Baths and bathing have long been considered of medical importance to man. In Greece there are the ruins of a bathtub and water system built over 3,000 years ago. The Romans had warm public baths. In some as many as 3,000 persons could bathe at the same time.

    Treating disease by bathing has been popular for centuries. Modern medical bathing or hydrotherapy, first became popular in Europe and by the late 1700’s also become popular in the United States.

    For many years frequent bathing was believed to be bad for one’s health. Ordinary bathing just to be clean was avoided and perfume（香水）was often used to cover up body smells!

By the 1770’s doctors began to say that soap and water were good for health. They believed that it was good for people to be cleaned. Slowly, people began to bathe more frequently. During the Victorian Age of the late 19th century, taking a bath on Saturday night became common.

In the United States ordinary bathing was slow to become popular. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many Americans were known as “The Great Unwashed!” In one American city, for example, a person could only take a bath every thirty days! That was a law!

Frequency of bathing today is partly a matter of habit. People know that bathing for cleanness is important to health. Doctors know that dirty bodies increase the chance of diseases. Consequently, in the United States, people generally bathe often. Some people bathe once a day at least. They consider a daily bath essential to good health.

1．In Greece            .

      A．there were some public baths large enough to hold 3,000 persons.

       B．people used to treat disease by bathing

       C．people began to bathe thousands of years ago                        

       D．people didn’t like frequent bathing

2．The Americans used to be known as “The Great Unwashed” because          .

       A．the modern medical bathing first became popular in the U.S.

       B．they didn’t bath frequently

       C．the Americans were very clean.

       D．soap was first produced in the U.S.

3．Apparently the word “hydrotherapy” in the second paragraph means          .

       A．medical bathing                                   B．a water system    

       C．bathing frequency                                                               D．terrible body smell

4．During the Victorian Age          .

      A．the Americans ever took a bath every thirty days

       B．frequent bathing was avoided

       C．people used perfume to cover up body smells after bathing

       D．the British people generally took a both once a week.