阅读理解

　　When your grandfather was a boy, he probably took your grandmother to an ice-cream parlor(小售货亭)．Here, for a little more than a dime(ten cents), he could treat the young lady to an ice-cream soda, a sundae, a malted milk, or some other delightful dessert．Probably, the ice-cream parlor was situated in a corner of a drugstore．There were containers of many kinds of sweet liquid．The person behind the counter was the master of such delightful combination of ingredients as the brown cow, a root-beer soda with ice-cream floating in it．

　　The name soda water tells something of its origins in US．Naturally carbonated(含二氧化碳的)water flows out of the ground in mineral springs around the world．These mineral springs have long attracted people in search of a cure for some ills．Then in 1767, the scientist Joseph Priestley created the first soda water not taken from natural mineral springs．Soon other experimenters were finding new ways to create the bubbly(冒气泡的)water that is the basis of so many soft drinks．In 1825, Elias Durand decided to catch the public interest in sparkling waters．He opened a drugstore in Philadelphia that served carbonated water, at that time still considered a helpful medicine．

　　A few years later, another Philadelphian, Eugene Roussel, decided to bottle soda water of different tastes．His first offering was a popular lemon soda, sold at the fountain of his perfume shop．Other manufacturers entered the race, and new tastes were introduced．Meanwhile, at soda fountains, adventurous owners added sweet cream to make the drink more appetizing．

　　Then came one of the most important events in the history of soda water．In October 1874 at the semi-centennial celebration of Philadelphia's Franklin Institute, a salesman named Robert Green sold so many soda-water drinks with cream that he ran out of cream．He rushed to a nearby shop to buy some straw-berry ice-cream．He planned to melt the ice-cream and use it as cream．His customers were too thirsty to wait, and so he put the ice-cream right into the soda water．The ice-cream soda was born．It has never lost its popularity．

　　Not far away, Charles E．Hires was experimenting with selling dried roots, bark, herbs．and flowers for making a drink he called root beer．He also made his own．By 1892, more than two million bottles of his soft drink were being sold annually．Then came a host of other drinks：Moxie, Dr．Pepper, and Coca-Cola．When the drink-business society in the 1890s forbade the sale of alcohol, the soft-drink market exploded．

　　The soft-drink market today is a huge business, with many competitors pushing their products on television and in newspapers and magazines．There are still many fast-food places where ice-cream sodas may be ordered．In every corner of the land there are machines pouring out soft drinks．But the old-time ice-cream parlor in a corner of a drugstore is largely a thing of the past．

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