Chances are you’ve enjoyed a cup of coffee from Starbucks. Since the opening of the first Starbucks in 1971 as a vendor of high-quality coffee beans and brewing equipment, the company has expanded to become the most popular coffeehouse chain in the world. Its 14,000 stores in 43 countries sell coffee beverages, beans, teas, brewing equipment, pastries, and more. How did this happen?
Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz took over the company in 1987. He recognized an untapped market in busy individuals in urban areas who could afford fine coffees. In 1995, Schultz hired Anna Niess and Will Chassaing to redesign his booming chain. In addition to laying the groundwork for Starbucks’ well-known symbols and distinctive style, they created a program that led to opening one store per day throughout the 1990s.
One thing that makes Starbucks so popular is the company’s vision of their stores as a “third place” to spend time in addition to work and home. It’s a cozy environment that serves as a meeting place. This attracts a loyal following of customers that come not only to drink coffee, but to relax, work, socialize, and attend cultural events.
Schultz still sees a great deal of potential for his company. Starbucks plans to have 40,000 stores worldwide with 20,000 in the US and Canada. The company is now a household name around the world.
Howard Schultz is the perfect example of a person living the American dream. After growing up in public housing, he received a football scholarship to Northern Michigan University. This allowed him to become the first in his family to graduate from college in 1975.
Schultz first experienced Starbucks as a salesman for Swedish drip coffeemakers on a trip to visit the Seattle company that had been buying his products. A year later, he joined the company. Conflict arose when Schultz recommended Starbucks sell brewed coffee in addition to beans and equipment. The owners disagreed, and in 1985, Schultz went on to start his own coffee shop, II Giornale. In 1987, the original Starbucks owners sold their company to Schultz, and refocused their attention on selling coffee beans and teas.
Schultz promoted an aggressive expansion of Starbucks throughout the US and Canada. When Starbucks began selling stock shares in 1992, he had already grown the chain to 165 stores. Throughout the expansion of Starbucks, Schultz has held strong principles of social responsibility. Starbucks takes good care of its employees with health insurance, stock options (认股权), and stable hours. In fact, under Schultz, Starbucks has been consistently ranked one of the best places to work in the US and UK.
Commitments to environmentalism, fair pay for coffee bean growers, and a positive contribution to society contribute to Schultz’s reputation as a truly ethical (道德的) businessman. That means with Schultz in charge of Starbucks, you can enjoy your coffee with a clear conscience.
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
Starbucks sells coffee beverages, beans, teas, brewing equipment, pastries and more.
The original Starbucks owners focused their attention on selling coffee beans and brewing equipment until 1987.
Starbucks has been the best place to work in the US and UK.
It was Anna Niess and Will Chassaing who redesigned Starbucks’s well- known symbols and style.
1.What makes Starbucks so popular?
A.Starbucks’ care for its employees.
B.Starbucks’ Chairman Howard Schultz.
C.Starbucks’ expansion around the world
D.Starbucks’ cozy environment
2.Which of the following is the correct order of the events?
a．Schultz started his own coffee shop.
b. Schultz recommended Starbucks sell brewed coffee.
c. Schultz bought Starbucks.
d. Schultz grew the chain to 165 stores.
A. b, c, a, d B. b, a, c, d C. b, c, d, a D. b, a, d, c
3.What helps Schultz to earn a reputation as a truly ethical businessman?
A.His being the first to graduate in his family.
B.The fast expansion of Starbucks.
C.His strong principles of social responsibility.
D.His being the perfect example of a person living the American dream.
The Growing Credit Crisis Forces Many Companies to Seek Government Help
On September fifteenth, Lehman Brothers, a one hundred fifty-eight year-old investment bank, sought legal protection from its creditors. It had failed to find a buyer after months of searching. With over six hundred billion dollars in debt, Lehman’s failure was the largest bankruptcv in United States history At the same time，the nation’s biggest insurance company，American International Group, had gotten into trouble selling credit default swaps These are contracts Similar to insurance that protect the holder against credit risk.
Credit rating agencies downgraded A.I.G because of concerns it could not honor its contracts. Unable to get new loans, A.I.G asked for government help The Federal Reserve agreed to loan A .I.G. eighty-five billion dollars in return for eighty percent of the company but it was not enough. By November, the government had extended a total of about one hundred fiftv billion doliars in aid to A .I.G—the most to any single company during the crisis.
As banks refused to lend, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposed a plan to loosen credit markets by buylng risky assets. Congress approved the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of Two. Thousand eight on October third The bill provided seven hundred billion dollars to buy hard to-value securltles from banks. But within weeks, the government changed plans. The Treasury moved to invest two handred fifty billion dollars directly in banks to help them lend money again.
Lack of credit not only hurt banks but manufacturers, too. Falling car sales threatened America’s carmakers The big three automakers—General Motors, Ford and Chrysler—told Congress that they needed loans or they faced bankmptcy. In December, President Bush offered G.M and Chrysler over seventeen billion dollars in loans.
