Read the given passage and answer the six questions that follow.

On a chilly winter evening, nothing warms you up better than a cup of hot cocoa. Chocolate was first consumed in liquid form by the Olmec people of northwestern Central America around 1500 BCE. It was even enjoyed by the Aztec Emperor Montezuma, and the Aztec word for it (xocolatl, pronounced shoh-kwah-tl) evolved into the English word Chocolate.

But the Aztecs didn't serve their cocoa hot. And since sugar had not yet arrived from Europe, back then, the drink was often flavoured with peppers and spices. It may not have been quite as indulgent as today's version, but it was more palatable if you believed, as the Aztecs did, that chocolate was a gift from the Gods and had healing properties.

After the Spanish arrived in the Americas in the 1500s, liquid chocolate made its way across the pond, where wealthy Europeans added sugar and drank it warm. In Chocolate: History, Culture and Heritage, author Bertram Gordon says hot chocolate became "the beverage of the aristocracy," as sugar was still a luxury.

Soon enough, though, hot chocolate caught on with the masses. Chocolate houses - a cross between cafes and casinos - started popping up around 17^th-century Europe. In these lively places, hot chocolate was poured from gilded pots into elegant cups (for a posh experience, one can still find it today at the famed Parisian tearoom Angelina's, which is also in New York City). But by the end of the 18^th century, chocolate houses had mostly died off, partly because the cost of chocolate was much higher than that of coffee or tea.

Taking a tour of international cups of cocoa, Italians serve it like a thick pudding. Colombians serve it with a dollop of soft cheese while Mexicans punch it up with vanilla, chilli powder and cinnamon. And Filipinos serve it with mango chunks.

The Chocolate Houses didn't survive past the 18^th century as

chocolate was costlier than tea or coffee.

The correct answer is Option (3) - chocolate was costlier than tea or coffee.

This is mentioned in the passage, which states that one reason for the decline of chocolate houses was because the cost of chocolate was much higher than that of coffee or tea, making it less affordable for the general population.