The History of Tea and Global Trade
Текст задания
A
Tea is one of the most popular drinks in the world today. People drink it in nearly every country, from China to England to Morocco. However, tea was not always a global product. For thousands of years, it was only grown and used in one part of the world. The story of how tea spread across the globe is closely connected to the history of trade between different countries.
B
Tea plants first grew wild in the mountains of southwest China. People in this area discovered that the leaves of these plants could be used to make a hot drink. This happened more than 2,000 years ago. At first, people used tea as a type of medicine. They believed it could help with stomach problems and make people feel more awake. Over time, drinking tea became a normal part of daily life in China. People began to grow tea plants on farms instead of just picking wild leaves.
C
For many centuries, tea remained a Chinese product. Other countries did not know about it because China was far away from Europe and had limited contact with Western nations. However, traders from other Asian countries began to learn about tea. By the year 800, Japanese visitors to China brought tea seeds back to their own country. Japan started growing its own tea and developed special ways of preparing and drinking it. Korea also began using tea around the same time.
D
European countries first learned about tea in the 1500s. Portuguese traders were among the first Europeans to visit China for business. They saw Chinese people drinking tea and brought small amounts back to Europe. However, tea was very expensive at this time because the journey from China to Europe was long and dangerous. Only very rich people could buy it. The situation changed in the 1600s when the Dutch East India Company started bringing larger amounts of tea to Europe by ship.
E
Britain became the European country most interested in tea. In 1662, a Portuguese princess married the British king and brought tea with her as part of her wedding gifts. This made tea fashionable among rich British families. By 1700, tea shops opened in London where people could buy and drink tea. The British government saw that tea was becoming popular, so they placed taxes on it. These taxes made tea even more expensive, but people continued to buy it.
F
The high price of Chinese tea created a problem for European countries. They had to pay China with silver because China did not want to buy European products. Britain decided to grow tea in other places that it controlled. In the 1830s, the British discovered that tea plants also grew wild in India. They started tea farms in the Assam region of northeast India. This was very successful, and India became a major tea producer. Britain also started growing tea in the island of Ceylon, which is now called Sri Lanka.
G
The spread of tea growing to India and Ceylon changed global trade. Britain no longer had to depend completely on China for tea. Indian and Ceylon tea was also cheaper to transport to Europe because these places were closer. As a result, tea prices fell and more ordinary people in Europe could buy it. By 1900, Britain was importing more tea from India and Ceylon than from China. Tea had become a truly global product, grown in Asia but consumed in large amounts in Europe.
H
Today, tea is grown in more than 30 countries around the world. China and India are still the largest producers, but countries in Africa and South America also grow tea for export. The global tea trade is now worth billions of dollars each year. What started as a local Chinese drink has become an important part of the world economy. The history of tea shows how trade connections between countries can spread products and ideas across the entire world.
Перейти к вопросу
Questions 1 to 9
Answer the following questions based on the passage
Which statements describe why people in southwest China first used tea?
Choose 3 options.
Which factors explain why tea was very expensive in Europe in the 1500s?
Choose 2 options.
Which developments explain how tea became fashionable in Britain?
Choose 3 options.
Which problems resulted from the high price of Chinese tea for European countries?
Choose 2 options.
Which developments explain how Britain addressed its dependence on Chinese tea?
Choose 3 options.
Which consequences resulted from the spread of tea growing to India and Ceylon?
Choose 2 options.
Which reasons explain why tea remained a Chinese product for many centuries?
Choose 2 options.
Which developments explain how tea spread to other Asian countries?
Choose 3 options.
Which developments explain how tea use evolved in China over time?
Choose 2 options.