READING Comprehension "Pizza"

Pizza has a long history. The ancient Greeks first had the idea of putting vegetables on large flat pieces of bread and pizza ovens have been found in the ruins of Roman cities.

But for centuries one important ingredient was missing - the first tomatoes were brought to Europe only in the 16th century from South America. In the 19th century Rafaele Esposito, a baker from Naples, began to sell the first modern pizzas. He was asked to bake a special pizza for a visit by the Italian King and Queen in 1889, and so the first pizza Margarita was created, named after the Queen.

Pizza became a favourite dish in Italy, but only after the Second World War, when thousands of American soldiers went home from Europe, pizza really became an international dish. Soon there were pizzerias all over the USA, and American chains like Pizza Hut, spread the idea around the world. Today the average American eats over 10 kilograms of pizza a year and the world's largest pizza (measuring 30 metres! across) was baked not in Italy but in Havana, Cuba!