Baths and bathing have been considered of an important medical therapy to man. In Greece there are the ruins of a bath tub and water system built over 3 000 years ago. The Romans had warm public baths. In some public baths as many 3 000 persons could bathe at the same time.
Treating diseases by bathing has been popular for centuries. Modern medical bathing, or hydrotherapy, first became popular in Europe and by the late 1 700’s also became popular in the United States.
For many years frequent bathing was believed to be bad for one’s health. Ordinary bathing just to be clean was avoided, and perfume(香水) was used to cover up body and smell.
By the 1 700’s doctors began to say that soap and water were good for health. They believed that it was good for people to be clean. Slowly, people began to bathe more frequently.
In the United States ordinary bathing was slow to become popular. During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many Americans were known as “the great unwashed”. In one American city, for example, a person could only take a bath every 30 days! That was a law.
Frequency of bathing today is partly a matter of habit. People know that bathing for cleanliness is important to health. Doctors know that dirty bodies increase that chance of disease.
Therefore in the United States people generally bathe often.
1．What does the word “hydrotherapy” underlined in the second paragraph refer to?
A．A bathing tub. B．Medical bathing.
C．Ordinary bathing. D．Warm public baths.
2．Until when did doctors believe that ordinary bathing was good for health?
A．Until the 16th century B．Until the 17th century.
C．Until the 18th century. D．Until the 19th century.
3．Where did the ordinary bathing first become popular according to the passage?
A．In Africa. B．In Europe.
C．In the USA. D．The passage doesn’t tell us.
4．Which of the following statements is not true?
A．Bathing was important to Greeks and Romans.
B．The Greek built water systems.
C．The Greek had warm public baths.
D．The Greek used bath tubs.
5．The passage is mainly about ______.
A．bathing in the USA
B．the good points and bad points of bathing
C．the history of bathing
D．the modern medical bathing
