home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- NEW SET
- A
- Like its relative the tomato, the potato was looked upon with
- suspicion and fear. Potatoes were variously suspected of causing
- leprosy and scrofula, and of shortening men's lives. Said one
- seventeenth-century writer: "Eating of these roots doth excite Venus
- and increaseth lust."
- next
- 1
- 1. The seventeenth century writer considered potatoes to be:
-
- A. an aphrodisiac
- B. an antidote to poison
- C. a poison
- D. a heavenly experience
- E. a gift from the goddess Venus
- next
- a
- 0
- B
- Correct.
- next
- wrong answer explanation
- B
- (A) This writer considered potatoes to be an aphrodisiac.
- NEXT
- NEW SET
- B
- The Spanish conquistadors invading the Andes about 1530 observed
- the Incas growing potatoes. These highland Indians could not cultivate
- maize, the staple crop of lowland Peru, because maize does not grow
- above 11,000 feet. But potatoes flourished at that altitude, and the
- Incas learned to freeze and dry them for storage against leaner times.
- next
- 1
- 1. The Incas in the Andes grew potatoes because:
-
- A. potatoes keep for long periods of time
- B. Incas disliked corn
- C. corn will not grow in low altitudes
- D. potatoes will not grow in low altitudes
- E. corn will not grow at high altitudes
- next
- e
- 0
- C
- Correct.
- next
- wrong answer explanation
- C
- (E) The Incas grew potatoes because corn does not grow at high altitudes.
- NEXT
- NEW SET
- C
- They were sometimes as small as peanuts, too. This was because the
- Incas ate the largest potatoes and saved the smallest for planting, a
- practice whose improvidence would have caused a breeder like Luther
- Burbank to shudder.
- next
- 1
- 1. Burbank would shudder because:
-
- A. small potatoes taste better than big ones
- B. planting small potatoes yields crops of small potatoes
- C. Burbank thought potatoes caused leprosy
- D. Burbank thought potatoes were a poison
- E. potatoes were for the wealthy, and the Incas were poor
- next
- b
- 0
- D
- Correct.
- next
- wrong answer explanation
- D
- (B) Planting smaller potatoes would produce crops of small potatoes.
- NEXT
- NEW SET
- D
- But the conquistadors saw the potato's potential and in 1539
- brought it to Spain from Quito, Ecuador. (In the next 300 years, the
- potato probably made more transatlantic trips than a member of today's
- jet set. The Spanish reexported it to Florida in 1560 and Scotch-Irish
- immigrants brought the "Irish" potato to New England in 1719.) Records
- show that potatoes were included in an order for provisions by a Seville
- hospital in 1573. Potatoes were common in Italy by 1601.
- next
- 1
- 1. Potatoes were imported to Europe by:
-
- A. jet
- B. train
- C. boat
- D. car
- E. mule-train
- next
- c
- 0
- 2
- Correct.
- next
- wrong answer explanation
- 2
- (C) They were carried across the Atlantic by boat.
- next
- 2
- 2. The conquistadors were from:
-
- A. Florida
- B. Scotland
- C. Ireland
- D. New England
- E. Spain
- next
- e
- 0
- E
- Correct.
- next
- wrong answer explanation
- E
- (E) The conquistadors came from Spain.
- NEXT
- NEW SET
- E
- How potatoes got to Ireland is obscure. Some historians say that
- Sir Walter Raleigh introduced them. It is known that potatoes were
- planted on his Irish estate by 1586. Others believe that plunderers
- rescued potatoes from the holds of Spanish Armada ships wrecked off the
- coast of Ireland in 1588. However they arrived, potatoes were accepted
- within 50 years, and by the 18th century were planted to the exclusion
- of other food crops.
- next
- 1
- 1. By the 1700's:
-
- A. potatoes were grown in every country in Europe
- B. potatoes were the staple crop in Ireland
- C. potatoes grew only on Sir Walter Raleigh's estate
- next
- b
- 0
- F
- Correct.
- next
- wrong answer explanation
- F
- (B) Potatoes became Ireland's staple crop.
- NEXT
- NEW SET
- F
- Potatoes flourished in the Irish soil and climate and produced
- so well that a single acre could provide enough food for a farmer and
- his family, as well as for a cow, a pig, and some chickens. When the
- fungus "Phytophthora infestans" destroyed the potato crops in 1846-1851,
- the Irish peasant had nothing to fall back on.
- next
- 1
- 1. In Ireland, the potato provided all of the following EXCEPT:
-
- A. cattle fodder
- B. chicken feed
- C. a medicinal fungus
- D. a dietary staple
- E. food for pigs
- next
- c
- 0
- G
- Correct.
- next
- wrong answer explanation
- G
- (C) The potato did not provide a medicinal fungus.
- NEXT
- NEW SET
- G
- The resulting "potato famine" was responsible for sending a stream
- of well over a million immigrants to the United States during the famine
- years, giving America her second largest ethnic group.
- next
- 1
- 1. The Irish immigrants came to America:
-
- A. because of religious persecution
- B. because there was no food
- C. because there was a war in England
- D. to avoid military service
- E. because the English would not buy potatoes, but Americans would
- buy them
- next
- b
- 0
- 2
- Correct.
- next
- wrong answer explanation
- 2
- (B) The Irish immigrants came to America because of the potato famine
- in Ireland.
- end