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  3. Tea, that most typical of English drinks, is a relative latecomer to British shores. Although the custom of drinking tea dates b

Tea, that most typical of English drinks, is a relative latecomer to British shores. Although the custom of drinking tea dates b

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问题    Tea, that most typical of English drinks, is a relative latecomer to British shores. Although the custom of drinking tea dates back to the third millennium BC in China, it was not until the mid 17th century that the beverage first appeared in England.
   Curiously, it was the London coffee houses that were responsible for introducing tea to England. One of the first coffee house merchants to offer tea was Thomas Garway, who owned an establishment in Exchange Alley. He sold both liquid and dry tea to the public as early as 1657. Three years later he issued a broadsheet advertising tea at ￡6 and ￡10 per pound, trumpeting its virtues at "making the body active and vigorous", and "preserving perfect health until extreme old age".
   Tea gained popularity quickly in the coffee houses, and by 1700 over 500 coffee houses sold it. This distressed the restaurant owners, as tea cut their sales of ale and gin, and it was bad news for the government, who depended upon a steady stream of revenue from taxes on liquor sales.
   Charles II did his bit to counter the growth of tea, with several acts forbidding its sale in private houses. This measure was designed to counter rebels, but it was so unpopular that it was impossible to enforce. A 1676 act taxed tea and required coffee house operators to apply for a license. By the mid 18th century the duty on tea had reached an absurd 119%. This heavy taxation had the effect of creating a whole new industry—tea smuggling.
   Ships from Holland and Scandinavia brought tea to the British coast, then stood offshore while smugglers met them and unloaded the precious cargo in small vessels. The smugglers, often local fishermen, snuck the tea inland through underground passages and hidden paths to special hiding places.
   Even smuggled tea was expensive, however, and therefore extremely profitable, so many smugglers began to adulterate the tea with other substances, such as willow, licorice, and sloe leaves.
   In 1784 William Pitt the Younger introduced the Commutation Act, which dropped the tax on tea from 119% to 12.5%, effectively ending smuggling. Adulteration remained a problem, though, until the Food and Drug Act of 1875 brought in severe penalties for the practice.
   In the early 1800’s ships carrying tea from the Far East to Britain could take over a year to bring home their precious cargo. When the East India Company was given a monopoly on the tea trade in 1832, they realized the need to cut the time of this journey. The Americans actually designed the first "clippers", or streamlined, tall vessels, but the British were close behind. These clippers sped along at nearly 18 knots by contemporary accounts—nearly as fast as a modern ocean liner.
   Afternoon tea is said to have originated with one person: Anna, 7th Duchess of Bedford. In the early 1800’s she launched the idea of having tea in the late afternoon to bridge the gap between lunch and dinner, which in fashionable circles might not be served until 8 o’clock at night. This fashionable custom soon evolved into high tea among the working classes, where this late afternoon meal became the main meal of the day.
   [A] dominated the tea transactions in nineteenth century.
   [B] presented the Commutation Act to stop tea smuggling.
   [C] helped the Americans design the first streamlined vessels.
   [D] showed the health benefits of his tea through a broadsheet.
   [E] was the first person who came up with the idea of afternoon tea.
   [F] published the Food and Drug Act to punish the illegal sale of tea.
   [G] introduced some acts to ban tea selling in private houses.
William Pitt the Younger
选项
答案B
解析 William Pitt the Younger出现在文中的第七段。该段第一句讲到，1784年，小威廉-皮特推出了《减刑法令》，将茶税从119％降到12．5％，有效地遏制了茶叶的走私。B中的the Commutation Act是文中的原词复现，stop tea smuggling是文中ending smuggling的同义表达，故确定B为本题的正确答案。
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考研英语二

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