托福听力荟萃 16

A lot of people in the United Statesare coffee drinkers. Over the last few years, a trend has been developing to introduce ______,specially¹ ______coffees, known as "_______coffees" into the American market.Boston seems to have been the _______ of this trend.……

 

 

【填空答案】

premium²:adj. of high quality 高级的，优质的

blended:adj. combined or mixed together so that the constituent³ parts are indistinguishable 混合的

gourmet⁴:n. ［C］someonewho knows a lot about food and wine and who enjoys good food and wine 美食家

birthplace:n. ［Cusually singular］theplace where someone was born, especially someone famous （尤指名人的）出生地；theplace where something first started to happen or exist 发源地，发祥地

【听力原文】

A lot of people in the United States arecoffee drinkers. Over the last few years, a trend has been developing tointroduce premium, specially blended coffees --- knows as "gourmetcoffees" --- into the American market.

Boston seems to have been the birthplace of this trend. In fact, major gourmetcoffee merchants from other cities like Seattle and San Francisco came toBoston, where today they're engaged in a kind of "coffee war" withBoston's merchants. They are all competing for a significant share of thegourmet coffee market.

Surprisingly, the competition among these leading gourmet coffee businesseswill not hurt any of them. Experts predict that the gourmet coffee market inthe United States is growing and will continue to grow, to the point thatgourmet coffee will soon capture half of what is now a 1.5-million-dollarmarket and will be an 8-million-dollar market by 1999.

Studies have shown that coffee drinkers who convert to gourmet coffee seldom goback to the regular brands found in supermarkets. As a result, these brandswill be the real losers in the gourmet coffee competition.

1 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

2 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

3 constituent   

n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的

参考例句：

• Sugar is the main constituent of candy.食糖是糖果的主要成分。
• Fibre is a natural constituent of a healthy diet.纤维是健康饮食的天然组成部分。

4 gourmet   

n.食物品尝家；adj.出于美食家之手的

参考例句：

• What does a gourmet writer do? 美食评论家做什么？
• A gourmet like him always eats in expensive restaurants.像他这样的美食家总是到豪华的餐馆用餐。