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Reader's Bank_Level 4_Unit 05                                      Reading Text

Long ago in Spain, some shepherds lived in the cold mountains. One day, they wanted a warm, sweet snack. So, they made dough and fried it in oil. Then, they put sugar on top. Yum! The shepherds thought the snack looked like their sheep’s curly horns. They named it “churro,” the Spanish word for “horn.”

Many years later, people in Spain started selling churros on the street. They have a crunchy outside and soft inside. People ate them with thick, warm chocolate. Dipping a churro in chocolate was the best part! They call it “chocolate con churros.” Even today, people in Spain love churros for breakfast. Do you want to try one? Just dip, bite, and enjoy!

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How many times do you take a shower each day? Maybe once or twice. But if kings and queens from the 15th to 18th centuries heard this, they would be shocked.

At that time, kings and queens didn’t like to wash. For example, Queen Isabella of Spain almost never took a bath. She was even proud of it! King Louis XIV of France did not bathe much, either. He only took a bath a few times in his life. King Philip II of Spain was even stricter. He put people in jail for taking baths!

Why didn’t they like bathing? Warm water opens the skin’s pores. They thought this would let germs in and make them sick. So, they believed not bathing would keep them healthy.

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People eat in different ways all over the world. Some things are good to do in one place, but not in another! Sometimes it’s not only what you eat, but also the way you eat that matters. One thing people think about is eating noise.

In America, you should not make noise when you eat. It is not nice to chew loudly or slurp your food. But in some places in Asia, it is okay to make noise. In China, if you burp after you eat, it means you liked the food a lot! It tells the cook that the food was yummy. In Japan, people slurp when they eat noodles or soup. It shows they are happy with their meal.

So, if you go to a new country, find out how they eat. In some countries, making noise while eating is okay. In others, it is not. Make sure you do what the people there do.