Read the passage from Sugar Changed the World.THE AGE OF HONEYThere was a time before sugar, when those white grains that melt on your tongue did not exist anywhere on earth. Historians speak of the Iron Age, the Bronze Age—metals that were used in weapons and tools. But we could just as well speak of the first several thousand years of human history as the Age of Honey.
What is the purpose of the cause-and-effect structure of this passage? Select two options.
Read the passage from Sugar Changed the World. A rock drawing in Spain from about 7000 B.C. shows a man who has climbed a hillside, found a crevice holding a hive, and is reaching in to grab the honey. Indeed, a lucky wanderer in just about any part of Europe, Africa, or Asia that wasn’t covered with ice could stumble on a hive and—at the risk of some stings—come away with a treat. (People in the Americas had no bees, so used syrups made from maple trees, agave cactus, or mashed fruits for their sweeteners.) Then someone figured out that you didn't have to be lucky. You could hollow out a log near bees, and they would make it their home. You could "keep" bees—you didn't have to find them.
Read the passage from Sugar Changed the World.I wanted to know more about the beguiling Nina, and my cousin had plenty of stories to share. He told me that her grandfather was a Russian serf—a farmer who could be bought and sold by the noble who owned his land. Family legend has it that this serf, a remarkable and intelligent man, helped to change the course of the history of sugar. In the early 1800s, the British controlled most of the sugar plantations of the Caribbean and the sea routes to Europe. As a result, their rivals were desperate to find a new way to create sugar. They turned to beets.
Read the timeline from Sugar Changed the World.1789French Revolution begins with the declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen1791Children of free parents in French sugar colonies are granted the full rights of French Citizens, no matter what their color or origin; slavery abolished within borders of France1792French leaders begin to use the guillotine to execute enemies1793Louis XVI executed; Marie Antoinette executed1794Slavery abolished in all French sugar colonies1799Napoleon takes power in France1800Napoleon gains control of the center of North America—the Louisiana Territory from Spain, plans to use it to feed and supply his sugar islands1802Napoleon makes slavery legal again
Read the passage from Sugar Changed the World. My great-grandparents had come from India to Guyana—then British Guiana—in the late nineteenth century to work on the sugar plantations. Sugar was the backbone of the British Empire at that time. The demand was huge, for sugar had gone from being a luxury that only kings could afford to a necessity. Even the poorest of London shopgirls took sugar in their tea. Slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833, thirty years before the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States. But even after they freed their slaves, the sugar plantation owners were desperate to find cheap labor to cut cane and process sugar. So the British owners looked to another part of the empire—India—and recruited thousands of men and women, who were given five-year contracts and a passage back.
Which statements best describe the author’s purpose for writing this passage? Select two options.
Read the passage from Sugar Changed the World.Sugar is different from honey. It offers a stronger sweet flavor, and like steel or plastic, it had to be invented. In the Age of Sugar, Europeans bought a product made thousands of miles away that was less expensive than the honey from down the road. That was possible only because sugar set people in motion all across the world—millions of them as slaves, in chains; a few in search of their fortunes. A perfect taste made possible by the most brutal labor: That is the dark story of sugar.
How does the conclusion of the prologue support the authors’ purpose? Select two options.
Read the passage from Sugar Changed the World.B.C.8000–7000First planting of wild sugar cane, on the island of New Guinea6000Sugar cane reaches the Philippines1500–900Sugar cane used in Hindu ceremonies described in oral traditions that date from around this time515According to the Greek author Herodotus, the Persians had found what may be sugar cane in what is now India and Pakistan327Nearchus, friend of Alexander the Great, again mentions the reed that makes honey without bees, in India286First mention of sugar cane in China
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