Community over a cup of coffee

江西龙南中学 高 云

体裁 篇幅 建议用时说明文294 6分钟

“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.”

阅读检测

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.

语言学习

难句分析

We want Americans who don't know a thing about refugees to get to know them.我们希望对难民一窍不通的美国人了解他们。

该句为主从复合句，句中who 引导定语从句修饰Americans。

背景知识

美国的咖啡馆

美国第一家咖啡馆是1691 年在波士顿开业的伦敦咖啡馆（London Coffee House）。后来世界上最大的咖啡专卖店也诞生在波士顿，它成立于1808 年，不幸的是10 年之后毁于一场大火。

如今的美国咖啡馆有其独特的形式和氛围，像美国流行的快餐文化一样，美国的咖啡馆大多也体现了一种美国社会的快节奏的生活方式。