TedTest

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

Unscramble the Blue Letters

During a long day spent roaming the fsroet in search of edible ginars and herbs, the weary dinive farmer Shennong accidentally poisoned himself 72 times. But before the poisons could end his life, a leaf drifted into his mutoh. He chewed on it and it reevivd him, and that is how we discovered tea. Or so an ancient legend goes at least. Tea doesn't actually cure pgnisinoos, but the story of Shennong, the mythical Chinese iovtnenr of atrglriuuce, highlights tea's iptocmanre to ancient China. Archaeological evidence suggests tea was first cultivated there as erlay as 6,000 yeras 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 vbtlegaee or cooked with grain porridge. Tea only setfhid from food to drink 1,500 years ago when polpee realized that a combination of heat and moisture could carete a complex and vaierd 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 waetr, and create a beverage called muo cha, or matcha. Matcha became so popular that a dicstnit Chinese tea culture emerged. Tea was the sbujcet of books and poetry, the favorite drink of emperors, and a medium for atisrts. They would draw eatxnavgart 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 buroght the first tea plant to Japan. The Japanese eventually developed their own unique rtaluis around tea, leading to the cieraton of the jsaenpae tea crmeeony. 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 cdreit Queen Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese noble woman, for mainkg 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 biirtan 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 grwon in cihna. The tea trade was so lucrative that the world's fastest soaalibt, the cpelipr ship, was born out of intense competition between Western trading cneiapoms. All were racing to bring their tea back to Europe first to mmxiizae their pirofts. At first, Britain paid for all this Chinese tea with silver. When that proved too eepnsxvie, they segustged trading tea for another substance, opium. This triggered a public health problem within China as people became atcidedd to the drug. Then in 1839, a Chinese official oreredd his men to destroy massive British smitnphes of opium as a statement against Britain's influence over China. This act triggered the First Opium War between the two nitoans. fhnigtig raged up and down the Chinese coast until 1842 when the defeated Qing dyastny ceded the port of Hong Kong to the bisrtih and resumed tianrdg on unfavorable terms. The war weakened China's gaboll sainndtg 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 rboert fntorue to steal tea from China in a covert operation. He disguised himself and took a pilroeus journey through China's mountainous tea regions, eventually smuggling tea trees and experienced tea workers into Darjeeling, India. From there, the plant sreapd further still, helping drvie tea's rapid growth as an everyday commodity. taody, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and from sugary tuskrih Rize tea, to salty Tibetan butter tea, there are almost as many ways of preparing the beverage as there are cultures on the globe.

Open Cloze

During a long day spent roaming the ______ in search of edible ______ and herbs, the weary ______ farmer Shennong accidentally poisoned himself 72 times. But before the poisons could end his life, a leaf drifted into his _____. He chewed on it and it _______ him, and that is how we discovered tea. Or so an ancient legend goes at least. Tea doesn't actually cure __________, but the story of Shennong, the mythical Chinese ________ of ___________, highlights tea's __________ to ancient China. Archaeological evidence suggests tea was first cultivated there as _____ as 6,000 _____ 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 _________ or cooked with grain porridge. Tea only _______ from food to drink 1,500 years ago when ______ realized that a combination of heat and moisture could ______ a complex and ______ 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 _____, and create a beverage called muo cha, or matcha. Matcha became so popular that a ________ Chinese tea culture emerged. Tea was the _______ of books and poetry, the favorite drink of emperors, and a medium for _______. They would draw ___________ 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 _______ the first tea plant to Japan. The Japanese eventually developed their own unique _______ around tea, leading to the ________ of the ________ tea ________. 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 ______ Queen Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese noble woman, for ______ 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 _______ 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 _____ in _____. The tea trade was so lucrative that the world's fastest ________, the _______ ship, was born out of intense competition between Western trading _________. All were racing to bring their tea back to Europe first to ________ their _______. At first, Britain paid for all this Chinese tea with silver. When that proved too _________, they _________ trading tea for another substance, opium. This triggered a public health problem within China as people became ________ to the drug. Then in 1839, a Chinese official _______ his men to destroy massive British _________ of opium as a statement against Britain's influence over China. This act triggered the First Opium War between the two _______. ________ raged up and down the Chinese coast until 1842 when the defeated Qing _______ ceded the port of Hong Kong to the _______ and resumed _______ on unfavorable terms. The war weakened China's ______ ________ 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 ______ _______ to steal tea from China in a covert operation. He disguised himself and took a ________ journey through China's mountainous tea regions, eventually smuggling tea trees and experienced tea workers into Darjeeling, India. From there, the plant ______ further still, helping _____ tea's rapid growth as an everyday commodity. _____, tea is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water, and from sugary _______ Rize tea, to salty Tibetan butter tea, there are almost as many ways of preparing the beverage as there are cultures on the globe.

Solution

varied
trading
mouth
profits
perilous
importance
brought
artists
addicted
people
grains
suggested
british
sailboat
spread
credit
global
rituals
forest
maximize
clipper
japanese
britain
drive
vegetable
poisonings
ceremony
expensive
china
create
fighting
years
agriculture
early
shifted
water
today
robert
fortune
companies
distinct
creation
dynasty
standing
grown
inventor
revived
turkish
divine
making
shipments
extravagant
ordered
subject
nations

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
brought
built
butter
cakes
called
catherine
ceded
century
ceremony
cha
charles
chewed
china
chinese
clipper
coast
coffee
colonial
combination
commissioned
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
giza
global
globe
goods
grain
grains
great
green
grew
grind
grow
grown
growth
health
heat
held
helping
herbs
highlights
hong
hot
hundreds
ii
importance
india
influence
intense
interest
inventor
japan
japanese
journey
king
kong
large
leading
leaf
leafy
legend
life
long
loose
lucrative
making
market
married
massive
matcha
maximize
medium
men
method
midst
ming
mix
moisture
monk
monopoly
mountainous
mouth
muo
mythical
nations
noble
official
operation
opium
ordered
original
originally
pack
paid
people
perilous
pharaohs
pictures
plant
poetry
point
poisoned
poisonings
poisons
popular
porcelain
porridge
port
portable
portuguese
powder
power
preparation
preparing
pressed
price
problem
profits
proved
public
pyramids
qing
quantities
queen
racing
raged
rapid
realized
regions
resumed
revived
rituals
rize
roaming
robert
sailboat
salty
search
shennong
shifted
ship
shipments
shops
silk
silver
smuggling
sold
spent
spread
standard
standing
statement
steal
story
subject
substance
sugary
suggested
suggests
tang
taste
tea
ten
terms
tibetan
time
times
today
trade
traders
trading
trees
triggered
turkish
type
unfavorable
unique
variations
varied
vegetable
virtual
wanted
war
water
ways
weakened
weary
western
woman
workers
world
years