Unit 6
When was it invented?
(2)
This information comes from Yang Xuehui at Shili high school in Xihe, Gansu.
一次偶然的发明
An Accidental Invention
你知道茶，世界上最受欢迎的饮料是偶然发明的吗？
Did you know that tea, the most popular drink in the world, was invented by accident?
许多人认为茶是大约
5000
年前最早饮用的。
Many people believe that tea was first drunk about 5,000 years ago.
据说一位名叫神农的中国统治者首次发现茶可以作为一种饮料。
It is said that a Chinese ruler called Shen Nong was first to discover tea as a drink.
有一天神农在户外正烧开水。
One day Shen Nong was boiling drinking water over an open fire.
茶树上的几片叶子落入热水里，
Some leaves from a tea plant fell into the water,
留在热水里一会儿，
and remained there for some time.
水里散发出一股怡人的香味，
It produced a nice smell,
于是他品尝了这棕色的水。
so he tasted the brown water.
水非常香醇。
It was quite delicious,
就这样，世界上最喜欢的饮料之一发明了。
and so, one of the world’s favorite drinks was invented.
数千年之后，
A few thousand years later,
“茶圣”陆羽在他的
《
茶经
》
一书中提到了神农。
Lu Yu, “the saint of tea”, mentioned Shen Nong in his book
Cha Jing
.
该书描述了如何种植茶树与泡茶。
The book describes how tea plants were grown and used to make tea.
它还讨论了优质茶叶在哪里生产以及使用何种水泡茶。
It also discusses where the finest tea leaves were produced and what kinds of water were used.
人们认为茶是在公元六至七世纪传播到了朝鲜和日本。
It is believed that tea was brought to Korea and Japan during the 6th and 7th centuries.
在英国，茶直到约
1660
年才出现，
In England, tea didn’t appear until around 1660,
但不到
100
年，茶已成为国内饮料。
but in less than 100 years, it had become the national drink.
中西方的茶叶贸易始于
19
世纪。
The tea trade from China to Western countries took place in the 19th century.
茶叶贸易有助于把茶叶和茶树传播到全世界更多的地方。
This helped to spread the popularity of tea and the tea plant to more places around the world.
尽管很多人现在了解茶文化，
Even though many people now know about tea culture,
但毫无疑问，中国人才是最了解茶本质的人。
the Chinese are without doubt the ones who best understand the nature of tea.
Good habits achieve beautiful life. Try to be your best.
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