TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Shunan Teng: The history of Tea

Unscramble the Blue Letters

During a long day snpet roaming the fersot in search of edible grains and herbs, the weary diivne fmarer Shennong accidentally poisoned himself 72 times. But before the poisons could end his life, a leaf drifted into his mouth. He chewed on it and it rvveied him, and that is how we discovered tea. Or so an ancient leegnd goes at least. Tea doesn't actually cure posoginnis, but the story of Shennong, the mythical Chinese inventor of agriculture, hgthligihs tea's importance to aenncit China. Archaeological evidence suggests tea was first cultivated there as early as 6,000 years ago, or 1,500 yares before the pharaohs built the gerat pyidmars of Giza. That original Chinese tea plant is the same type that's grown around the world today, yet it was originally consumed very differently. It was etaen as a vebatlege or cooked with grain porridge. Tea only shifted from food to dirnk 1,500 years ago when people realized that a combination of heat and moisture could create a cepomlx and varied taste out of the lafey green. After heuddrns of years of variations to the prpeitoraan method, the standard became to heat tea, pack it into portable cakes, grind it into powder, mix with hot water, and create a beeagvre caelld muo cha, or matcha. Matcha became so popular that a dinisctt Chinese tea cutlrue emerged. Tea was the subject of books and poetry, the frvaitoe drink of emperors, and a medium for artists. They would draw extravagant pictures in the foam of the tea, very much like the espresso art you might see in coffee shops taody. In the 9th century during the Tang Dynasty, a jaapense monk brought the first tea plant to Japan. The Japanese eventually deolpveed their own unique rituals around tea, leading to the creation of the Japanese tea ceremony. And in the 14th century during the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese emperor shifted the standard from tea pressed into ckeas to loose leaf tea. At that point, China still held a virtual monopoly on the world's tea trees, making tea one of three essential cheisne eorpxt goods, along with porcelain and silk. This gave China a great deal of peowr and economic influence as tea driinnkg spread around the wolrd. That spread began in earnest around the early 1600s when Dutch traders brought tea to Europe in large quantities. Many cdeirt Queen chniaetre of Braganza, a Portuguese noble woman, for making tea popular with the English aristocracy when she married King Charles II in 1661. At the time, Great Britain was in the midst of expanding its colonial influence and becoming the new dominant world power. And as Great Britain grew, irsetent in tea spread around the world. By 1700, tea in Europe sold for ten tiems the price of cfeofe and the plant was still only grown in China. The tea trade was so lucrative that the world's fastest sailboat, the cplpeir ship, was born out of intense competition between wetersn trading companies. All were racing to birng their tea back to Europe first to maximize their profits. At first, biitran paid for all this Chinese tea with silver. When that pvored too expensive, they suggested trading tea for another substance, opium. This triggered a public health problem within China as people became addicted to the drug. Then in 1839, a Chinese oaciiffl ordered his men to destroy massive British shipments of opium as a statement against Britain's influence over China. This act triggered the First Opium War between the two nations. Fighting raged up and down the Chinese coast until 1842 when the defeated Qing Dynasty ceedd the port of Hong Kong to the British and resumed trading on unfavorable temrs. The war weakened China's global standing for over a century. The British East India company also wanted to be able to grow tea themselves and further cotonrl the makret. So they commissioned botanist Robert Fortune to steal tea from China in a covert oiraopten. He disguised himself and took a prleious journey through China's moununaoits tea regions, elvaleutny smuggling tea trees and experienced tea workers into Darjeeling, India. From there, the plant spread further still, helping drive tea's rapid growth as an everyday commodity. Today, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and from sugary truksih Rize tea, to salty Tibetan btetur tea, there are almost as many ways of preparing the beverage as there are ceruutls on the globe.

