环球英语 — 311：Tea Through History

　　Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight¹. I’m Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I am Joshua Leo. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Some people drink it with food in the afternoon
Voice 2
Some people drink it to give themselves energy in the morning.
Voice 1
Some people drink it as part of a ceremony.
Voice 2
Some people drink it when they are sick.
Voice 1
Some people drink it hot.
Voice 2
Some people drink it very cold.
Voice 1
People have been drinking it for hundreds of years, in hundreds of countries. What is it? Tea!
Voice 2
Tea comes from the camemellia senensis plant. People make the tea drink from this plant’s leaves. People pick the leaves off the plant. They leave the leaves to dry. The tea is ready when all the water from the leaves is evaporated².
Voice 1
There are many ways to prepare the leaves before making the tea drink. Some tea leaves are left open to the air before they are dried. This makes the leaves darker. They will taste stronger. Some people mix tea leaves with flowers, oils, and other plants to give teas different tastes. The people who originally discovered tea developed these methods many years ago.
Voice 2
The story of tea begins in China. Chinese history says that over five thousand years ago, Chinese emperor Shen Nung discovered tea. Stories say that a dry leaf from the tea plant fell into the emperor’s cup of hot water. The emperor saw that his water turned dark. He tasted the water and liked it. This was the first cup of tea.
Voice 1
However it started, tea became very popular in China. People believed that tea was healthy. People in China also created many different ways to prepare tea. In fact, a man named Lu Yu wrote a book just about tea, late in the eighth century.
Voice 2
Shortly after this, tea travelled to Japan. Japanese Buddhist³ priests⁴ travelled to China. And they brought tea back with them. In Japan, people developed special ceremonies to serve tea. Serving tea became a new form of art. It was most common among wealthy people.
Voice 1
Tea was an important part of both Chinese and Japanese culture. It had travelled to other Asian countries too. But tea had not yet travelled anywhere else in the world. Finally, in the late fifteen hundreds, Portuguese⁵ travellers brought small amounts of tea back to Europe. Portugal was one of the first countries to trade with China. Portugal worked with Holland to move the tea through Europe. Dutch ships took tea to France, Holland, and other countries on the Baltic Sea.
Voice 2
Only very wealthy people had enough money to drink tea in Europe. It took many months to transport the tea from Asia. And only a limited amount was transported. But more countries started to trade with China. They also brought tea back to Europe. Prices became lower, and more people could drink tea.
Voice 1
England is the European country most known for tea. So, when did tea get there? Well, British traders started shipping⁶ tea to England in the late sixteen hundreds. Tea trade had become a very profitable⁷ business. England imported about eighteen thousand [18,000] kilograms of tea a year in 1699. Ten years later, the country imported six times that amount of tea!
Voice 2
British colonists⁸ also carried the tea habit to their new settlements. Tea became very important in India. It is still a very important crop there. And Indian tea is known around the world.
Voice 1
Tea played an important part in another British colony⁹ too. This colony is now known as the United States of America. England sent tea to America. But as time went on, England raised the taxes on the tea and other goods it sent. The people living in the colonies¹⁰ did not like these taxes. To protest¹¹ the high taxes, a group of colonists took a large shipment¹² of tea and threw it into the ocean. Today, this event is known as “The Boston Tea Party”. It was one of the most important events in the American Revolution.
Voice 2
Tea has also changed over many years. In the past, people drank tea by putting the leaves directly into the water. But around 1908 an American inventor developed a new method - tea bags. Thomas Sullivan put the tea in a small silk bag. This bag of tea could be put directly into the hot water.
Voice 1
At first people in Britain did not like tea bags. But during World War Two, people could not get their normal tea. So they HAD to use tea bags. Today most tea bags are made of paper. And they are very popular in many parts of the world.
Voice 2
Today, people on every continent drink tea. But people in different places drink tea differently. In the United Kingdom, tea became part of the daily meal.
Voice 1
Two meals involved tea in British homes. These meals became popular in the sixteen hundreds. The first was afternoon tea - or “low tea”. This was popular among wealthy people. They would drink tea and eat small sandwiches of meat and bread. This meal happened around three o-clock in the afternoon. The other meal was called “high tea.” High tea was a larger meal eaten later in the night. It was popular among poorer people.
Voice 2
In Western Asia and the Middle East, a popular way to enjoy tea is as Masala Chai. Masala Chai is a drink made from black tea. But this drink has sugar, spices and milk in it.
Voice 1
Around the world people boil plants and flowers to make drinks similar to tea. These are called tisanes. A tisane is any drink made from hot water and any plant material, except from the tea plant. They are also often called herbal teas.
Voice 2
In areas of South America people enjoy a particular tisane. The drink is called Mate¹³. People make it from the leaves of the yerba mate plant. A person puts dry yerba mate leaves into a dry gourd¹⁴. This is a container made from a dried vegetable skin. He then adds water to the gourd. He drinks the liquid through a thin metal tube - a bombilla.
Voice 1
People in Southern Africa make a drink called rooibos. This hot drink is made similar to tea. But instead of tea leaves, it uses the leaves from the rooibos plant. The drink is a red color, and is often called red tea.
Voice 2
But however you drink tea, the next time you have a cup, think of all the people around the world who are joining you! Enjoy!
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 evaporated   

adj. 浓缩的，脱水的，蒸发干燥的 动词evaporate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• Heat until all the water has evaporated. 加热直至水全部蒸发。
• The water soon evaporated in the sunshine. 水在阳光下不久就蒸发了。

3 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

4 priests   

n.（基督教和罗马天主教的）神父( priest的名词复数 )；牧师；（非基督教会的）教士；祭司

参考例句：

• the ordination of women priests 女司祭的授职礼
• The clergy remain divided on the issue of women priests. 在女性教士的问题上，牧师们意见不一。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

6 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

7 profitable   

adj.有益的，能带来利益的，有利可图的

参考例句：

• That business became profitable last year.那项生意去年变得很赚钱。
• The convention business is very profitable for the hotel industry.承办会议业务能给旅馆业带来很高的利润。

8 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 colony   

n.殖民地；(同类人的)聚居地

参考例句：

• There lived a colony of bees on the tree.树上生活着一群蜜蜂。
• They live in an artists'colony.他们住在艺术家聚居区。

10 colonies   

n.殖民地( colony的名词复数 )；（侨民等）聚居区；（动植物的）群体；（来自同一地方，职业或兴趣相同的）聚居人群

参考例句：

• They amassed huge wealth by plundering the colonies. 他们通过掠夺殖民地聚敛了大笔的财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• But throughout the colonies, people relied primarily on small farms and self-sufficiency. 但就整个殖民地来说，人们主要依靠小型农场，过着自给自足的生活。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

11 protest   

v.反对，抗议；宣称；n.抗议；宣称

参考例句：

• I can't pass the matter by without a protest.我不能对此事视而不见，我要提出抗议。
• We translated his silence as a protest.我们把他的沉默解释为抗议。

12 shipment   

n.装货，装载的货物

参考例句：

• The goods are done up in bundles for shipment.货物已打包以备装船。
• Please advise the date of shipment as soon as possible.请尽快通知装货日期。

13 mate   

n.伙伴，同事；配偶；大副；v.(使)交配

参考例句：

• Where is the mate to this glove?这副手套的另一只在哪儿？
• She has been a faithful mate to him.她一直是他忠实的配偶。

14 gourd   

n.葫芦

参考例句：

• Are you going with him? You must be out of your gourd.你和他一块去？你一定是疯了。
• Give me a gourd so I can bail.把葫芦瓢给我，我好把水舀出去。