Coffee has a history dating back to at least the 9th century and has been a catalyst for social interaction across cultures and eras. Originally discovered in Ethiopia, coffee beans were brought into the Middle East by Arab traders, spreading to Egypt, Yemen, Persia, Turkey, and North Africa by the 15th century. Muslim merchants eventually brought the beans to the thriving port city of Venice, where they sold them to wealthy Italian buyers. Soon, the Dutch began importing and growing coffee in places like Java and Ceylon (largely through slave labor), and the British East India Trading Company was popularizing the beverage in England. Coffee spread across Europe and even reached America.
Where there has been coffee, there has been the coffeehouse. From the 15th century Middle Eastern establishments where men gathered to listen to music, play chess, and hear recitations from works of literature, to Paris' Cafe le Procope where luminaries of the French Enlightenment such as Voltaire, Rousseau, and Diderot came to enjoy a hot cup of joe, coffeehouses have traditionally served as centers of social interaction, places where people can come to relax, chat, and exchange ideas.
The modern coffee shop is modeled on the espresso and pastry-centered Italian coffeehouses that arose with the establishment of Italian-American immigrant communities in major US cities such as New York City's Little Italy and Greenwich Village, Boston's North End, and San Francisco's North Beach. New York coffee shops were often frequented by the Beats in the 1950's. It wasn't long before Seattle and other parts of the Pacific Northwest were developing coffee shops as part of a thriving counterculture scene. The Seattle-based Starbucks took this model and brought it into mainstream culture.
Although coffeehouses today continue to serve their traditional purpose as lively social hubs in many communities, they have noticeably adapted to the times. Rediscovering their purpose as centers of information exchange and communication, many coffee shops now provide their customers with internet access and newspapers. It has become extremely common to see someone sitting at a Starbucks listening to music or surfing the web on his or her laptop. Coffee stores today also maintain a fairly identifiable, yet unique aesthetic: wooden furniture and plush couches, paintings and murals drawn on walls, and soft-lighting combine to give coffee shops the cozy feeling of a home away from home.
Today, big business retail coffee shops are expanding quickly all over the world. Starbucks alone has stores in over 40 countries and plans to add more. Despite its popularity, Starbucks has been criticized and labeled by many as a blood-sucking corporate machine, driving smaller coffee shops out of business through unfair practices. This has even spawned an anti-corporate coffee counterculture, with those subscribing to this culture boycotting big business coffee chains. Increasingly popular coffee stores such as The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf are also giving Starbucks some stiff competition. In any case, it seems pretty clear that coffee has weaved itself into the fabric of our consumer-oriented culture.
1.
Which of the following is the correct order of coffee spreading in history?
①Egypt ②America ③the Middle East ④Netherlands ⑤Venice
A. ①③④②⑤ B. ③①⑤④② C. ①⑤④③② D. ③②⑤④①
2.
We can infer from the passage ________.
A. Starbucks has beaten all the competitors
B. there are no changes in the development of coffee culture
C. the taste of coffee has changed a lot
D. Starbucks has some effect on the development of coffee culture
3.
The famous coffeehouse “Starbucks” originally come from _______.
A. Seattle B. Ethiopia C. Java D. France
4.
Nowadays, if you come to a coffeehouse, you can _______.
A. play chess with other customers
B. enjoy delicious dishes from South America
C. surf the internet
D. watch a TV play
We supply the bike, panniers, all the support gear, easy to follow maps, cycle routes and either the accommodation or several accommodation suggestions depending on the tour.
All you need to do is bring your cycle gear. Book your accommodation off the detailed list if required, and you are all set for a cheap, environmentally friendly holiday in New Zealand.
We do all the hard work of sorting routes and where to stay — you just relax and enjoy the riding! Too easy.
There are more tours to come so if you don’t see a tour that suits your needs let us know!
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Tour |
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Cost from |
Options |
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2 Day Self Guided Road Tour Banks Peninsula |
2 |
$182 |
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View Map |
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2 days of self guided cycling on Banks Peninsula roads. Includes bike hire, trip notes, panniers and lots great riding around lyttelton Harbour. |
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3 Day Self Guided Road Tour Canterbury and the Southern Alps |
2 |
$215 |
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View Map |
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An easy three day introduction to cycle touring to the inexperienced cyclist. From the high alpine passes of Arthur Pass cross the fertile Canterbury plains to the endless sandy east coast beaches. |
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5 Day Self Guided Road Tour Christchurch to Queenstown |
4 |
$480 |
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View Map |
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The wonderful and wild West Coast in a flash! For the fit and keen cyclist |
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6 Day Self Guided Road Tour Christchurch to Queenstown |
2 |
$365 |
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View Map |
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A tour that gets you from Christchurch to Queenstown a different way with far less hills! Cycling through the center of the South Island where great feast of fresh Salmon and breath taking views of Mt Cook await. |
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8 Day Self Guided Road Tour Christchurch to Queenstown |
3 |
$390 |
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View Map |
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From Christchurch to Queenstown in eight days down the West coast. The Transalpine does the hard work for you across Arthurs Pass and drops you in Greymouth for the start of your tour. |
1.
If you learned how to ride bike only a week ago, you should choose _______.
A. 2 Day Self Guided Road Tour B. 3 Day Self Guided Road Tour
C. 5 Day Self Guided Road Tour D. 8 Day Self Guided Road Tour
2.
Where can we mostly see the passage?
