Today, tea is so much associated with the British way of life that it can come as a

surprise to learn that it owes much of its popularity here to a foreign princess. Catherine
of Bragança, the queen-consort of Charles II of England, has made tea popular and
fashionable.

FROM PORTUGAL TO ENGLAND …

Portuguese traders imported tea from the East. Tea was expensive and exotic so
it became very fashionable in aristocratic circles and at the royal court, where Catherine
grew up.

By 1650, tea was very popular in Portugal and in Holland. But in England, it was
still unusual to drink tea. This was soon going to change.

Catherine and Charles II married, on 21 May 1662. Charles had lots of debts, he
needed money. The only solution was to marry a rich foreign princess and to demand
her father for lots of cash and goods as a dowry . These goods included a chest of tea, the
favourite drink at the Portuguese court.

Then, Catherine quickly adapted to English court and became a trend-setter. She
liked English fashions but she continued to prefer the cuisine of her native Portugal -
including tea. Soon everybody at the royal court started to adore the taste of tea, then all
the high classes in England adopted this drink.

LET’S GO (a bit) FURTHER…

But the marriage of Queen Catherine and Charles II in fact was not an happy union.

First, They had no children together and made worse for Catherine by the fact that
Charles had a lot of illegitimate children from a series of mistresses.

Secondly, Catherine was a Roman Catholic and most English were Protestants.

She lived in England for some years after her husband's death in 1685. But she
eventually retired to Portugal, where she died in 1705.

So Catherine's experience as queen of England may not have been an entirely successful
or happy one in many ways, nevertheless it is this young foreign princess whom we
have to thank for the development of the British taste for tea.

Adapted from « http://www.tea.co.uk/index.php?pgId=96 »

COMPREHENSION
Answer the following questions
1. In which countries was tea popular in the 17th century ?
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2. Why did Charles marry Catherine ?
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3. What was the first cause of trouble between Charles and Catherine ?
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4. what did Catherine do after Charles’s death ?
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Right or wrong ? Justify quoting the text.

1. Tea was a famous drink in England in the seventeenth century. R/W
Justification-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Catherine was considered as a model at the English court. R/W
Justification-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Charles’s father gave the young couple some money and presents R/W
Justification-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. The English people didn’t appreciate Catherine for political reasons R/W

Justification------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GRAMMAR
Ask the questions
1. Tea became very popular in England.

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2. Catherine died in 1705

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3. Her marriage was unhappy

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TRANSLATION
Translate the words in bold in the text

Essay
Write a paragraph about the history of the potato using the
information below and some words from the preceeding exercise.
Use the simple past.

 2,500 B.C : Discovery of the potato by the Incas.

 Becomes part of their diet very quickly
 16th c. : Cortez brings it back to Europe
 The European Kings love it.
 popular because aphrodisiac
 1663 : Sir Francis Blake takes it to Ireland
 Mr Parmentier brings it to France
 Now : thousands of varieties around the world.