It is widely believed that wheat is the first grain that was used for eating by human, and the reading passage explained the sequence of events for using bread as a primary product of wheat. Nonetheless, the lecture casts doubt on this hypothesis by explaining that the beer is the first product of the wheat that was eaten by primitive human. It seems strange, but there are convincing reasons to persuade everyone like beer doesn’t need to ground or cook, and it ferments easily.
First of all, wheat is hard for chewing, so it needs to ground into flour before using. However, beer is easy to eat because it begins sprouting after a while in a moist environment without any effort, and it is sweater, softer and more nutritious than whole wheat seeds. Bread needs to cook, and human didn’t discover fire in ancient time, so it seems more wisdom to use beer instead of bread as a first grain.
An even more important reason is, wheat needs fermentation to get ready for use as a bread or beer. In spite of the fact that beer is fermenting very soon after starting sprout, and bubble and foam which produce during fermentation is obvious to see for anyone, it’s quiet clear that people used it before bread. Furthermore, the taste of the beer changes after fermentation, and people can figure it.
In conclusion, the first grain that human used as a food is an extremely controversial topics, a lot of scientists believe that bread is the first food that people eat. It is impossible to deny that beer is easier to eat than wheat and needs less effort to prepare and fermentation, so it seems the first product that human used is beer instead of bread.
TOEFL listening discussions: A conversation between a professor and a departmental secretary