A. Newspaper B. TV C. Internet D. Magazine
3.
What do you have to do when you want to enjoy your cycle tour?
A. Bring your cycle gear.
B. Bring your support gear and book your accommodation.
C. Book your accommodation.
D. Bring your bike gear and do some hard work.
For years experts have argued that poor households are consuming less nourishing food than the rest of the population.
But a survey of some of the lowest earners in Britain shows the nutritional value of what they eat is little different to everyone else.
In fact, the same deficiencies in diet were shared by all the population and the findings suggest that poor eating choices are far more widespread than previously suspected - affecting many wealthier families.
These included low fruit and vegetable consumption, not eating enough oily fish and eating too much saturated fat and sugar.
“This is a large and significant study and it shows we are all eating just as bad a diet as each other,” said Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University.
The poorest families were eating only slightly more sugar and slightly less fruit and vegetables, according to the study of 3,728 respondents in the bottom of the population.
Alison Tedstone, head of nutritional science at the Food Standard Agency, said: “Overall, people on low incomes have less than ideal diets, but their diets are only slightly worse than those of the rest of the population.”
The study also showed that low earners are choosing to eat unhealthily. Their food choices were not linked to their income, their access to shops or their cooking skills.
The findings appear to contradict assumptions that the poor cannot afford healthier foods or are too far away from shops that sell them.
The Low Income Nutrition and Diet Survey showed that like the rest of the population, the poor's daily fruit and vegetable intake on average is below the recommended five portions. Fewer than 10 per cent of respondents hit this target, while around 20 per cent ate less than a portion per day.
More than three quarters (76 per cent) of men and 81 per cent of women did less than one 30-minute session of moderate or vigorous exercise per week.
Some 45 per cent of men and 40 per cent of women were smokers.
This compares with 28 per cent of men and 24 per cent of women in the general population.
1.
According to the passage, which of the following is true?
A. Whether the poor or the rich maybe have a bad diet.
B. Even the poor can enjoy enough fruit and fish consumption.
C. Only the poor have a bad diet.
D. The study was conveyed in both the rich and the poor.
2.
What kind of persons maybe eat most sugar?
A. The rich. B. Men. C. The poorest. D. Women
3.
From the passage, we can learn __________.
A. the poor choose unhealthy food because of low income
B. having no access to shops also leads to the poor’s bad diet
C. the poor’s daily fruit intake is as much as general people
D. the number of smokers in the poor is bigger than that in general people
4.
What’s the best title of the passage?
A. The poor’s healthy problem. B. Keep off junk food.
C. How to have a good diet. D. A diet survey.
It was her giggling that draw my attention. Note taking really wasn’t all that funny.
Walking over to the offender, I asked for the 46 . Frozen, she refused to give it to me. I waited, all attention in the classroom on the quiet 47 between teacher and student. When she finally 48 it over she whispered, “Okay, but I didn’t draw it.”
It was a hand-drawn 49 of me, teeth blackened and the words “I’m stupid” coming out of my mouth.
I managed to fold it up calmly. My mind, 50 , was working angrily as I struggled not to 51 . I figured I knew the two most likely candidates for drawing the picture. It would do them some 52 to teach them a lesson, and maybe it was high time that I did it!
Thankfully, I was able to keep myself 53 .
When there were about six minutes remaining, I showed the class the picture. They were all silent as I told them how 54 this was for me. I told them there must be a reason behind and now was their 55 to write down anything they needed to tell me. Then I let them write silently 56 I sniffed in the back of the classroom.
As I 57 the notes later, many of them said something like, “I’ve got nothing against you.” or “I’m sorry you were hurt.” Some kids said, “We’re afraid of you.” But two notes, from the girls who I 58 were behind the picture, had a list of issues. I was too 59 , too strict …
Reading those notes, I realized that over the course of this year, instead of 60 my student, I had begun commanding them to 61 . Where I thought I was driving them to success I was 62 driving them away.
I had some apology to do. But the next day I the classroom, one boy and one girl each handed me a card. The one 63 by all the boys expressed sincere regret for the ugly joke. The one from the girls asked for 64 .
This was a lesson for both the kids and me. Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the 65 .
1. A. note B. advice C. reason D. help
2.A. battle B. competition C. argument D. conversation
3. A. took B. passed C. turned D. handed
4.A. statue B. graph C. picture D. poster
5. A. otherwise B. however C. therefore D. besides
6.A. leave B. cry C. explain D. argue
7. A. good B. harm C. favor D. punishment
8. A. amused B. controlled C. uninterested D. relaxed
9. A. meaningful B. forgetful C. regretful D. hurtful
10.A. turn B. chance C. honour D. attempt
11.A. when B. before C. after D. while
12.A. wrote B. finished C. read D. collected
13.A. figured B. promised C. concluded D. confirmed
14.. A. talkative B. mean C. secure D. terrible
15.A. forcing B. encouraging C. comforting D. teaching
16.. A. appreciate B. apologize C. master D. achieve
17. A. actually B. normally C. immediately D. generally
18.A. decorated B. offered C. signed D. bought
19. A. thankfulness B. forgiveness C. communication D. happiness
20. A. friendship B. education C. knowledge D. future
— How did you find the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?
— ________. I can’t think too highly of it.
A. It makes no sense B. It’s really amazing
C. It’s awful D. It’s up to you
Would it be ________ for you to pick me up at four o’clock and take me to the airport?
A. confident B. constant C. delighted D. convenient