As the year ended, the Federal Reserve tried to support economic growth by lowering its main interest rate to nearly zero for the first time. But there was one more bad surprise New York money manager Bernard Madoff admitted he had cheated investors out of fifty billion dollars. The news only added to the sense that two thousand eight was the worst economic year since the nineteen thirties. Which of the following is NOT the problem in the passage Lehman Brothers was faced with?
| A．lt is an Investment bank with more than one and a half centuries history. |
| B．It didn’t find a buyer after months of searching. |
| C．It has over six hundred billion dollars in debt. |
| D．Its failure was the largest bankruptcy in United States history. |
The reason why A.I.G turned to the U.S government for help was that .
A. A.I.G would give eighty percent of the company in return for the loan
B. A.I.G couldn’t get new loans from credit rating agencies
C. the government extended a total of about one hundred fifty billion dollars in aid to A.I.G
D. the Federal Reserve agreed to loan A.I G eighty-five billion dollarsAccording to the passage, which of the following is probably NOT suffering from the lack of_______ .
| A．Banks． | B．Manufacturers | C．Carmakers | D．Barbers |
The last sentence of this passage indicates that the author’s attitude towards the U.S economy in 2008 is
| A．pessimistic | B．optimistic | C．objective | D．subjective |
A simple piece of clothesline hangs between some environmentally friendly Americans and their neighbors.
On one side stand those who see clothes dryers(干衣机) as a waste of energy and a major polluter of the environment. As a result, they are turning to clotheslines as part of the “what-I –can do environmentalism(环境保护主义).”
On the other side are people who are against drying clothes outside, arguing that clotheslines are unpleasant to look at. They have persuaded Homeowners Associations (HOAs) access the U.S. to ban outdoor clotheslines, because clothesline drying also tends to lower home value in the neighborhood. This had led to a Right-to-Dry Movement that is calling for laws to be passed to protect people’s right to use clotheslines.
So far, only three states have laws to protect clothesline. Right-to-Dry supporters argue that there should be move.
Matt Reck, 37, is the kind of eco-conscious(有生态意识的) person who feeds his trees with bathwater and reuses water drops from his air conditioners to water plants. His family also uses a clothesline. But on July 9, 2007, the HOA in Wake Forest, North Carolina, told him that a dissatisfied neighlzir had telephoned them about him clothesline. The Recks paid no attention to the warming and still dried their clothes on a line in the yard. “Many people say they are environmentally friendly but they don’t take matters in their own hands,” says Reck. The local HOA has decided not to take any action, unless more neighbors come to them.
North Carolina lawmakers are saying that banning clotheslines is not the right thing to do. But HOAs and housing businesses believe that clothesline drying reminds people of poor neighborhoods. They worry that if buyers think their future neighbors can’t even afford dryers, housing prices will fall.
Environmentalists say such worries are not necessary, and in view of global warming, that idea needs to change. As they say, “The clothesline is beautiful”. Hanging clothes outside should be encouraged. We all have to do at least something to slow down the process of global warming.”One of the reasons why supporters of clothes dryers are trying to ban clothesline drying is that ____.
| A．clothes dryers are more efficient | B．clothesline drying reduces home value |
| C．clothes dryers are energy-saving | D．clothesline drying is not allowed in most U.S. states |
Which of the following best describes Matt Reck?
| A．He is a kind-hearted man. | B．He is an impolite man. |
| C．He is and experienced gardener. | D．He is a man of social responsibility. |
Who are in favor of clothesline drying?
| A．housing businesses. | B．Environmentalists. |
| C．Homeowners Associations. | D．Reck’s dissatisfied neighbors. |
What is mainly discussed in the text?
| A．Clothesline drying: a way to save energy and money. |
| B．Clothesline drying: a lost art rediscovered. |
| C．Opposite opinions on clothesline drying. |
| D．Different varieties of clotheslines. |
For a while, my neighborhood was taken ever by an army of joggers(慢跑者). They were there all the time: early morning, noon, and evening. There were little old ladies in gray sweats, young couples in Adidas shoes, middle-aged men with red faces. "Come on!" My friend Alex encouraged me to join him as he jogged by my house every evening. "You'll feel great."
Well, I had nothing against feeling great and if Alex could jog every day, anyone could. So I took up jogging seriously and gave it a good two months of my life, and not a day more. Based on my experience, jogging is the most overvalued form of exercise around, and judging from the number of the people who left our neighborhood jogging army. I'm not alone in my opinion.
First of all, jogging is very hard on the body. Your legs and feet a real pounding（追击）ruining down a road for two or three miles. I developed foot, leg, and back problems. Then I read about a nationally famous jogger who died of a heart attack while jogging, and I had something else to worry about. Jogging doesn't kill hundreds of people, but if you have any physical weaknesses, jogging will surely bring them out, as they did with me.
