Exercise 2 — The history of ice cream

THE HISTORY OF ICE CREAM Nobody knows exactly who invented ice cream, but frozen desserts have been ¹— select —A — aroundB — aboutC — nearD — over for well over two thousand years. Wealthy Romans, for example, are ²— select —A — toldB — saidC — spokenD — talked to have enjoyed snow mixed with honey and fruit. Bringing ice down from the mountains was slow and expensive, so only the very rich could ³— select —A — payB — spendC — affordD — cost such a luxury. Everything changed in the nineteenth century, when new freezing technology ⁴— select —A — letB — allowedC — gotD — made it possible to produce ice cream cheaply. Street sellers soon appeared in cities across Europe, and the dessert quickly ⁵— select —A — caughtB — gotC — tookD — went on with the general public. Today, ice cream is a global industry ⁶— select —A — valuedB — worthC — pricedD — costing billions of dollars a year. New flavours are constantly being developed to keep ⁷— select —A — speedB — stepC — paceD — time with changing tastes. Yet despite all this innovation, vanilla remains the most popular choice by a wide ⁸— select —A — distanceB — gapC — spaceD — margin.