2011年英语四级考试模拟练习题及答案（二）3

　　Coffee

　　The story of modern coffee starts in the Arabian Peninsula, where roasted beans were first brewed around A.D. 1000. Sometime around the 15th century, coffee spread throughout the Arab world.

　　"In the Arab world, coffee rose as an alternative to alcohol, and coffeehouses as alternatives to taverns(酒馆)—both of which are banned by Islam," Standage said.

　　When coffee arrived in Europe it was similarly hailed as an "anti-alcohol" that was quite welcome during the Age of Reason in the 18th century.

　　"Just at the point when the Enlightenment is getting going, here’s a drink that sharpens the mind," Standage said. "The coffeehouse is the perfect venue(聚会地点)to get together and exchange ideas and information. The French Revolution started in a coffeehouse."

　　Coffee also fuelled commerce and had strong links to the rituals of business that remain to the present day. Lloyds of London and the London Stock Exchange were both originally coffeehouses.

　　Tea

　　Tea became a daily drink in China around the third century A.D.

　　Standage says tea played a leading role in the expansion of imperial and industrial might in Great Britain many centuries later. During the 19th century, the East India Company enjoyed a monopoly on tea exports from China.

　　"Englishmen around the world could drink tea, whether they were a colonial administrator in India or a London businessman," Standage said. "The sun never set on the British Empire—which meant that it was always teatime somewhere."

　　As the Industrial Revolution of 18th and 19th centuries gained steam, tea provided some of the fuel. Factory workers stayed alert during long, monotonous shifts thanks to welcome tea breaks.

　　The beverage also had unintended health benefits for rapidly growing urban areas. "When you start packing people together in cities it’s helpful to have a water-purification technology like tea," which was brewed with boiling water, Standage explained.

　　Coca-cola

　　In 1886 pharmacist John Stith Pemberton sold about nine Coca-colas a day.

　　Today his soft drink is one of the world’s most valuable brands-sold in more countries than the United Nations has members.

　　"It may be the second most widely understood phrase in the world after ’OK’," Standage said.

　　The drink has become a symbol of the United States—love it or hate it. Standage notes that East Germans quickly reached for Cokes when the Berlin Wall fell, while Thai Muslims poured it out into the streets to show disdain for the U.S. in the days leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

　　"Coca-cola encapsulates what happened in the 20th century: the rise of consumer capitalism and the emergence of America as a superpower," Standage said. "It’s globalization in a bottle."

　　While Coke may not always produce a smile, a survey by the Economist magazine (Standage’s employer), suggests that the soft drink’s presence is a great indicator of happy citizens. When countries were polled for happiness, as defined by a United Nations index, high scores correlated with sales of Coca-Cola.

　　"It’s not because [Coke] makes people happy, but because [its] sales happen in the dynamic free-market economies that tend to produce happy people," Standage said.

　　1. The passage gives a brief description of the content of a new book, A History of the World in 6 Glasses.

　　2. The ancient Sumerians began fermenting beer from barley at least 6,000 years ago.

　　3. Today beer is the drink of the working man, which was not the case before.

　　4. Greeks probably sampled the first "wine" as the juice of naturally fermented wild grapes.

　　5. The caveats and the expense of producing wine helped it quickly gain more cachet than beer.

　　6. Standage suggests that tea may have been more responsible than rum for the independence movement in Britain’s American colonies.

　　7. Coffee is the best drink according to Standage.

　　8. Sometime around the 15th century coffee spread throughout ________.

　　9. During the 19th century, the monopoly on tea exports from China is ________.

　　10. Coca-Cola has become a symbol of ________.