In ancient China tea was probably used as a relish(开胃小菜) and as a medicine. Tea was first brewed(煮泡) as a medicine around 2,700 BC in the western mountains of China. Tea was likely seen as healthy in part because it was made with boiled water, which is safer to drink in an area of polluted water.
Tea drinking, and commercial cultivation(种植)，spread during the Tang Dynasty, 618-907, especially after a Buddhist monk(佛教僧侣), wrote a book on the virtues of tea, Cha Ching. Tea gradually became one of the seven basic necessities of Chinese life (The others are fuel, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.)
A Japanese Buddhist priest, Saicho, is believed to have introduced tea to Japan, when he returned from a visit to China in 805. In Japan tea drinking was considered medicinal, and became closely associated with Zen Buddhism(禅宗).
Tea drinking also spread to Korea and Southeast Asia, and was taken over the Silk Road to Central Asia, Russia, and the Middle East.
Dutch explorers became familiar with tea in the 1590s and were soon importing tea to Europe. In 1657 the British East India Company held the first public sale of tea in England, while that same year Thomas Garraway began offering tea at his London coffee house.
In 1662 tea received a big boost(推进) in England when the Portuguese Catherine of Braganza, married King Charles II and introduced tea drinking to the British court.
Gradually, the British fell in love with tea, and with the sugar that went in it. In 1665, less than 88 tons of sugar was imported to Great Britain. By 1700, it had increased to 10,000 tons of sugar. In 1768 the East India Company imported 10 million pounds of tea to Britain.
1. Tea has been used as a medicine in China for _________.
A. about 8,000 years      B. about 4,700 years     
C. about 2,200 years      D. about 2,700 years
2. Tea began to spread as a popular drink in China because of _______.
A. the Silk Road              B. the basic necessities of Chinese life
C. a famous book about tea   D. its association with Zen Buddhism
3. According to the text, we can infer that Britain________.
A. first introduced tea to Europe
B. was the first country to trade with China for tea
C. was the first country to have learned about tea from China
D. may be the biggest imported country of tea in Europe even today
4. What is the text mainly about?
A. The history of tea             B. How tea was introduced to other countries
C. China is the home of tea   D. The importance of tea

The Mandarin Chinese word for “cha” is pronounced “t'e” in certain Chinese dialects(方言). Also the Malay word for the leaf is“the”. This word “the” was used to describe both the drink and the leaf. The Japanese character for tea is written exactly the same as the Chinese, though pronounced with a slight difference; so these may be the origins of our word tea in the western world.

Tea may have been discovered in 2737 BC by Shen Nong, a Chinese Emperor of the San Huang Period（3,000 - 2,700 BC）. He was a scholar, the father of agriculture and the inventor of Chinese herbal medicine. One summer day, while visiting a distant place, he and the court stopped to rest and his servants began to boil water for the court to drink. Dried leaves from the nearby bush fell into the boiling water, and made it a brown liquid. The Emperor was interested in the new liquid, drank some, and found it very refreshing. The tree was a wild tea tree, and so, tea was created.

The first samples(样品) of tea reached England between 1652 and 1654. Tea was referred to as the China drink, tcha, chaw, tay, tee, and tea and was at first regarded more as a medicine than a fashionable drink. The original English pronunciation of the word tea was “tay” and can be traced back to around 1655 when the Dutch introduced both word and beverage（饮料）to England. The pronunciation “tee” also originated in the 1600's but only gained predominance（主导地位）after the late 18th century.

By 1650 the Dutch were actively involved in trade throughout the Western world. During that year Peter Stuyvesant brought the first tea to America to the colonists（殖民地定居者）in the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam （later re-named New York）.

1.The following information is true EXCEPT ________.

A. The Japanese write the character for tea the same way as we Chinese.

B. It was a Chinese Emperor who first found tea very refreshing.

C. The word “the” was used to describe only the leaf.

D. Tea was discovered quite by chance in history.

2.Paragraph 2 mainly tells us ________.

A. that Shen Nong, was a famous inventor of Chinese herbal medicine

B. why the Emperor was brave and dared to run risks

C. whether Shen Nong liked drinking boiled water outside the court

D. the way in which tea was created outdoors 

3.Which of the following information is FALSE according to the text?

① Tea was at first regarded just as a fashionable drink in England.

② Tea had different names during the early days it reached England.

③ The pronunciation “tee”originated in 1600.

④ Peter Stuyvesant introduced both word “tay” and beverage（饮料）to England.

⑤ The pronunciation“tee”became popular after the late 18th century.

A. ①②     B. ②③     C. ④⑤     D. ①④   

4.From Paragraph 3 we know ________.

A. that the leaf tea should be put in hot water for drinking 

B. that tea was called the China drink, tcha, chaw, tay, tee, t'e and tea in England

C. what the early situation of tea was like in the Western world  

D. that tea was first brought to America in the late 16th century

In ancient China tea was probably used as a relish(开胃小菜) and as a medicine. Tea was first brewed(煮泡) as a medicine around 2,700 BC in the western mountains of China. Tea was likely seen as healthy in part because it was made with boiled water, which is safer to drink in an area of polluted water.

Tea drinking, and commercial cultivation(种植)，spread during the Tang Dynasty, 618-907, especially after a Buddhist monk(佛教僧侣), wrote a book on the virtues of tea, Cha Ching. Tea gradually became one of the seven basic necessities of Chinese life (The others are fuel, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar.)

A Japanese Buddhist priest, Saicho, is believed to have introduced tea to Japan, when he returned from a visit to China in 805. In Japan tea drinking was considered medicinal, and became closely associated with Zen Buddhism(禅宗).

Tea drinking also spread to Korea and Southeast Asia, and was taken over the Silk Road to Central Asia, Russia, and the Middle East.

Dutch explorers became familiar with tea in the 1590s and were soon importing tea to Europe. In 1657 the British East India Company held the first public sale of tea in England, while that same year Thomas Garraway began offering tea at his London coffee house.

In 1662 tea received a big boost(推进) in England when the Portuguese Catherine of Braganza, married King Charles II and introduced tea drinking to the British court.

Gradually, the British fell in love with tea, and with the sugar that went in it. In 1665, less than 88 tons of sugar was imported to Great Britain. By 1700, it had increased to 10,000 tons of sugar. In 1768 the East India Company imported 10 million pounds of tea to Britain.

1. Tea has been used as a medicine in China for _________.

       A. about 8,000 years      B. about 4,700 years     

C. about 2,200 years      D. about 2,700 years

2. Tea began to spread as a popular drink in China because of _______.

       A. the Silk Road               B. the basic necessities of Chinese life

       C. a famous book about tea   D. its association with Zen Buddhism

3. According to the text, we can infer that Britain________.

       A. first introduced tea to Europe

       B. was the first country to trade with China for tea

       C. was the first country to have learned about tea from China

       D. may be the biggest imported country of tea in Europe even today

4. What is the text mainly about?

       A. The history of tea             B. How tea was introduced to other countries

       C. China is the home of tea   D. The importance of tea