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听力原文: If you are in any major city in America, the chances are high that you are not far from a Starbucks. In fact, you might be very close to several of these coffee stores. The company started in the West Coast city of Seattle, Washington, in 1971. Starbucks was named after a character in the famous American novel 'Moby-Dick' by Herman Melville. Today, there are more than twelve thousand Starbucks around the world.
Sales last year were almost eight billion dollars. The company believes in opening many stores in busy areas of cities. For example, there are about thirty Starbucks stores in downtown Seattle. Recently, three Starbucks opened in the area near VOA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Starbucks sells more than just plain coffee. It started a whole coffee culture with its own special language and coffee workers called baristas. It sells many kinds of hot and cold coffee drinks, like White Chocolate Mocha and Frappuccino. It also sells music albums, coffee makers, food, and even books. But most of all, it sells the idea of being a warm and friendly place for people to sit, read or talk.
Starbucks is a great success story. Buyers are willing to pay as much as five dollars for a coffee drink. People we talked to said they go to Starbucks because they can depend on it to have exactly what they want and to be nearby.
However, some people do not like the company's aggressive expansion. A small coffee seller is taking the company to court. She says the way the company does business is illegal because it stops property owners from leasing stores to other coffee companies. She sees Starbucks as controlling the market and forcing out competition.
Nicolas O'Connell works for La Colombe, a coffee roasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He says Starbucks has helped to educate people about coffee from many countries. But he criticizes the company for using machines more than people to make the coffee. Mr. O'Connell points out that the coffee culture is all about a hand-made product and interaction between people.
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
33. Where did Starbucks, the store name come from?
34. What is Starbucks' most extraordinary character?
35. Why does Mr. O'Connell not like Starbucks?
(30)
A.A special symbol in life.
B.A theatrical role in a play.
C.A great character in history.
D.An imaginary person in a fiction.

A.
B.C.
Starbucks
C.
D.
E.
F.
Questions
G.
33.
H.A
I.
B.A
J.
C.A
K.
D.An
L.


【参考答案】

D
解析:短文开头提到,Starbucks was named after a character in the......

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根据所给材料,回答51~55题。技术为自身的生存和发展而战,并且有着独特的生命周期。我们可以将其划分为以下几个阶段:首先是先驱阶段。技术的先决条件已经存在,梦想家们可能会考虑把这些元素放在一起。然而即便这些梦想此时已经记录在案,人们也不会将其视为发明创造,比如达•芬奇曾经绘 制过很多有说服力的飞机和汽车图画,但人们并不认为他是在发明创造。其次是发明阶段。这一阶段在人类文化当中相当有名。此一阶段时间比较短,从某些方面来看,这就像___________________________。在这个阶段当中,发明家们把科学技术、好奇心与决心结合起来,通常再加上一定的表演技巧,将各种方法以新的方式结合在一起,给生活带来一种全新的技术。第三个阶段是发展阶段。新发明会得到那些溺爱它们的监护者(也许还包括最初的发明者)的保护和支持。通常这一阶段比发明阶段要重要,可能还包括额外的创造,这些额外创造比那个独创性发明更重要。当年,许多工匠已经手工制作了非常精美的老式汽车,但使汽车产业得以生根发芽、枝繁叶茂的,却是美国企业家亨利•福特推出的大批量生产的创新做法。第四个阶段是成熟期。技术在不断进步,现在已经有了自己的生命,也终于成为社会当中独立稳定的部分,也许已经深入人类生活的方方面面。因此许多观察家认为,技术将永存于世。在下一个阶段(可称为“挑战者时期”)到来时,这种状态会发生有趣的变化。技术界的“新贵”威胁着要排挤那些老技术,其追随者过早宣布了胜利的消息。但是尽管新技术能带来一些独特的益处,仔细思考之后人们却发现,这些新技术在功能和质量方面存在着关键元素缺失的问题。当人们发现这些新技术确实无法改变既有秩序之后,技术的保守派便以此为依据,证明以前的技术方法确实可以永存。对逐渐老化的技术来说,这通常只是一个短暂的胜利。另一种新技术很快就会出现,它总能成功地将原有技术逼到过时的舞台上,在生命周期的这个部分,技术在逐渐衰败的状态当中度过了晚年,它的最初目的和功能现在都被一个更活泼的竞争对手比下去了。这一阶段约占技术整个生命周期的5%至10%。最终,技术成为“老古董”,就像马赫轻便马车、拨弦键琴、机电式计算器一样,不得不黯然离场。51、填入文中画横线部分最恰当的一句是( )