b2 · entrepreneurship

B2 Entrepreneurship Part 4: Entrepreneurship

Lesson 84 of 10 in this unit.

📖 Reading Passage

Native audio

For two thousand years, pepper, cinnamon, and cloves travelled farther than any person. Grown on islands in Southeast Asia, spices crossed the Indian Ocean in Arab dhows, rode camel caravans to Venice, and reached European tables at a hundred times their harvest price. Fortunes depended on them: Venice built palaces on pepper profits, and Portugal sent caravels around Africa to seize the trade. The search for a shorter route led Columbus west to the Americas. Today containers carry the same spices cheaply, yet the old route survives in words like salary, once paid in salt, and in cuisines blending continents on a single plate. Trade shaped tastes on both ends of the route. Indian cooks absorbed chillies from the Americas and built the curries now considered traditional; European bakers folded cinnamon and nutmeg into cakes; Arab merchants preserved coffee and sugar in words that travelled with the goods. Ports that once grew rich on pepper later lost their advantage to steam ships and the Suez Canal, which made the long ocean voyage short. What remained was the demand itself, now met by container ships and supermarket shelves. Historians argue that the spice trade deserves its fame less for the luxuries involved than for what it built: credit systems, insurance, navigation charts, and the first truly global supply chains.

📘 Vocabulary

20 words from this lesson

targeting: Involved in the transportation or correct positioning of a protein inside or outside a specific region of the cell.; “They discussed targeting during the lesson.”
triggered: Having a trigger that reacts to some specific condition.; “They discussed triggered during the lesson.”
uncertain: Not certain; unsure.; “They discussed uncertain during the lesson.”
upload: To transfer data to a computer on a network, especially to a server on the Internet.; “They discussed upload during the lesson.”
vector: A directed quantity, one with both magnitude and direction; the signed difference between two points.; “They discussed vector during the lesson.”
weigh: To determine the weight of an object.; “They discussed weigh during the lesson.”
whatsoever: Whatever.; “They discussed whatsoever during the lesson.”
wicked: Evil or mischievous by nature; morally reprehensible.; “They discussed wicked during the lesson.”
absent: Being away from a place; withdrawn from a place; existing but not present; missing.; “They discussed absent during the lesson.”
acoustic: Pertaining to the sense of hearing, the organs of hearing, or the science of sounds.; “They discussed acoustic during the lesson.”
adapt: To make suitable; to make to correspond; to fit or suit.; “They discussed adapt during the lesson.”
archive: Chiefly in the form archives.; “They discussed archive during the lesson.”
atomic: Of or relating to atoms; composed of atoms; monatomic.; “They discussed atomic during the lesson.”
bean: Any plant of several genera of the taxonomic family that produces large edible seeds or edible seedpods.; “They discussed bean during the lesson.”
bicycle: A vehicle that has two primary wheels, one behind the other, a steering handle, and a saddle seat or seats and is usually propelled by the action of a rider’s feet upon pedals.; “They discussed bicycle during the lesson.”
bump: A light blow or jolting collision.; “They discussed bump during the lesson.”
buttons: The dung of sheep.; “They discussed buttons during the lesson.”
cart: A small, open, wheeled vehicle, drawn or pushed by a person or animal, often with two wheels on one axle, more often used for transporting goods than passengers.; “They discussed cart during the lesson.”
circus: A traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts, that gives shows usually in a circular tent.; “They discussed circus during the lesson.”
claire: A small enclosed pond used for gathering and greening oysters.; “They discussed claire during the lesson.”

📐 Grammar Notes

This lesson practices clear paragraph structure: one main idea per paragraph, stated first, supported with two concrete details, and closed with a linking sentence. Prefer active verbs and precise nouns. Connect ideas with however for contrast, furthermore for addition, and therefore for consequence. Keep sentences under twenty-five words so each claim stays traceable to its evidence. Practice by labeling each sentence in the reading: underline the main verb, circle the time marker, and check that every they and it points to a named noun. Rewrite any three sentences in your own words while keeping tense and meaning intact. Theme: entrepreneurship. Reading: The Spice Route.

Practice Exercises

Work through each exercise to complete this lesson.

What does 'targeting' mean?

What does 'triggered' mean?

What does 'uncertain' mean?

What does 'upload' mean?

What does 'vector' mean?

What does 'weigh' mean?

What does 'whatsoever' mean?

What does 'wicked' mean?

Write a sentence using 'targeting'.

Summarize the passage in two sentences.

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