阅读试题

Sarr Elyse took a sip from a plastic cup. Like a practised wine taster, she swilled the dark liquid aroundin her mouth then swallowed.

"I love Coca-Cola and this is not Coca-Cola," she said with a slight grimace(鬼脸).

It certainly wasn't and that's the point of Mecca-Cola-a soft drink named after Islam's holiest land and created to protest against US foreign policy in the Middle East. Senegal is one of the first sub-Saharan African countries to put Mecca-Cola on the market,and it's an obvious choice. The population is 95 percent Muslim and opposition to the war in Iraq has been more vocal here than elsewhere in the region.

Thousands took to the streets to protest against the fighting in Iraq and now Mecca-Cola, which has sales of about five million bottles in Europe. will gives thirsty Senegalese a thought-provoking, alternative thirst reliever to the US brand.

"Being a Muslim, I was attracted by the name Mecca-Cola," said Hassane Brahim Fardoun, the businessman behind the drink's distribution in Senegal."I will do my best to penetrate the Senegalese market with this new product."

The drink's launch coincided with increasing popular opposition to US foreign policy and the first six-packs of Mecca-Cola were delivered to two shops in Senegal's capital Dakar the same week US troops stormed Baghdad. More will follow if it sells well.

He says the advertising campaign has not yet started because posters have not arrived from France, but he has high hopes for word of mouth marketing.

Elyse is one of the first to taste the new drink at a tiny shop in the city centre. Unfortunately for Fardoun, she is Catholic, and a little reserved about whole-heartedly backing the political viewpoints behind Mecca-Cola's existence.

Mecca-Cola has already found fans in Africa, as well as in Europe. The cola with a crusade (改革运动)is the brainchild of French businessman Tawfik Mathlouthi, who launched the drink last November in France as a protest against US foreign policy.

Mecca-Cola is not unique. There is a wide range of similar ideological drinks, like Muslim Up or British-based Qibla-Cola, whose website cries "Liberate your taste". Ironically, the drink that typifies the American way of life was flavoured originally with cola nuts, widely prized in West Africa as a stimulus and a dowry gift at weddings.

参考译文

San Elyse从塑料杯中吸了一口。她像个有经验的品酒师一样把这种深色的液体含在嘴中涮了一圈，然后吞下去。

“我喜欢可口可乐，而这并不是可口可乐，”她做了个鬼脸说。

它当然不是可口可乐，而这正是麦加可乐的特点。麦加可乐是一种软饮料，以伊斯兰最神圣的圣地命名。[l]生产这种饮料的目的是反对美国在中东的对外政策。[2]塞内加尔是撒哈拉以南把麦加可乐推向市场的第一个非洲国家，而且，这是个显而易见的选择。该国人口中95%是穆斯林，[2]在这里，对伊拉克战争的反对情绪比该地区的任何其他国家都强烈。

过去，成千上万的人走向街头抗议伊拉克战争，而现在，麦加可乐为口渴的塞内加尔人提供了一种可以替代那个美国品牌又能让人有所思考的解渴饮料。在欧洲，麦加可乐已经销售了约500万瓶。

“作为穆斯林，我被麦加可乐这个名字吸引了，”Hassane Brahim Fardoun说。他正是负责麦加可乐在塞内加尔销售的分销商。[3]“我会竭尽全力使这种新产品渗透到整个塞内加尔市场。”

这种饮料投放市场正值人们对美国的对外政策日益不满之际，[4]首批六箱麦加可乐是于美军攻下巴格达的同一个星期送达塞内加尔的首都达喀尔的两个商店的。如果它们销售得好，更多的产品将随后送来。

他说,因为海报招贴画还没有从法国运到，所以广告推广活动还没有展开。不过他对口碑促销抱很大的希望。

Elyse是在市中心的一家小商店试饮这种饮料的第一批客户之一。对Fardoun来说，很不幸，她信奉天主教，麦加可乐代表着要全心支持它隐含的政治观点，而Elyse对此却持一丝保留态度。

麦加可乐在欧洲和非洲都已经拥有主持者。这种带有政治色彩的饮料是法国商人Tawfik Mathlouthi想出来的产品。去年11月他在法国推出了这种饮料用来反对美国的对外政策。

麦加可乐并不是绝无仅有的。带相似意识形态色彩的饮料有很多，比如Muslim Up（模仿Seven Up“七喜”饮料）和英国生产的Qibla-Cola，它在自己的网页上呼吁“解放你的口味”。具有讽刺意味的是，作为美国生活方式代表的饮料最初是用可乐果来调味的，[5]而可乐果作为一种提神剂和婚礼上用作嫁妆的礼物，在西非一直以来就广受欢迎。

测试题

1.Mecca-Cola named after Islam's holiest land was produced in order to___________________________.

2.Senegal first put Mecca-Cola on the market because there were_______________to the war in Iraq.

3.As a Muslim, Hassane Brahim Fardoun said he would try his best to______________with the newsoft drink.

4.When were the first six-packs of Mecca-Cola sent to Dakar?

5.Cola nuts were very popular in West Africa of being a gift at weddings as well as______________.

答案详解

1.[protest against US foreign policy in the Middle East]

[定位]根据题干中的Mecca-Cola和Islam's holiest land查找到文章第3段首句。

解析：本题询问生产麦加可乐的目的。原文中的created对应题干中的produced，created后的不定式to...表目的，to后的内容即为答案。

2.[more vocal opposition]

[定位]根据题干中的Senegal和the war in Iraq查找到第3段最后两句。

解析：空白处应该填入名词（词组），题干是对笫3段最后两句的近义改写，对末句中and后的内容稍加概括即为本题答案。

3.[penetrate the Senegalese market]

[定位]根据题干中的Muslim,Hassane Brahim Fardoun以及try his best查找到第5段。

解析：题干中的try his best是对原文直接引语中的do my best的同义改写，the new soft drink也指代原文中的this new product，所以原文中do my best to后的penetrate the Senegalese market即为本题答案。

4.[The same week US troops stormed Bagh dad.]

[定位]根据the first six-packs of Mecca-Cola和Dakar查找到第6段首句。

解析：题干中的sent是对原文中的delivered的同义改写，所以Dakar后面的时间状语即为答案。

5.[a stimulus]

[定位]根据Cola nuts，West Africa以及gift at weddings查找到文章末句。

解析：空白处应该填人名词（词组），very popular为原文中widely prized的同义改写，as well as又对应原文中的and，故as后面的a stimulus为答案。