[填空题]Italians are known for them and{{U}} (36) {{/U}}suggest they may have originated in the Middle East but{{U}} (37) {{/U}}said Wednesday the world’s oldest known noodles, dating back 4, 000 years, were made in China. "Our discovery{{U}} (38) {{/U}}that noodles were first produced in China about 4, 000 years ago," Lu Hou Yuan from the Chinese Academy of Science said in an interview. The noodles were{{U}} (39) {{/U}}in an overturned, sealed bowl in an archaeological site near the Yellow River in north west China. Until the{{U}} (40) {{/U}}, reported in the science journal Nature, the{{U}} (41) {{/U}}written account of noodles was in a book written during the East Han{{U}} (42) {{/U}}in China sometime between 25 and 220. "This is the{{U}} (43) {{/U}}evidence of noodles ever found," said Lu. {{U}} (44) {{/U}}. The scientists think a large earthquake and catastrophic flooding probably destroyed the ancient settlement where they were discovered. {{U}}