world commodity markets, hasclimbed steadily since last November, reviving fears of the cocoa crisis of2002 that forced major manufacturers such as Nestle to hike the price of someof its chocolate bars.

Although speculators have beenfingered for pushing the price of cocoa higher, British chocolate aficionadosmust share at least some of the blame for the run on the bean. Soaring demandfor dark chocolate in the UK has put a rocket under the global price of cacaobeans, compounding the impact of a severe drought in West Africa, which is hometo much of the world’s cacao bean supplies. Consumers are doing the same thingin chocolate as in the rest of the food market. They are trading up and beingmore discerning about what they buy. All of the country’s top supermarketchains have added new premium dark chocolate varieties to their own brandranges in response to this phenomenon. Supermarkets have also expanded thenumber of dark chocolate lines they stock, dwarfing their milk chocolatévariants in some cases.

Of course, it takes more beansto produce a bar of dark chocolate than are needed for a bar of milk - and thatis at the root of the problem. Yesterday, the cost of cacao beans for deliveryin July on the London cocoa exchange shot to ₤1,028 a tonne on exceptionallyheavy trailing. This was up ₤22 on the day, and the highest price that the crophas fetched at any point since November 2004. The cost of buying cacao beanswas pushed higher by canny investors who have placed record bets that priceswill keep rising. Hedge funds, which make money by punting on whether commodityor share prices will rise or fall, have swallowed up a third of the cocoacontracts traded in New York, the other main cocoa trading centre. So far,industry buyers, such as Cadbury Schweppes, have refrained from joining, thefrenzy, although traders believe that a jump in prices will prompt them tobuild up their stocks.

Prices have risen nearly thirtyper cent since the beginning of December, largely on growing concern about whatfarmers in Ivory Coast, the biggest cacao bean producer in West Africa, havedubbed the worst drought in living memory. To make matters worse, demand isoutstripping supply as the teeth of consumers in developing markets begin tosweeten. The International Cocoa Organisation predicts a global cocoa shortfallof around 100,000 tonnes this year alone, although private forecasts warn thedeficit could be as much as 250,000 tonnes.

Getting the right beans isbecoming crucial in a market that is fast following in the footsteps of wineand coffee in terms of getting consumers to appreciate its effect on thepalate. People these days are willing to experiment more with food and drink.Rather like wine and coffee, people are realising there are varieties ofchocolate available. Dark used to be a niche, but not any longer. With darkchocolate you are tasting the cocoa, whereas with milk you are tasting therecipe. There are 450 different flavour elements in a single cacao bean, whichitself varies in taste depending on where it is grown. Chocolate from Colombiamight seem peppery, while chocolate from Venezuela might smell like vanilla,for example. This is driving demand for an uber-premium version: the so-calledsingleestate chocolate bar, which sources its beans from a single location.

Scientists are falling overthemselves to complete studies showing that moderate consumption ofhigh-quality chocolate can be good for you. Only last week, a Harvard professorunveiled research suggesting that a nutrient in cocoa called epicatechin couldlower the risks of cancer, strokes, heart disease, and diabetes. Dr NormanHollenberg, of Harvard Medical School, based his findings on a study of theKuna people of Panama, who are weaned on cocoa and can drink up to 40 cups ofthe stuff a week. Separate research at the Johns Hopkins University inBaltimore, Maryland, late last year found that snacking on dark chocolatedecreased the development of potentially fatal blood clots. And other studieshave found that dark chocolate has proportionately more antioxidants than otherfoods that are better known for their health-giving properties, such as redwine, green tea, and berries.

Health has probably played arole, but more as a justification for consumption than anything else. One ofdark chocolate's big selling points is that it does not trap the chocoholic inthe same downward sugar-craving spiral as milk chocolate versions. Parentsshould bear this in mind when they go shopping for snacks for their children. Anew breed of fashionable diets has also helped to promote the cause of darkchocolate. Most dieticians agree that a little of what you fancy does you moregood than outright denial. Some experts think more people are eating darkchocolate because the products have got better. The challenge with higher cocoavariants is to get the right trade-off between the percentage of bitter-tastingcocoa, which is where all the good micronutrients come from, and sugar. In thepast, dark chocolate was bitter and reasonably gritty tasting. Some companiesuse a gentle-tasting cocoa bean which, if you are new to dark chocolate, doesnot scare you off. Adding a hint of vanilla can also help. Vanilla acts as aseasoning to solicit the bitter notes of the cocoa and to bring out thesweetness.

SECTION 3: QUESTIONS 27-40

Questions 27-30

For each question, only ONE ofthe choices is correct.

Write the corresponding letterin the appropriate box on your answer sheet.

27In the UK, people are eating more

Achocolate.

Bdark chocolate.

Cmilk chocolate.

28Cocoa prices are rising for severalreasons, but not because of

Aa water shortage in West Africa.

Bspeculators.

Ctransportation problems.

29Industry buyers are

Abuying far more cacao beans than usual.

Bnot buying enough cacao beans to makechocolate.

Cnot yet responding to the price rise incacao beans.

30 __________ are trying hard to prove thatchocolate can be good for you.

AManufacturers

BScientists

CAdvertisers

Questions 31-35

Complete the followingsentences using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each gap.

A worldwide 31 _________________ in chocolate production is expected this year.

Chocolate is becoming like 32 _________________ in that people are looking for fresh tastes.

Dark chocolate can preventdeadly 33 _________________

Most dieticians disagree withthe concept of 34 _________________ when dieting.

Some companies have made theirdark chocolate less 35_________________

Questions 36-40

Do the following statementsagree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?

In boxes 36 - 40 on youranswer sheet, write

TRUE

if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE

if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN

If there is no information on this

36 _________________    Not one company has yet increased the price ofits chocolate bars.

37 _________________    Chocolate consumers in Britain are moving tohigher quality brands.

38 _________________    London and New York are the biggest cocoatrading centres.

39 _________________    The taste of cacao beans depends on the climatewhere it is grown.

40 _________________    Vanilla is used in most types of darkchocolate.