Of the three major drinks of the world—tea, coffee and cocoa—tea is consumed by the①__________(large) number of people. China is the homeland of tea. Human cultivation of tea plants dates back to two thousand years ago. Tea from China, along②__________her silk and porcelain (瓷器), began to be known to the world more than a thousand years ago and since then it③__________(be) an important Chinese export.
At present more than forty countries in the world grow tea with Asian countries,④__________(produce) 90% of the world’s total output. All tea trees in other countries have their origin directly or indirectly in China. The word for tea leaves or tea as⑤__________drink in many countries are derivatives(衍生物)from the Chinese character “cha”. The Russians call it “cha’i”, ⑥__________sounds like “chaye”(tea leaves) as it is pronounced in northern China, and the English word “tea” sounds similar to the pronunciation of⑦__________(it) counterpart(对应物) in Xiamen. The Japanese character for tea is written⑧__________(exact) the same as it is in Chinese, though⑨__________(pronounce) with a slight difference. The habit of tea drinking spread to Japan in the 6th century, but it was not introduced to Europe and America⑩__________the 17th and 18th centuries. Now the number of tea drinkers in the world is still on the increase.
