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welcome to spotlight
i'm bruce gulland
and i'm liz waid
spotlight uses a special english method
of broadcasting
it is easier for people to understand
no matter where in the world they live
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some people drink it with food in the
afternoon
some people drink it to give themselves
energy in the morning
some people drink it as part of a
ceremony
some people drink it when they are sick
some people drink it hot
some people drink it very cold
people have been drinking it for
hundreds of years
in hundreds of countries
what is it
tea
tea comes from the camellia sinensis
plant
people pick the leaves off the plant
they set the leaves to dry
the tea leaves are ready when all the
water from the leaves is evaporated
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
the story of tea begins in china
chinese history says that over 5 000
years ago
chinese emperor shen nung discovered tea
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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
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however it started
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 lou you
wrote a book just about tea
late in the 8th century
soon after this tea traveled to japan
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japanese buddhist priests traveled 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
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tea was an important part of both
chinese and japanese culture
it had traveled to other asian countries
too
but t had not yet traveled anywhere else
in the world
finally in the late 1500s
portuguese travelers brought small
amounts of tea back to europe
portugal was one of the first european
countries to trade with china portugal
worked with the netherlands to move the
tea through europe
dutch ships took tea to france and other
countries on the baltic sea
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
today
england is the european country most
known for tea
british traders started shipping tea to
england in the late 1600s
trade had become a very profitable
business
england imported about 18 000 kilograms
of tea a year in 1669
ten years later the country imported six
times that amount of tea
british colonists also brought tea
wherever they settled
tea became very important in india
it is still a very important crop there
and indian tea is known around the world
tea played an important part in one
british colony you might know
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 colonies did
not like these taxes
to protest the high taxes
a group of colonists took a large
shipment 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
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
at first
people in britain did not like tea bags
but during world war ii
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
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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
traditionally two meals involved tea in
british homes
these meals became popular in the 1600s
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
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
around the world
people boil plants and flowers to make
drinks similar to tea
these are called tissans
tissan is any drink made from hot water
and any plant material except from the
tea plant
they are also often called herbal teas
in areas of south america
people enjoy a particular tissaan
the drink is called mate
people make it from the leaves of the
yerba mate plant
a person puts dry yeba mate leaves
into a dry gourd
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 bombia
people in southern africa make a drink
called roibos
this hot drink is made similar to tea
but instead of tea leaves it uses the
leaves from the roibos plant
the drink is a red color and is often
called red tea
however you drink tea
the next time you have a cup
think of all the people around the world
who are joining you
enjoy
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do you drink tea
what kinds of tea do you drink
you can leave a comment on our website
or email us at radio
radio english dot net
you can also comment on facebook at
facebook.com
spotlightradio
the writer of this program was joshua
leo
the producer was michio ozaki
the voices you heard were from the
united kingdom and the united states
you can listen to this program again and
read it
on the internet at www.radioenglish.net
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this program is called
the amazing history of tea
visit our website to download our free
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devices
we hope you can join us again for the
next spotlight program goodbye
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