Secondly, I got no enjoyment out of jogging. Putting one foot in front of the other for forty-five minutes isn't my idea of fun. Jogging is also a lonely pastime. Some joggers say, "I love being out there with just my thoughts" Well, my thoughts began to bore me, and most of them were on how much my legs hurt.
And how could I enjoy something that brought me pain? And that wasn't just the first week: it was practically every day for two months. I never got past the pain level, and pain isn't fun. What a cruel way to do it! So many other exercises, including walking, lead to almost the same results painlessly, so why jog?
I don't jog any more, and I don't think I ever will. I'm walking two miles three times a week at a fast pace, and that feels good. I bicycle to work when the weather is good. I'm getting exercise, and I'm enjoying it at the same time. I could never say the same for jogging, and I've found a lot of better ways to stay in shape.
| 1． |
From the first paragraph, we learn that in the writer's neighborhood.
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| 2． |
The underlined word "them"(Paragraph 3) most probably refers to.
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| 3． |
What was the writer's attitude towards jogging in the beginning?.
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| 4． |
Why did the writer give up jogging two months later?.
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| 5． |
From the writer's experience, we can conclude that.
|
A Brown University sleep researcher has some advice for people who run high schools: Don't start classes so early in the morning. It may not be that the students who nod off at their desks are lazy. And it may not be that their parents have failed to enforce (确保) bedtime. Instead, it may be that biologically these sleepyhead students aren't used to the early hour.
"Maybe these kids are being asked to rise at the wrong time for their bodies," says Mary Carskadon, a professor looking at problem of adolescent (青春期的) sleep at Brown's School of Medicine.
Carskadon is trying to understand more about the effects of early school time in adolescents. And, at a more basic level. she and her team are trying to learn more about how the biological changes of adolescence affect sleep needs and patterns.
Carskadon says her work suggests that adolescents may need more sleep than they did at childhood, no less, as commonly thought.
Sleep patterns change during adolescence, as any parent of an adolescent can prove. Most adolescents prefer to stay up later at nigh and sleep later in the morning. But it's not just a matter of choice -their bodies are going through a change of sleep patters.
All of this makes the transfer from middle school to high school-which may start one hour earlier in the morning ---- all the more difficult , Carskadon says. With their increased need for sleep and their biological clocks set on the "sleep late, rise late" pattern, adolescent are up against difficulties when it conics to trying to be up by 5 or 6 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. first hell. A short sleep on a desktop may be their body's way of saying. "I need a timeout."
| 1． |
Carskadon suggests that high schools should not start classes so early in the morning because.
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| 2． |
The underlined phrase "nod off" most probably means "".
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| 3． |
What might be a reason for the hard transfer from middle school to high school?
|
| 4． |
What is the test mainly about?
|
Below is a discussion on a website.
| http://www.TalkingPoints.com/ |
|
| Stuck on a desert island? |
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| Started on 23rd April by Steve Posts 1 – 7 of 42 |
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| Post 1 Steve USA |
Hi, everyone. What would you miss most and least if you were stuck on a desert island? For me, it would be the changing seasons in New England. I guess this will sound stupid but I’d probably miss the rain, too. I wouldn’t miss getting up at six every day to go to work, though! What about you? |
| Post 2 Tomas Germany |
Good question. Steve, I think I’d miss different types of bread, and shopping at the supermarket. I’d miss the food most. What would I miss least? My mobile phone---I’d like to be completely quiet --- at least for a little while |
| Post 3 Paola Italy |
I would miss the company of people because I know I’d like to have someone to share experiences with. I’d go mad on my own. And I sure wouldn’t miss junk mail(垃圾邮件) --- I hate coming home every evening and a pile of junk mail in my post box. |
| Post 4 Miko Japan |
Hi, I would miss Manga cartoon, the internet and Japanese food, like sushi. I’d also miss TV shows and shopping for clothes… In fact, I’d miss everything. |
| Post 5 Roger UK |
I would miss my daily newspaper and listening to the news on TV and radio. I’d feel very cut off if I didn’t know what was happening in the world. What I’d miss least would be traffic jams in the city, particularly my journey to work. |
| Post 6 Jayne |
Why hasn’t anyone mentioned their family? I’d be lost without my husband and two kids. They’re the most important for me. And I can’t get started in the morning without a cup of black coffee. I wouldn’t miss doing the housework! |
| Post 7 Jaime Mexico |
It would have to be music. I couldn’t live without my music. I wouldn’t miss going to school at all or doing homework! |
Who would miss his or her family most?
| A．Jaime | B．Jayne | C．Miko | D．Paola. |
Which of the following people would feel most uncomfortable without the news media?
| A．Steve. | B．Jaime | C．Roger. | D．Tomas |
How many of them mentioned that they would miss food or drink?
| A．One | B．Two | C．Three | D．Four |
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