英語文化隨身帶
快樂學堂
作者：by Cathy Manson
“英語文化隨身帶”是一個英國電台節目，文章短小精悍，內容包羅萬象。將英語文化裝進口袋裏，利用閑散的時間隨身翻閱，英語學習者可以在潛移默化中了解當代英語世界的生活和文化。
自從某國際品牌咖啡連鎖店進入中國市場後，咖啡店就遍地開花，成為了年輕人喜歡的聚腳點。快樂的時光總是過得特別快，不知不覺間就在咖啡店裏待了兩三個小時，你是否覺得有點不好意思呢？倫敦最近出現了一種全新概念的咖啡店，絕對是你的不二之選。
聽力小提示： 文中出現了一些重點詞彙，建議先利用文章右邊列出的詞彙注釋熟悉生詞。
What’s the allure of coffee shops？ It’s been said that J. K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books sitting in one in Edinburgh.
Many people spend hours in these places nursing a coffee as they work away on their laptops. But if you’re spending all day buying one expensive coffee after another and haven’t sold your first novel yet， the costs can really add up.
For those who work outside of a traditional office or just want to take time out， there’s a new alternative[可供選擇的事物] in London： a pay-per-minute café.
You can linger for as long as you like in the Ziferblat注coffee shop. You’ll be given a clock when you come in to keep time. When you leave， you return the item[商品] and pay the bill.
The cost of hanging out， eating， working and meeting new people in the place is three pence per minute—or ￡1.80 an hour. The shop’s owner， Ivan Meetin， says： “Everything’s free， except the time you spend there.”
Customers help themselves to coffee and cookies. They can also bring their own food to eat on the premises while accessing[接通] the Internet through wi-fi.
Meetin’s customers clearly are not the types who rush to work with a paper cup to drink from at their desks. They are there for the ambience. The new coffee shop’s atmosphere is relaxed and a bit bohemian. Informality[不拘禮儀] is at the heart of Meetin’s concept. He’s always loved the idea of building his own house. “With my mates， we were building treehouses where rules of society didn’t exist，” he says.