Which came first, Italian noodles or Chinese noodles? The ____43____ has raged down through the ages.
Legend states that Marco Polo _____44____ pasta to Italy when he returned from China near the end of the 13th century. Yet nearly 20 years earlier, Italian cookbooks already contained pasta recipes. A 2005 discovery in northwestern China, though, may have ____45____ the debate. A bowl was found ____46______ noodles that scientists believe are over 4,000 years old!
People may never agree on the ___47_____ of pasta. But almost everyone agrees that noodles are one of the world’s most popular foods.