2009版二笔实物教材第三单元原文和参考译文.docVIP

Unit Three Tea in Britain Tea, that most quintessential of English drinks, is a relative latecomer to British shores. Although the custom of drinking tea dates back to the third millennium BC in China, it was not until the mid-17th century that the beverage first appeared in England. The use of tea spread slowly from its Asian homeland, reaching Europe by way of Venice around 1560，although Portuguese trading ships may have made contact with the Chinese as early as 1515. It was the Portuguese and Dutch traders who first imported tea to Europe, with regular shipments by 1610. England was a latecomer to the tea trade, as the East India Company2 did not capitalize on teas popularity until the mid-18th century. Coffee Houses3 Curiously, it was the London coffee houses that were responsible for introducing tea to England. One of the first coffee house merchants to offer tea was Thomas Garway, who owned an establishment in Exchange Alley. He sold both liquid and dry tea to the public as early as 1657. Three years later he issued a broadsheet advertising tea at ?6 and ?10 per pound (ouch!)me，touting its virtues at “making the body active and lusty，and “preserving perfect health until extreme old age，，. Tea gained popularity quickly in the coffee houses, and by 1700 over 500 coffee houses sold it. This distressed the tavern owners，as tea cut their sales of ale and gin，and it was bad news for the government, who depended upon a steady stream of revenue from taxes on liquor sales. By 1750 tea had become the favoured drink of Britains lower classes. Taxation on Tea Charles n4 did his bit to counter the growth of tea, with several acts forbidding its sale in private houses. This measure was designed to counter sedition5，but it was so unpopular that it was impossible to enforce it. A 1676 act taxed tea and required coffee house operators to apply for a license. This was just the start of government attempts to control, or at least, to profit from the popularity of tea in Britain.