It is surprising that eating three meals a day—breakfast, lunch and dinner—has been a cu

stom only since 1890. Before this time, people only had two meals a day—breakfast and dinner. In the 16th century, breakfast was only to break one’s fast(开戒, 即开始吃东西). But 200 years later it had become a large meal, not just for family, but for numbers of guests as well. It was a social event. It began at 10 a.m. and lasted until 1 p.m. Then breakfast began to be less popular. It became, instead, a lighter meal and was taken at much earlier hour. By 1850 it had been pushed back to 8 a.m. and became a family meal. Dinner, however, went the other way. In the 16th century it was eaten at 11 a.m. Years later, it moved to the early afternoon, then to 5 p.m. By 1850 dinner time had reached 7 p.m. Lunch is a recent idea. It first appeared as a snack to fill the gap between breakfast and dinner.

1.People did not have lunch ______.

A.until 1890

B.after 1890

C.since 1890 Dby 1890

2.“Dinner, however, went the other way” means “______”.

A.dinner didn’t go there with breakfast

B.dinner took the same way as breakfast

C.dinner got later

D.dinner is the same with breakfast

3.Breakfast has been a family meal since the ______ century.

A.17th

B.18th

C.16th

D.19th

4.The passage is mostly concerned with ______.

A.what people eat for breakfast

B.what people eat for dinner

C.the history of supper

D.the history of the three meals

5.The passage leads us to believe that ______.

A.our custom of meals is based on an English custom

B.before 1890 people didn’t eat three meals a day

C.breakfast is the most important meal for us

D.three meals a day is a long tradition