Tea Drinking in the UK

Alice: Hello, I'm Alice.

Yvonne: And I'm Yvonne.

Alice: And this is 6 Minute English! Now, I don’t know if you’re like me, Yvonne,

but I am a big tea drinker.

Yvonne: Well, actually no - I like herbal tea.

Alice: Do you know, I think I drink so much tea you could call me an addict 1!

Yvonne: Well tea is a very popular and traditional drink here in the UK.

Alice: In fact some people say we are a nation of tea drinkers! Now I have a question

for you. According to the UK Tea Council, how many cups of tea are drunk by

the British every day? Is it:

a) 12,000

b) 120,000

c) 120,000,000

Yvonne: Oh, I think 120,000,000 is a little too many, so I'll go for b - 120,000.

Alice: Well, we’ll have to see at the end of the programme. Now, we’re not just

talking about tea because it’s my favourite drink. It’s because a Victorian tea

set has been included in a list of 100 objects that tell the history of the world.

Yvonne: Oh yes. This is the BBC radio series called “A History of the World in 100

Objects”. So what has a Victorian tea set got to do with it, Alice?

Alice: Well, it was made between 1840 and 1845 at a time when really, tea became

Britain’s favourite national drink.

Yvonne: So the popularity of tea began about 170 years ago then?

Alice: Yes and through this tea set, we begin to understand why tea became so

popular. Let’s hear from Neil MacGregor, the Director of the British Museum

about why having a cup of tea is so British.

Insert 1: Neil MacGregor, British Museum

What could be more domestic, more unremarkable, more British than a nice cup of tea?

You could ask that question the other way 'round: what could be less British than a cup

of tea, given that tea is made from plants grown in India, China or Africa and is

usually sweetened by sugar from the Caribbean?

Yvonne: It’s interesting that Neil MacGregor says what could be less British than a cup

of tea, when we think of tea as a very British institution really.

Alice: It is, but of course, he’s talking about where the tea plants come from; places

like India, Sri Lanka and China, where they developed tea plantations 3, and the

sugar, of course, came from the Caribbean.

Yvonne: That’s because Britain was an empire during Victorian times so it helped itself

to anything its countries produced, like tea and sugar.

Alice: Now in the 1800s, Britain was becoming an industrialised nation and workers

were required to be as productive as possible. But unfortunately, many of them

were a little bit drunk.

Yvonne: So instead of being addicted 4 to tea like you, Alice – a tea-aholic, I’d say some

were addicted to alcohol; they were alcoholics 5.

Alice: And it’s no real surprise! Water wasn’t safe to drink so alcohol was a good

antiseptic and often poor people, including some children, would drink beer,

port or gin.

Yvonne: Oh dear! That’s not good, but that's why the ruling classes wanted sobriety, so

things had to change.

Alice: Here’s historian, Selina Fox who can tell us more:

Insert 2: Selina Fox

The desire to have a working population that was sober and industrious 6 was very, very

strong and there was a great deal of propaganda to that effect. And it was tied in with

dissent 7, Methodism and so on, sobriety – and tea really was the drink of choice.

Alice: So Selina Fox says there was a desire for an industrious working population;

people who worked hard and didn’t get drunk. Propaganda was used to help

change the workers along with help from the Methodists – Christian 8, religious

people.

Yvonne: Propaganda – that’s information which can be correct or incorrect - that’s used

to promote a particular purpose - propaganda.

Alice: Well it must have worked because as a result, tea became Britain’s favourite

national drink in the Victorian period.

Yvonne: I wonder how many cups have been drunk since then?

Alice: I don’t know but soon, I will reveal how many cups are currently drunk every

day in the UK. Of course, these days, coffee is an alternative to tea and has

become big business recently.

Yvonne: Particularly the sales of cappuccinos and lattes.

Alice: So now it’s time to give you the answer to my question. I asked you, according

to the British Tea Council, how many cups of tea are drunk every day in

Britain.

Yvonne: And I said 120,000 cups of tea.

Alice: Well, actually you're wrong. In fact, it’s 120,000,000 cups of tea every day!

Yvonne: Wow, that's a staggering number.

Alice: That's a lot of tea. Now you can see why Britain is a nation of tea drinkers! OK

Yvonne, while I put the kettle on, would you mind reminding us of some of the

words we have used today.

Yvonne: addict

traditional

   nation

  Victorian

   institution

  plantation 2

  industrialised

  antiseptic

  sobriety

  propaganda

.

Alice: Thanks Yvonne. We do hope you’ve had fun with us today on 6 Minute

English and that you’ll join us again soon.

Both: Bye.

点击收听单词发音  






1
addict

  
 


v.使沉溺；使上瘾；n.沉溺于不良嗜好的人


参考例句：





He became gambling addict,and lost all his possessions.他习染上了赌博，最终输掉了全部家产。
He assisted a drug addict to escape from drug but failed firstly.一开始他帮助一个吸毒者戒毒但失败了。












2
plantation

  
 


n.种植园，大农场


参考例句：





His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。












3
plantations

  
 


n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )


参考例句：





Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句












4
addicted

  
 


adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的


参考例句：





He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。












5
Alcoholics

  
 


n.嗜酒者，酒鬼( alcoholic的名词复数 )


参考例句：





Many alcoholics go on drinking sprees that continue for days at a time. 许多酒鬼一次要狂饮好几天。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
Do you have a copy of the Alcoholics Anonymous book? 你手上有戒酒匿名会的书吗？ 来自互联网












6
industrious

  
 


adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的


参考例句：





If the tiller is industrious,the farmland is productive.人勤地不懒。
She was an industrious and willing worker.她是个勤劳肯干的员工。












7
dissent

  
 


n./v.不同意，持异议


参考例句：





It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。












8
Christian

  
 


adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒


参考例句：





They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。