Question

Read the passage and answer the following question(s).

Roti
Bread of the People
1
Bread has been the key to life across many times and peoples. From tortillas in Mexico to baguettes in France to ciabatta in Italy, bread, in some form, is common to nearly every culture.

2
In some Indian cultures, roti is their daily bread. Roti is a round flatbread cooked on a hot surface. Picture the familiar soft round tortilla shell that is often served with Mexican food. Roti bread is similar to a tortilla but thicker and chewier. Many families in India eat roti every day—and some people even eat it with every meal.

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The Bread of Life
3
Numerous historians agree that bread has been the most important food staple throughout all of history. It has been mentioned in classical literature, from ancient Greek mythology to stories in the Bible. Over time and throughout different cultures across the globe, bread has taken many forms. But no matter what form it takes, one thing is clear: bread helps sustain human life.

4
One of the main reasons that bread has been such a fundamental food throughout history is because it is easy to make compared to other foods. Bread can be made with as few as two ingredients: flour and water. Indeed, many recipes for roti—especially rustic chapati recipes—include only that.

5
In addition to being easy to make, bread can also be stretched to feed larger groups of people. Adding more flour and water will simply produce more bread. And in most cases, bread is portable. This ease of transport is another factor that supported the growth of bread’s importance among various cultures and throughout history.

In India
6
Roti is eaten every day throughout a large portion of India, particularly in northern India. It is often served with saucy meals, and pieces of roti are used to sop up sauce. While the names are sometimes used interchangeably, chapati is a kind of roti, but whereas roti is often made from wheat flour, chapati is usually made from a coarser ground whole wheat flour. This bulky flour produces a heartier, chewier bread than that of a typical roti.

7
Roti and chapati are both unleavened breads; their recipes do not use yeast, baking soda, or any other leavening agent to build pockets of air inside. These breads are flatter and denser compared to India’s well-known naan, which is a leavened round flatbread. Because naan calls for yeast in its recipe, it is a bit puffier and airier than roti.

The Spread of Roti
8
By 1857, India had become subject to Great Britain’s colonial occupation. At this time, a somewhat mysterious phenomenon took place. Sometimes called the Chapati Movement, runners from Indian villages began spreading chapati to nearby villages. Generally, runners would carry 4–5 pieces of chapati with them. When they reached a new village, they gave the chapati to a leader, shared with them the chapati recipe, and then implored that leader to send a runner with fresh bread to a new village, which essentially started the process over again.

9
Some British leaders worried that the Chapati Movement was the start of a rebellion against British rule. Others chalked it up to local customs or cultural preservation. Historians are still unsure of the true reason for the Chapati Movement; however, the year 1857 marked a turning point in British rule of India for a variety of reasons, whether the chapati were part of the rebel message or not.

10
Roti recipes traveled with Indian people when they left India for places like London or the Caribbean. In these new places, roti became part of the local cuisine. Sometimes, roti is covered or stuffed with popular regional food, and this blending of cultures has allowed roti to establish itself in new homes across the globe.

11
From bagels to pretzels to roti, bread in some form has nourished humans for thousands of years. In India, there are many different types of bread served, but the simple roti, in all of its forms, just might reign supreme. However, one doesn’t have to travel to India or the Caribbean to sample a roti. Just type “roti near me” into a search engine. An Indian restaurant in the area just might have roti on their menu.

Read the sentence from paragraph 9.

Others chalked it up to local customs or cultural preservation.

Which two phrases explain the meaning of “chalked it up” as it is used here?

A.
gave credit

B.
stated a claim

C.
made to pause

D.
got out of control

E.
explained a cause

F.
placed out of reach

Answer 1

A and E

"Chalked it up (to)" means to attribute something to a cause — to give credit to or explain it as being caused by local customs or cultural preservation.