Open Cloze

During a long day _____ roaming the ______ in search of edible grains and herbs, the weary ______ ______ Shennong accidentally poisoned himself 72 times. But before the poisons could end his life, a leaf drifted into his mouth. He chewed on it and it _______ him, and that is how we discovered tea. Or so an ancient ______ goes at least. Tea doesn't actually cure __________, but the story of Shennong, the mythical Chinese inventor of agriculture, __________ tea's importance to _______ China. Archaeological evidence suggests tea was first cultivated there as early as 6,000 years ago, or 1,500 _____ before the pharaohs built the _____ ________ of Giza. That original Chinese tea plant is the same type that's grown around the world today, yet it was originally consumed very differently. It was _____ as a _________ or cooked with grain porridge. Tea only shifted from food to _____ 1,500 years ago when people realized that a combination of heat and moisture could create a _______ and varied taste out of the _____ green. After ________ of years of variations to the ___________ method, the standard became to heat tea, pack it into portable cakes, grind it into powder, mix with hot water, and create a ________ ______ muo cha, or matcha. Matcha became so popular that a ________ Chinese tea _______ emerged. Tea was the subject of books and poetry, the ________ drink of emperors, and a medium for artists. They would draw extravagant pictures in the foam of the tea, very much like the espresso art you might see in coffee shops _____. In the 9th century during the Tang Dynasty, a ________ monk brought the first tea plant to Japan. The Japanese eventually _________ their own unique rituals around tea, leading to the creation of the Japanese tea ceremony. And in the 14th century during the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese emperor shifted the standard from tea pressed into _____ to loose leaf tea. At that point, China still held a virtual monopoly on the world's tea trees, making tea one of three essential _______ ______ goods, along with porcelain and silk. This gave China a great deal of _____ and economic influence as tea ________ spread around the _____. That spread began in earnest around the early 1600s when Dutch traders brought tea to Europe in large quantities. Many ______ Queen _________ of Braganza, a Portuguese noble woman, for making tea popular with the English aristocracy when she married King Charles II in 1661. At the time, Great Britain was in the midst of expanding its colonial influence and becoming the new dominant world power. And as Great Britain grew, ________ in tea spread around the world. By 1700, tea in Europe sold for ten _____ the price of ______ and the plant was still only grown in China. The tea trade was so lucrative that the world's fastest sailboat, the _______ ship, was born out of intense competition between _______ trading companies. All were racing to _____ their tea back to Europe first to maximize their profits. At first, _______ paid for all this Chinese tea with silver. When that ______ too expensive, they suggested trading tea for another substance, opium. This triggered a public health problem within China as people became addicted to the drug. Then in 1839, a Chinese ________ ordered his men to destroy massive British shipments of opium as a statement against Britain's influence over China. This act triggered the First Opium War between the two nations. Fighting raged up and down the Chinese coast until 1842 when the defeated Qing Dynasty _____ the port of Hong Kong to the British and resumed trading on unfavorable _____. The war weakened China's global standing for over a century. The British East India company also wanted to be able to grow tea themselves and further _______ the ______. So they commissioned botanist Robert Fortune to steal tea from China in a covert _________. He disguised himself and took a ________ journey through China's ___________ tea regions, __________ smuggling tea trees and experienced tea workers into Darjeeling, India. From there, the plant spread further still, helping drive tea's rapid growth as an everyday commodity. Today, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and from sugary _______ Rize tea, to salty Tibetan ______ tea, there are almost as many ways of preparing the beverage as there are ________ on the globe.

Solution

developed
highlights
terms
years
beverage
favorite
proved
divine
leafy
catherine
cultures
preparation
culture
interest
called
power
legend
bring
poisonings
market
forest
pyramids
cakes
operation
britain
credit
distinct
world
control
drink
complex
export
today
ceded
western
eaten
japanese
mountainous
turkish
great
revived
spent
ancient
official
vegetable
eventually
times
coffee
perilous
clipper
farmer
drinking
chinese
hundreds
butter

