A set of 4 sentences (A, B, C and D in the same order) have been given in the above question followed by five option choices. From the opti… — Answer & Discussion

A set of 4 sentences (A, B, C and D in the same order) have been given in the above question followed by five option choices. From the option choice provided look for the option choice that acts as the fifth sentence (conclusion) for the statements mentioned.

ABritain’s first taste of tea was belated — the Chinese had been drinking it for 2,000 years.
BThe English diarist, Samuel Pepys, mentions tea in his diary entry from September 25, 1600.
C“Tcha”, wrote Pepys, the excellent and by all Physicians approved, China drink, was sold in England from 1635, for prices as high as £6 to £10 per pound of the herb (£600 to £1,000, today).
D In 1662, when King Charles II married the Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza, her dowry constituted a chest of tea, and the island of Bombay for an annual lease of £10, equivalent then to the cost of a pound of tea in England. 1). Catherine, who was used to drinking tea in the Portuguese court, had her first sip of the beverage in England in May 1662 — the month of her wedding — at Portsmouth. 2). Still, British tea cultivators were extremely anxious to have Chinese tea and techniques brought to India. 3). A decade later, in 1843, Robert Fortune, a Scottish horticulturalist, independently travelled to China to study its tea plantations. 4). His travels were funded by the Royal Horticultural Society that was eager to extract plant samples and botanical intelligence from China in the wake of the Treaty of Nanking, signed in 1842, that ended the First Opium War.

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Discussion 1

CCommunity10 Jun 2019

The correct answer is option 1, i.e. Catherine, who was used to drinking tea in the Portuguese court, had her first sip of the beverage in England in May 1662 — the month of her wedding — at Portsmouth.

Option 2 can be rejected as it starts with ‘still’ and continues that still British tea cultivators were extremely anxious. If this is the concluding sentence then the sentence before it must capture the same flow of ideas which is not evident from D, thus, it can be rejected.

Option 3 can be rejected as it starts with ‘a decade later’, In sentence D, we were in 1662 and a decade later must be 1672 and not 1842, thus, it can also be rejected. Moreover, it also introduces a new personality and thus, does not act as a conclusion.

Option 4 can also be rejected as it is not the conclusion of the given set of statements rather follows the sentence mentioned in option 3. It is nowhere linked with the given four sentences in the question and can thus be rejected.

Option 5 can also be rejected as it also introduces a new idea of ‘coolie’ and is not an appropriate conclusion.

Thus, only option 1 captures the essence of the statements and is thus the most appropriate answer choice.

Thus, the sentences can be structured as,

Britain’s first taste of tea was belated — the Chinese had been drinking it for 2,000 years. The English diarist, Samuel Pepys, mentions tea in his diary entry from September 25, 1600. “Tcha”, wrote Pepys, the excellent and by all Physicians approved, China drink, was sold in England from 1635, for prices as high as £6 to £10 per pound of the herb (£600 to £1,000, today). In 1662, when King Charles II married the Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza, her dowry constituted a chest of tea, and the island of Bombay for an annual lease of £10, equivalent then to the cost of a pound of tea in England. Catherine, who was used to drinking tea in the Portuguese court, had her first sip of the beverage in England in May 1662 — the month of her wedding — at Portsmouth.