Why do British love tea so much? The reason is very simple. They started to drink tea because they didn't have much coffee.

In fact, tea is a stimulating (提神) drink. And in most cultures there are some stimulating drinks that help people get through their day. 【小题1】 So they need such drinks to help them keep awake. The coffee has the same effect with tea.

【小题2】 But many young people prefer to drink a cup of coffee rather than a cup of tea. They think it is very fashionable.

Why did British drink more tea and less coffee? 【小题3】 However, other European countries had easy and affordable coffee through their trading routes. But for the British, tea was much more affordable than coffee from their colonies (殖民地) and trading partners. 【小题4】 On the contrary (相反), people coming from other European countries like drinking coffee.

British have a special habit of drinking tea. They must use very hot water to pour into the teapot. If people use warm water, they will feel it is very terrible. British like adding milk or sugar to the tea. It is different from Chinese.

【小题5】 Some British who come to China don't understand why there is no milk or sugar on the table.

There are four great inventions from ancient China.

The compass is a great gift to the world. Before it was invented, sailors had to depend on the stars to find directions. After it was invented, the oceans were open to travel.

Paper-making is one of the greatest inventions. During the Western Han Dynasty (202 B.C. -9 A.D.), paper was made in some places in China. It was developed in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 A.D.-220 A.D.) by Cai Lun. He made paper with bark(树皮), old cloth and so on.

It is said that in the third century a Chinese man wrote about how to make gunpowder(火药). At first, it was used for making fireworks(烟花). At the end of the Tang Dynasty, people began to use it in wars. The way of making it was brought to the Arab world and Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries.

Printing was developed in 1041-1048 in the Song Dynasty. A man named Bi Sheng carved characters(字符) on pieces of clay and wood. Then he put ink on them. After the characters were printed on paper, the pieces of clay or wood could be used again. This technology then spread to Korea, Japan and Europe.