Inglés para secundaria: 10 amazing facts about chocolate

Te invitamos a leer 10 datos asombrosos sobre el chocolate en inglés: 10 amazing facts about chocolate. Una lectura muy interesante, elaborada por la redacción de la revista para aprender inglés I Love English, basado en el contenido que pueden leer en el número 338 de la revista (diciembre 2021).

Esta lectura en inglés para adolescentes ayudará a los jóvenes entre 12 y 15 años a mejorar su nivel de inglés y además, aprenderán un montón de curiosidades las distintas razas de perros.

Ver +: Divertidas lecturas en inglés para adolescentes

10 amazing facts about chocolate: 10 datos sorprendentes sobre el chocolate

1. English writer Charles Dickens said "There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate". And most people refer to chocolate as the Food of Gods. Apart from making us feel good, chocolate has many health benefits: it?s rich in minerals and antioxidants, it helps reduce blood pressure, it can lower body fat levels, and it?s a powerful mental stimulant, boosting your memory and brain function. But... it has to be dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa content.

2. Cocoa trees contain seeds that are removed and left exposed to light to let them ferment. Once this is done, the seeds are dried and roasted. These beans are then blended to make the cocoa powder that is used for making chocolate. Can you imagine that chocolate was once considered more valuable than gold dust?

3. Each tree produces close to 30 pods -part of the tree that contains the seeds- per year with 40 beans per pod. And around 400 cocoa beans are used to make one bar of chocolate. That?s a lot of beans! The entire process of manufacturing a chocolate candy or chocolate bar may take almost a week.

4. Cocoa beans were first used by the Aztecs and the Mayans as a currency as cocoa was a major part of trade between the two cultures. A basket of cocoa beans was used as a trade unit at the market. Today, 70% of the world?s chocolate is grown in West Africa. Most of the farms are in Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

5. Initially, cocoa beans were ground and mixed with hot water, much like coffee. It was very bitter and only used for special occasions and ceremonies like weddings. Solid-type chocolate was created in Britain in the 1840s, when cocoa butter, chocolate liquor, and sugar were combined.

6. White chocolate is not real chocolate because it does not contain any chocolate liquor or cocoa solids like dark or milk chocolate. The only two ingredients required to make white chocolate are cocoa butter and dairy milk. As it has lesser amounts of sugar, milk and other additives, dark chocolate is healthier than other forms of chocolate. But don?t give it to dogs or cats; it can be fatal!

7. Chocolate is the only edible substance with a melting point of around 90 degrees Fahrenheit (about 34 degrees Celsius), significantly lower than human body heat. This explains why it melts so easily in your mouth and in your hands. However, some chocolate companies produce a more durable chocolate. Their chocolate can withstand higher temperatures without melting by using more finely ground sugar. 

8. A real chocolate river was created using water, chocolate and cream for the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In the film, a boy called Charlie visits a chocolate factory with four children. One greedy boy has a horrible accident in the chocolate river. The real chocolate river stunk after a few days! 

9. A statue of actor Benedict Cumberbatch (who plays Marvel superhero Dr. Strange and detective Sherlock Holmes) was made using 500 bars of chocolate. Eight people took 250 hours to make the statue! This actor is not the only famous person to be sculpted in chocolate. There is also a life-sized chocolate statue of Lionel Messi in Lleida (Spain), which actually weighs more than Messi himself!

10.  July 7^th is known as World Chocolate Day. July 28^th is National Milk Chocolate Day. September 13^th is International Chocolate Day. And November 7^th is National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day. Halloween and Valentine?s Day are also chocolate-related holidays. On average, 58 million pounds of chocolate (around 26 million kg) are purchased during the week of Valentine?s Day only in the United States. By the way, Cadbury is the chocolate company that first came up with the heart-shaped chocolate boxes!