The first Starbucks coffee shop opened in 1971 in downtown Seattle, Washington, in the United States. It was a small coffee shop that roasted its own coffee beans. The coffee shop’s business did well, and by 1981 there were three more Starbucks stores in Seattle.
Things really began to change for the company in 1981. That year, Howard Schultz met the three men who ran Starbucks. Schultz worked in New York for a company that made kitchen equipment. He noticed that Starbucks ordered a large number of special coffee makers, and he was curious about the company. Schultz went to Seattle to see what Starbucks did , and he liked what he saw. He wanted to become part of the company. In 1982, the original Starbucks owners hired Schultz as the company’s head of marketing.
In 1983, Schultz traveled to Italy. The unique atmosphere of the espresso(濃咖啡) bars there caught his eye. To Schultz it seemed that Italians spent their daily lives in three places: home, work , and coffee bars . His experience in Italy gave Schultz a new idea for Starbucks back in Seattle.
Schultz created an atmosphere for Starbucks coffee shops that was comfortable and casual, and customers everywhere seemed to like it. Between 1987 and 1992, Starbucks opened 150 new stores---and that was only the beginning. As a matter of fact, by the year 2000, three new Starbucks stores opened somewhere around the world every day!
Today, Starbucks has thousands of stores, including stores in twenty-six countries. One thing that helps make Starbucks succeed in cities outside the United Stateds is the way Starbucks works with local stores and restaurants. By working together with a store already in the city, Starbucks gains an understanding of customers in the city. This understanding helps Starbucks open stores in the right locations for their customers.
小題1:What is the main topic of the reading?
A．how Starbucks has grownB．Starbucks’ customers
C．what Starbucks makesD．how Starbucks makes its coffee
小題2:Which is true about Starbucks’ first ten years of business?
A．It grew very quicklyB．It was run by Howard Schultz
C．It was a small companyD．It made special coffee makers
小題3:Who is Howard Schultz?
A．a coffee seller from New YorkB．the man who changed the company
C．an Italian coffee makerD．one of the original owners of the company
小題4:About how many new Starbucks opened in 1999?
A．3B．150C．300D．more than 1000
小題5:What helps Starbucks succeed in places outside the United States?
A．opening restaurants in just a few locations each year.
B．only selling locally produced coffee beans
C．working with other major coffee-making companies
D．learning about local customers.
