Ho Chi Minh City is a metropolis where life is very busy and in a hurry. The best way to enjoy the balance in your mind in such a busy city is to sit on the balcony of one of the numerous coffee houses scattered throughout the city. In this way you will be out of the crowd but able to look down on the street below. You will also be drinking the beverage that must be at least partly responsible for the kinetic energy that has transformed this city into one of the busiest commercial centres of Southeast Asia in just 20 years - it is coffee.
The classic Vietnamese coffee served in this city comprises strong coffee, dripped from a small metal filter into a cup containing a quarter as much sweetened condensed milk, then stirred and poured over ice in a glass.
Coffee was introduced to Vietnam by the French in the late 19th century, but the country quickly became a big exporter.
At Trung Nguyen Coffee - the Vietnamese equivalent of Starbucks, with a chain of cafés across the city - the coffee menu stretches to five pages. The varieties of Vietnamese coffee drinks produced by Trung Nguyen deserve exploration. They come with different bean combinations and recipes, and nice names such as “Success”, “Creation”, “Discover” and “Thought”. The “Passiona”, another brand of Trung Nguyen, has been promoted for women with the promise that drinking this type of coffee would maintain perfect skin and a life of “passion and success”.
1. Coffee is considered ____________.
A. the symbol of the busy and hurried life
B. part of the French culture
C. the biggest part of Vietnam’s exports
D. part of the kinetic energy of Ho Chi Minh City
2. All of the following are true about Trung Nguyen Coffee EXCEPT that__________
A. its recipes stretches to five pages
B. it is considered equivalent to Starbucks in Vietnam
C. It offers several types of coffee for customers to enjoy
D. some types have impressive names
3. When you sit on the balcony of a coffee shop enjoying a cup of coffee, you can _______.
A. drink Starbucks coffee
B. taste all types of the classic Vietnamese coffee
C. relax for a while
D. watch the busiest commercial centres of Southeast Asia
4. We can inferred from paragraph 2 that the classic Vietnamese coffee served in Ho Chi Minh City may be ____________.
A. colourless
B. often hot
C. sweet
D. light
5. The “Passiona” for women promises that by drinking this type of coffee women may have all of the following EXCEPT that ____________.
A. they will have perfect skin
B. they will keep their skin lively
C. they will become more interested in the life
D. they will be more successful in their life
