In the 1900's, American townspeople usually washed and brushed their teeth and combed thei

r hair in the kitchen. Or they kept a water pitcher (大水罐) and a wash basin in their rooms and took care of these things there.

The bathtub was a wash tub (澡盆) filled with water from the stove. If you were small enough you could sit down by drawing your knees to your chest. Otherwise, you washed yourself standing up. Often all the women and girls in the family bathed together. Then the men and boys did. In most families this was Saturday night because Sundays they went to church.

A small number of families did have running water. But that depended on whether there was a water system where they lived and on whether they could afford the plumbing (水管设施). Some people had bathtubs in their homes as early as 1895. But many others did not have their first bath in a bathtub until 1910 or later when they were fifteen or sixteen years old.

In the first paragraph, "took care of" means ______.

A．kept

B．looked after

C．used

D．kept and used