广东省2017中考英语第三部分薯话题语篇突破话题七故事与诗歌；历史与社会备考猜押三阅读理解B试题人教新目标版.docVIP

阅读理解B Passage 1(2016广州) It may be hard to believe, but the American Revolution(革命)—the war that freed the American states from British control — began over a cup of tea. Tea was not the only thing that caused the war, of course, but it played a very big part. The British peoples love of tea is well-known. When the British won control over much of North America in the early 1700s, they brought their tea-drinking habits with them. Tea quickly became the continents most popular drink. As tea could not be grown locally, just as in Britain, it was shipped into the country — mostly from India. In the early 1700s, the British government made a special deal with the East India Company, an English trading company. They agreed that no other company was allowed to bring tea to Britain or any country controlled by Britain, including America. It was a great deal for the East India Company, since it meant that the company could decide whatever price it wanted for its products. And it always decided on a high price! In North America, the local people did not like having to pay such high prices. Instead of overpaying for tea from the British, they turned to Dutch traders, who secretly brought tea to the country that was just as good — and much less expensive. Although this broke the law, the American people didnt care. They got the same cup of tea at a much lower price. The East India Company, however, didnt like this at all. By the 1760s, they were losing millions of pounds each year to Dutch traders — a huge amount of money in a time when ￡60 a year was considered a good income. Instead of reducing their prices to compete with the Dutch, the company asked the British government for help and the government agreed. In 1767, the British introduced new laws that increased the prices of all goods which were brought into America. These laws helped make the East India Company even richer and forced local people to pay much more for everything. The American leade