Community over a cup of coffee

江西龍南中學 高 云

體裁 篇幅 建議用時說明文294 6分鐘

“Would you like a cup of coffee?”You can feel the warmth at the question.It is a friendly question with a meaning:You are welcome here.At a small coffee shop in Georgia,you can hear that welcoming question.The waiters at the coffee shop know what it feels like to hear a friendly sentence.So do their refugee customers.

“We don't treat them like customers coming to buy a cup of coffee,”said Ahmad Alzoukani,a waiter,a refugee from Syria. “We just think ‘oh,this is my brother;this is my sister...'So I treat them as my family members.”

Founder Kitti Murray wanted to create a safe space for people to get to know their refugee neighbors. “We want to connect with people.We want refugees to get to know Americans who live around them.We want Americans who don't know a thing about refugees to get to know them,”Murray said.

Kitti and her husband, Bill, moved to Clarkston in 2013.To help create job opportunities for refugees, the Murrays converted a truck into a mobile coffee shop.Their first plan was a coffee place operated by refugees for refugees.

“What we get to do is tell the rest of the world a more beautiful and more real refugee story,”Murray said. “You get to show people that refugees are helpful to the community.They are not scary,dangerous people as people often think.”

Refugee Coffee runs a one-year full-time training program for refugees. “So it is not just like a job,it is like home,”Alzoukani said.“It is like a mother who provides you with help.I am so thankful for this coffee shop.”

閱讀檢測

1.What can we know from Ahmad Alzoukani's words?

A.All waiters are required to be friends.

B.The business of the shop is very good.

C.The shop is only intended for refugees.

D.Refugees are treated kindly at the shop.

2. How can refugee workers benefit from Refugee Coffee?

A.They are offered free coffee.

B.They are given safe shelter.

C.They are given job training.

D.They are taught life lessons.

3.What is Kitti Murray trying to talk about in the third paragraph?

A.The ways to run the coffee shop.

B.The purposes of the coffee shop.

C.The development of the coffee shop.

D.The importance of the coffee shop.

4.What does Kitti Murray think of refugees?

A.They can make a difference.

B.They are poor and dirty.

C.They are scary and dangerous.

D.They are hardworking and brave.

語言學習

難句分析

We want Americans who don't know a thing about refugees to get to know them.我們希望對難民一竅不通的美國人了解他們。

該句為主從復合句，句中who 引導定語從句修飾Americans。

背景知識

美國的咖啡館

美國第一家咖啡館是1691 年在波士頓開業的倫敦咖啡館（London Coffee House）。后來世界上最大的咖啡專賣店也誕生在波士頓，它成立于1808 年，不幸的是10 年之后毀于一場大火。

如今的美國咖啡館有其獨特的形式和氛圍，像美國流行的快餐文化一樣，美國的咖啡館大多也體現了一種美國社會的快節奏的生活方式。