Đọc Hiểu 30: The Traditions of Olive Oil (Văn Hóa & Lịch Sử Dầu Ô Liu)

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 178 to 182.

Maria Alcalá of Madrid speaks for many Mediterranean people when she says that "a meal without olive oil is boring". No one knows when the Mediterraneans first fell in love with olives because it was before people wrote and kept records. However, there is some evidence that people began growing olive trees around the Mediterranean Sea approximately 6,000 years ago. The Mediterranean countries still produce 99% of the world's olive oil with Spain being the world's biggest producer.

From ancient times through today, the basic process of producing the oil is the same. First, farmers crush the olives. Then, they take the liquid and separate the oil from the water. Many olive growers keep their ancient traditions and still harvest the olives by hand. "We harvest in the traditional way", says Don Celso, an olive farmer from Tuscany, Italy. "It is less expensive to do it with machines but it's more a social thing. Twenty people come to help with the harvest and we pay them in oil".

Ancient civilisations used olive oil as money and medicine. They even used it during war - they would heat it up and drop it down on the enemy! These days, it is still used in religious ceremonies as it was in ancient times. It is also great for making fish and cheese stay fresh. There are even olive oil lamps and olive oil soaps.
(Adapted from Close Up)