BASIC READING COMPLETION 6

The Perfect Cup

Many cultures drink coffee. Whether it’s a shot of espresso or a large brimming cup filled with milk and sugar and stirred to a caramel color, people all over the world enjoy the drink. There are many stories about who first discovered coffee. One says it was in the ninth century in Ethiopia. A man was herding his goats when he saw them munching on coffee cherries. He tried some and soon people all over Africa were drinking coffee and trading the beans. Over time, coffee spread to the rest of the world. In fact, by 1750, most of Western Europe had coffee houses. 

For such a popular drink, it’s a complex process to go from bean to coffee. The actual coffee beans, or seeds, come from coffee cherries that grow on the trees. There are two techniques for harvesting. Cherries can either be picked by hand or stripped off the trees by machines. Some growers pick by hand because this ensures that only the ripe ones are picked. When done by machine, all the cherries must be harvested at once, and some may not be ripe. 

The cherries have a thick skin. Inside the skin is a fleshy layer, called pulp. The bean is inside the pulp, but it is covered by two other thin layers that protect it. All these layers must be removed. Removing the layers is called processing the beans. Once beans are processed, they are sorted and put into bags so they can be shipped all over the world. But there’s still an important step before the beans can be brewed for the perfect cup. They must be roasted. This gives them their taste. To preserve their flavor, coffee suppliers recommend brewing the beans within a month.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER in each gap

1. Some people said that the first coffee was discovered in the in Ethiopia.

2. A man saw eating coffee cherries.

3. After that coffee beans were drunk and sold by people in .

4. There were many all over Western Europe in 1750.

5. The beans had to go through a to become coffee.

6. Farmers used to collect the coffee cherries from the trees.

7. Growers picked coffee cherries by hand to make sure all of them are .

8. The layer under the skin of coffee cherries are known as .

9. The coffee beans should be before being made into a nice cup of coffee.

10. The coffee beans should be brewed within a month to keep their .

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