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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Cost from |
Options |
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2 Day Self Guided Road Tour Banks Peninsula |
2 |
$182 |
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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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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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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 Christmas 1961. I was teaching in a small town where my twenty-seven third graders eagerly 36 the great day of gift-giving in advance.
Each day the children produced some new 37 — strings of popcorn, handmade trinkets, and German bell. Through it all she remained alone, 38 from a distance, seemingly miles away. I wondered what 39 happen to this quiet child, once so happy, now suddenly so withdrawn. I hoped the festivities would 40 her. But nothing did. The students made the fried marbles（油炸玻璃弹子）and competed with one anther to bring the 41 ones.
The day of gift-giving finally came. We cheered over our handiwork as the presents were 42 . All along, she sat quietly watching. To see her smile, I had made a special bag for her. She opened it so slowly and carefully. I waited but she 43 . I had not passed through the wall of isolation she had 44 around herself.
After school I sat down in a chair, hardly 45 of what was happening, when she came to me with outstretched hands, bearing a small white box, and slightly soiled, 46 it had been held many times by 47 , childish hands. She said nothing. “For me?” I asked. She said not a word, but 48 her head. I took the box and cautiously opened it. There inside, glistening green, a fried marble 49 from a golden chain. Then I looked into that eight-year-old 50 and saw the question in her dark brown eyes. In a flash I knew — she had 51 it for her mother, who had died just three weeks before and would never hold her or brush her hair or 52 her childish joys or sorrows.
I meant it when I whispered, “Oh, Maria, it is so beautiful. Your mother would 53 it.” Neither of us could stop the 54 . She threw herself into my arms and we wept together. And for that brief moment I became her mother, for she had given me the greatest 55 of all: her trust and love.
1.A. prepared B. reserved C. expected D. waited
2.A. fancies B. impressions C. wonders D. possessions
3.A. looking B. playing C. searching D. watching
4.A. would B. should C. must D. needed
5.A. attend to B. appeal to C. listen to D. object to
6.A. prettiest B. wisest C. heaviest D. naughtiest
7.A. transformed B. informed C. exchanged D. deserted
8.A. gave away B. threw away C. carried away D. turned away
9.A. built B. adjusted C. offered D. filled
10.A. afraid B. aware C. content D. fond
11.A. when B. while C. as though D. even if
12.A. untouched B. unknown C. unwashed D. unpacked
13.A. nodded B. raised C. dropped D. turned
14.A. protected B. hung C. held D. escaped
15.A. face B. cheek C. hair D. forehead
16.A. bought B. exchanged C. made D. stole
17.A. appreciate B. enjoy C. communicate D. share
18.A. love B. benefit C. dislike D. need
19.A. laugh B. excitement C. tears D. description
20.A. joy B. identity C. contribution D. gift
— What is your new friend like?
— ________.
A. Handsome B. Practical C. Brilliant D. Outgoing
So difficult ________ it to live in an English-speaking country that I determined to learn English well.
A. did I feel B. I did feel C. have I felt D. I have felt
