Reading Comprehension - Vocabulary Chilli Pepper Reading Comprehension - Vocabulary

A - CHILLI HISTORY Chilli peppers come in all shapes, sizes and colours, from tiny, extremely hot chillies to large, mild ones. Indegnious to central and south America and West Indies, they have been cultivated there for nearly ten thousand years. Today,there are probably more than 400 different chillies grown in areas ranging from the Far East, China, Japan, Thiland, Indoensia and India to Mexico on the other side of the world. Some of the more commonly available fresh chillies include jalapeno, Serrano, poblano, yellow wax, bird’s eye, habanero and cayenne. B - CHILLI HEAT In 1912, Wilbur Scoville developed a method for measuring the strength of capsicums, or peppers, through simple tasting. Nowadays, this can be done more accurately with the help of computers, which rate the peppers in Scoville units. The fiery, hot, burning sensation of chillies is caused by capsaicin, a potent chemical that survives both cooking and freezing. However apart from this burning sensation, it also triggers the brain to produce endorphins, natural painkillers that can relieve headaches. The Scoville scale began at zero, with mild bell peppers, and then moves to the lower range of peppers measuring 1500 to 2500. The jalapeno chilli pepper is mid range, at about 2500 to 5000 scoville units. Eight out of ten chillies, such as cayenne, aji and pequin, are related at about 30,000 to 50, 000 units, while the habanero, which rates as one of the hottest, comes somewhere between 100,000 to 500,000 units.   C- GROW YOUR OWN Chillies are easy to cultivate because they require a minimal growth area and little care. They will do best in warm climates with a long growing season, or under glass, and can be kept during winter in the right conditions. Many varieties make excellent pot plants and can be grown indoors, and these are still edible. D- CHILLI HEALTH Chillies are loaded with vitamin A, a potent antioxidant that boosts the immune system. As the chilli pods mature and darken, high quantities of vitamin C are gradually replaced with vitamin A and the capsaicin levels are at their highest. Due to these high levels, some people believe that eating chillies may have an extra thermal effect, improving digestion, speeding up the body’s metabolic rate and therefore burning off calories. It is afact that we sweat in hot climates and we actually cool down as sweat evaporates. Over the years, people have claimed that eating chilli peppers has helped remove aches and pains as well as sore throats.

Mild cold Native Indigenous The opposite of 'hot' (Section A) EXERCISE 1: Find and choose the words from the text which have a similar meaning to the following words and phrases. The opposite of 'hot' (Section A)  Belonging to a place (Section A)  Mild cold Native Indigenous CHILLI PEPPERS

Cultivated Prepare Rate Evaluate Grown (Section A) Give something a value (Section B)  Cultivated Prepare Rate Evaluate CHILLI PEPPERS

Influential Potent Triggers Initiate strong, effective (Section B) causes (Section B)  Influential Potent Triggers Initiate CHILLI PEPPERS

Ease Relieve Little Minimal stop something unpleasant (Section B)   very small (Section C)  Ease Relieve Little Minimal CHILLI PEPPERS

Indoor Inside Eatable Edible in the house (Section C) can be eaten (Section C)  Indoor Inside Eatable Edible CHILLI PEPPERS

Loaded Filled Boosts Increases full of (Section D) improves (Section D) Loaded Filled Boosts Increases CHILLI PEPPERS

Immune Protect Improve Mature safe from disease (Section D) develop (Section D)  Immune Protect Improve Mature CHILLI PEPPERS

Rapidly Gradually Thermal hot slowly (Section D) involving heat (Section D)  Rapidly Gradually Thermal hot CHILLI PEPPERS

Heat Sweat Relieve Vanish perspire (liquid on skin) (Section D) disappears (Section D)  Heat Sweat Relieve Vanish CHILLI PEPPERS

GREAT JOB! CHILLI PEPPERS

TRY AGAIN!! CHILLI PEPPERS