You may know that more people drink coffee than tea around the world. And that, after oil,
it is the second biggest traded commodity(商品). You may also know that the drink comes from beans which are first roasted and then ground. But what else do you know about this popular drink?
It is said that the story of coffee started with an Ethiopian goatherd(牧羊人)named Kaldi. One day Kaldi was surprised to see that his goats were behaving very strangely: instead of grazing quietly as normal, they were jumping around, almost dancing. He also noticed that the goats were eating red cherries from a plant. He tried some himself and was surprised by the feeling of extreme happiness and excitement — he felt like dancing, too!
But it wasn’t used as a drink at first, but as food. The coffee berries, mixed with animal fat, were used by monks to stay awake during long hours of prayer. From Ethiopia coffee was later cultivated(种植)in Yemen, and the first hot drink was developed there around 1000 A.D. Three centuries later Muslims were keen coffee drinkers and as Islam spread, so did coffee. Coffee houses appeared in Cairo and Mecca.
For hundreds of years the plants were guarded safely. But some beans were smuggled(偷运)out of Arabia and taken to India. In the 17th century coffee was soon growing on a new continent. From India to Indonesia and then a century later beans were smuggled once again to Brazil — which is now the largest coffee producer in the world.
It is the caffeine, an addictive stimulant(刺激性的)drug, which made the goats dance and kept the monks awake. Although it is found in other drinks, including tea, coffee has the most caffeine. 150 milligrams is the minimum dose needed to stimulate the nervous system and this can be found in a single strong cup of coffee. In the short term a couple of cups can prevent fatigue(疲劳)and delay sleep. But several cups a day, every day, can cause anxiety and restlessness.
6.The red cherries that the goats ate made them _______.
A、 sick
B、 sleepy
C、 excited
D、 tired
7.Coffee as a hot drink first appeared in ________.
A、Ethiopia
B、Yemen
C、Brazil
D、India
8.Coffee as a hot drink was probably spread around the __________.
A、11th century
B、14th century
C、17th century
D、18th century
9.In what order of continents was coffee first discovered and then spread?
A、 South America — Asia — Africa.
B、 Asia — South America — Africa.
C、 Africa — Asia — South America.
D、 Africa — South America — Asia.
10.Several cups of coffee a day can make a person ______.
A、become over-active
B、behave strangely
C、feel anxious
D、stay awake