[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-487045-105":59,"doc-detail-487045-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","the-history-of-pumpkins-answer-the-questions-487045","The History of Pumpkins - Answer the Questions","","Historical overview of pumpkins from their origins in Mexico and Central America to their domestication by Native peoples. Explains how wild ancestors were small and bitter, and how generations of seed selection transformed them into a plump food. Describes Native “Three Sisters” farming benefits, the role pumpkins played for European settlers during harsh winters, and how pumpkin pie became a Thanksgiving staple. Includes comprehension questions about details, sources, and themes, plus modern uses like carving and giant pumpkin records.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":20,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-history-of-pumpkins-answer-the-questions-487045/487045/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-history-of-pumpkins-answer-the-questions-487045/487045.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"dawugda","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-07","2026-09-30",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Where did the wild ancestors of today’s pumpkins first grow?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"In Mexico and Central America.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why does the author mention the National Retail Federation in the passage?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"To support a claim about how popular pumpkin carving is with a named, reliable source.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What did the pumpkin’s broad leaves do in the Three Sisters partnership?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"They shaded the ground and kept weeds down.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},487045,1791140951,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":19,"category_name":20,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":34,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},3985747870947,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","Here's a plant so tough it can grow to the size of a small car, yet started out no bigger than your fist. Meet the pumpkin, a member of the squash family with thick orange skin, a hollow middle packed with seeds, and a curling vine that can stretch across a whole garden. When you knock on a ripe one, it sounds hollow, like a wooden drum. And though it feels as American as autumn itself, the pumpkin's story begins thousands of years and thousands of miles from any Thanksgiving table.  \nThose miles lead south, to Mexico and Central America, where the wild  \nancestors of today's pumpkins first sprouted. Archaeologists have found pumpkin and squash seeds in Mexican caves dating back thousands of years, which makes them some of the oldest crops ever grown in the Americas. The wild versions were small and bitter, more useful for their hard shells than their flesh. Over many generations, farmers saved seeds from the sweetest, biggest fruits, slowly reshaping a bitter gourd into the plump food we know.  \nThat patient work of selecting seeds paid off richly for the Native peoples who depended on it. Long before Europeans arrived, many Native American nations grew pumpkins alongside corn and beans in a clever partnership often called the Three Sisters. The tall corn gave the beans a pole to climb, the beans fed the soil, and the pumpkin's broad leaves shaded the ground and kept weeds down. Nothing went to waste: people roasted the flesh, dried it into strips for winter, and even wove tough dried strips of flesh into mats.  \nWhen European settlers stepped off their ships, that same resourcefulness saved more than a few of them. Newcomers who had never seen a pumpkin quickly learned from Native neighbors how to grow and cook the strange orange fruit, and it became a lifeline during hungry winters. One early colonial recipe hollowed out a pumpkin, filled it with milk, honey, and spices, and roasted the whole thing in the embers of a fire. That fireside dish was a distant cousin of the pie you might eat today, though it had no flaky crust at all.  \nFrom that crustless ancestor, pumpkin pie slowly rose to become a star of the American  \nautumn table. By the 1800s, cooks were baking spiced pumpkin custard in pastry, and the dessert grew so tied to the harvest that it appeared at Thanksgiving feasts across the country. The word\"pumpkin\" itself traveled a winding road, from a Greek word meaning \"large melon\" through French and English before it landed in America. Isn't it strange that a food so tied to New England began its name in ancient Greece?  \nToday that humble squash wears many hats, from dessert to decoration. According to the National Retail Federation, carving pumpkins is one of the most popular Halloween activities Americans plan each year, and farms grow them by the millions for October porches. Growers competing for records have raised giant pumpkins weighing well over a ton, heavier than a grand piano. Not bad for a bitter little gourd that once fit in the palm of a hand and had to be tricked, seed by seed, into becoming a giant.  \nThe History of Pumpkins  \nName:  \n\n| Solve each problem.\u003Cbr>Use the article to answer the question.\u003Cbr>1) Where did the wild ancestors of today's pumpkins first grow?\u003Cbr>A. Along the rivers of Greece B. In the forests of New England\u003Cbr>C. In Mexico and Central America D. In the caves of northern Canada |  |  |  |  | Answers\u003Cbr>1.  \u003Cbr>2.   |  |  |  |  |  |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| 2) Why does the author name the National Retail Federation when discussing pumpkin carving?\u003Cbr>A. To explain how record-breaking pumpkins are grown\u003Cbr>B. To argue that carving is better than baking pies\u003Cbr>C. To prove pumpkins are the oldest crop in America\u003Cbr>D. To back a claim about popularity with a named, reliable source |  |  |  |  | 3.  \u003Cbr>4.  \u003Cbr>5.  \u003Cbr>6.   |  |  |  |  |  |\n| 3) In the Three Sisters partnership, what did the pumpkin's broad leaves do?\u003Cbr>A. They gave the b","cbCaivpziO7CYNOi","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaivpziO7CYNOi","pdf",103648,"English","# The History of Pumpkins\n## Reading Questions\n## Answer Key Notes","[{\"question\":\"Where did the wild ancestors of today’s pumpkins first grow?\",\"answer\":\"In Mexico and Central America.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the author mention the National Retail Federation in the passage?\",\"answer\":\"To support a claim about how popular pumpkin carving is with a named, reliable source.\"},{\"question\":\"What did the pumpkin’s broad leaves do in the Three Sisters partnership?\",\"answer\":\"They shaded the ground and kept weeds down.\"}]","The History of Pumpkins - Answer the Questions | PDF",1790807704,18]