The Humble Spud

Where do potatoes originally come from?

• South America

• Britain

• North America

• Asia

About how many years ago did people start growing potatoes in the Andes?

• 1400 years ago

• 7000 years ago

• 1840 years ago

• 350 years ago

Which civilization in South America was largely built on eating potatoes?

• The Spanish

• The Incas

• The Romans

• The Egyptians

What reasons made potatoes good for feeding sailors on long voyages? (pick TWO reasons)

• They store well.

• They were easy to grow on ships.

• They have lots of vitamin C

• They made sailors feel less seasick.

Put these events in the correct order.

• The Spanish brought potatoes to Europe

• The Incas ate a lot of potatoes.

• A potato disease caused a disaster in Ireland.

• Potatoes were first domesticated in the Andes.

In the sentence "whether boiled, baked, fried or roasted, they are the perfect accompaniment to any meal," what type of word is "perfect"?

• Adjective

• Noun

• Verb

• Adverb

What does "domesticating" mean in the sentence: "They started domesticating them about 7000 years ago or thereabouts"?

• Eating

• Throwing away

• Farming or cultivating

• • Selling

What type of word is "between" in the sentence: "It is up in the Andes between Peru and Bolivia"?

• Adverb

• Noun

• Preposition

• Verb

Why does the text start by calling potatoes "the understated superstar of our plates and the food which powers a nation"?

• To make people think potatoes are boring.

• To highlight how important and widely used potatoes are, especially in Britain

• To suggest that potatoes are not very good for you

• To describe how potatoes look on a plate.

The Spanish were "a bit suspicious" of potatoes at first. Why do you think people might be suspicious of a new food they haven't seen before?