54. What does the phrase “a lasting British institution” in the first paragraph mean?
(A) The most popular British organization.
(B) A long-standing tradition in the UK.
(C) The last tea company in London.
(D) A well-established British business.

Tea, the most typical English drink, became established in Britain because of the influence of a foreign princess, Catherine of Braganza, the queen of Charles II. A lover of tea since her childhood in Portugal, she brought tea-drinking to the English royal court and set a trend for the beverage in the seventeenth century. The fashion soon spread beyond the circle of the nobility to the middle classes, and tea became a popular drink at the London coffee houses where people met to do business and discuss events of the day.

Many employers served a cup of tea to their workers in the middle of the morning, thus inventing a lasting British institution, the “tea break.” However, drinking tea in social settings outside the workplace was beyond the means of the majority of British people. It came with a high price tag and tea was taxed as well. 

許多老闆也會在早上約10 點提供員工一杯茶,因此就有了一個持續性的英國習俗就是“tea break”。然而,在工作之餘的飲茶社交,卻是大部份英國人民無法負擔得起的。伴隨而來的是,高單價及高課稅的茶。

Around 1800, the seventh Duchess of Bedford, Anne Maria, began the popular practice of “afternoon tea,” a ceremony taking place at about four o’clock. Until then, people did not usually eat or drink anything between lunch and dinner. At approximately the same time, the Earl of Sandwich popularized a new way of eating bread—in thin slices, with something (e.g., jam or cucumbers) between them. Before long, a small meal at the end of the afternoon, involving tea and sandwiches, had become part of the British way of life. 

As tea became much cheaper during the nineteenth century, its popularity spread right through all corners of the British society. Thus, tea became Britain’s favorite drink. In working-class households, it was served with the main meal of the day, eaten when workers returned home after a day’s labor. This meal has become known as “high tea.” 

Today, tea can be drunk at any time of the day, and accounts for over two-fifths of all beverages consumed in Britain—with the exception of water.