Original Text

During a long day spent roaming the forest in search of edible grains and herbs, the weary divine farmer Shennong accidentally poisoned himself 72 times. But before the poisons could end his life, a leaf drifted into his mouth. He chewed on it and it revived him, and that is how we discovered tea. Or so an ancient legend goes at least. Tea doesn't actually cure poisonings, but the story of Shennong, the mythical Chinese inventor of agriculture, highlights tea's importance to ancient China. Archaeological evidence suggests tea was first cultivated there as early as 6,000 years ago, or 1,500 years before the pharaohs built the Great Pyramids of Giza. That original Chinese tea plant is the same type that's grown around the world today, yet it was originally consumed very differently. It was eaten as a vegetable or cooked with grain porridge. Tea only shifted from food to drink 1,500 years ago when people realized that a combination of heat and moisture could create a complex and varied taste out of the leafy green. After hundreds of years of variations to the preparation method, the standard became to heat tea, pack it into portable cakes, grind it into powder, mix with hot water, and create a beverage called muo cha, or matcha. Matcha became so popular that a distinct Chinese tea culture emerged. Tea was the subject of books and poetry, the favorite drink of emperors, and a medium for artists. They would draw extravagant pictures in the foam of the tea, very much like the espresso art you might see in coffee shops today. In the 9th century during the Tang Dynasty, a Japanese monk brought the first tea plant to Japan. The Japanese eventually developed their own unique rituals around tea, leading to the creation of the Japanese tea ceremony. And in the 14th century during the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese emperor shifted the standard from tea pressed into cakes to loose leaf tea. At that point, China still held a virtual monopoly on the world's tea trees, making tea one of three essential Chinese export goods, along with porcelain and silk. This gave China a great deal of power and economic influence as tea drinking spread around the world. That spread began in earnest around the early 1600s when Dutch traders brought tea to Europe in large quantities. Many credit Queen Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese noble woman, for making tea popular with the English aristocracy when she married King Charles II in 1661. At the time, Great Britain was in the midst of expanding its colonial influence and becoming the new dominant world power. And as Great Britain grew, interest in tea spread around the world. By 1700, tea in Europe sold for ten times the price of coffee and the plant was still only grown in China. The tea trade was so lucrative that the world's fastest sailboat, the clipper ship, was born out of intense competition between Western trading companies. All were racing to bring their tea back to Europe first to maximize their profits. At first, Britain paid for all this Chinese tea with silver. When that proved too expensive, they suggested trading tea for another substance, opium. This triggered a public health problem within China as people became addicted to the drug. Then in 1839, a Chinese official ordered his men to destroy massive British shipments of opium as a statement against Britain's influence over China. This act triggered the First Opium War between the two nations. Fighting raged up and down the Chinese coast until 1842 when the defeated Qing Dynasty ceded the port of Hong Kong to the British and resumed trading on unfavorable terms. The war weakened China's global standing for over a century. The British East India company also wanted to be able to grow tea themselves and further control the market. So they commissioned botanist Robert Fortune to steal tea from China in a covert operation. He disguised himself and took a perilous journey through China's mountainous tea regions, eventually smuggling tea trees and experienced tea workers into Darjeeling, India. From there, the plant spread further still, helping drive tea's rapid growth as an everyday commodity. Today, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and from sugary Turkish Rize tea, to salty Tibetan butter tea, there are almost as many ways of preparing the beverage as there are cultures on the globe.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
chinese tea	3
tea plant	2
making tea	2
great britain	2

Important Words

accidentally
act
addicted
agriculture
ancient
archaeological
aristocracy
art
artists
began
beverage
books
born
botanist
braganza
bring
britain
british
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built
butter
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called
catherine
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century
ceremony
cha
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chewed
china
chinese
clipper
coast
coffee
colonial
combination
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commodity
companies
company
competition
complex
consumed
control
cooked
covert
create
creation
credit
cultivated
culture
cultures
cure
darjeeling
day
deal
defeated
destroy
developed
differently
discovered
disguised
distinct
divine
dominant
draw
drifted
drink
drinking
drive
drug
dutch
dynasty
early
earnest
east
eaten
economic
edible
emerged
emperor
emperors
english
espresso
essential
europe
eventually
everyday
evidence
expanding
expensive
experienced
export
extravagant
farmer
fastest
favorite
fighting
foam
food
forest
fortune
gave
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grain
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grew
grind
grow
grown
growth
health
heat
held
helping
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ii
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india
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japan
japanese
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king
kong
large
leading
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leafy
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market
married
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muo
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opium
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poetry
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sailboat
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shennong
shifted
ship
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shops
silk
silver
smuggling
sold
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spread
standard
standing
statement
steal
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subject
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sugary
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tang
taste
tea
ten
terms
tibetan
time
times
today
trade
traders
trading
trees
triggered
turkish
type
unfavorable
unique
variations
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vegetable
virtual
wanted
war
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ways
weakened
weary
western
woman
workers
world
years