So you thought the hamburger was the world’s most popular fast food? After all, McDonald’s Golden Arches span（跨越）the globe（全球）. But no, there is another truly universal fast food, the ultimate（极好的）fast food. It’s easy to make, easy to serve, much more varied than the hamburger, can be eaten with the hands and it’s delivered to your front door or served in fancy restaurants. It’s been one of America’s favourite foods for over 50 years. It is, of course, the pizza.
It’s kind of silly to talk about the moment when pizza was “invented”. It changed over the years, but one thing’s for certain—it’s been around for a very long time. The idea of using pieces of flat, round bread as plates came from the Greeks. They called them “plakuntos” and ate them with various simple toppings（配料）such as oil, garlic（大蒜）, onions and herbs. The Romans enjoyed eating something similar and called it “picea”. By about 1000 AD in the city of Naples, “picea” had become “pizza” and people were experimenting with more toppings: cheese, ham, anchovies and finally the tomato, brought to Italy from Mexico and Peru in the sixteenth century. Naples became the pizza capital of the world. In 1889, King UmbertoⅠand Queen Margherita heard about pizza and asked to try it. They invited pizza maker, Raffele Esposito, to make it for them. He decided to make the pizza like the Italian flag, so he used red tomatoes, white mozzarella cheese and green basil leaves. The Queen loved it and the new pizza was named “Pizza Margherita” in her honour.
Pizza went to America with the Italians at the end of the nineteenth century. The first pizzeria in the United States was opened in 1905 at 53 Spring Street, New York City, by Gennaro Lombardi. But the popularity of pizza really exploded when American soldiers returned from Italy after World WarⅡ and raved about(夸赞) “that great Italian dish”. Americans are now the greatest producers and consumers of pizza in the world.
小题1:Which is the correct order of the changes of pizza?
A．Plakuntos→pizza→picea
B．Pizza→plakuntos→picea
C．Picea→plakuntos→pizza
D．Plakuntos→picea→pizza小题2:Why are Mexico and Peru important in the development of pizza?
A．Because pizza first became popular in these countries.
B．Because pizza was invented in these countries.
C．Because one topping was brought to Italy from these countries.
D．Because people there are the greatest consumers of pizza.小题3:What do the Italian flag and a Pizza Margherita have in common?
A．There is a picture of a Pizza Margherita.
B．They have the same colours.
C．Both of them represent Italy.
D．They are both popular in Italy.小题4:When did pizza become really popular in the United States?
A. After 1945. B. In 1889. C. In 1905. D. By 1000AD.
小题5:What’s the best title of the passage?
A．McDonald’s and Pizza
B．Global Pizza
C．Pizza in the United States
D．How to Make Pizza
