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    Although people everywhere seem to enjoy drinking coffee, they don't all have the same coffee culture. In Europe, for example, coffee shops are common places for people to meet friends and to talk while they drink coffee. On the other hand, places like this were not as common in North America in the past. Instead, people in North America liked to drink coffee in their homes with friends. The coffee culture in the USA changed when Starbucks (星巴克) coffee shops spread across the country.

    The first Starbucks coffee shop opened in 1971 in downtown Seattle, Washington, in the USA. It was a small coffee shop that cooked its own coffee beans. The coffee shop's business did well, and by 1981 there were three 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, which caused his great interest. Schultz went to Seattle to see what Starbucks did. In 1982, the original Starbucks owners hired Schultz as the company's head of marketing (市场营销).

    In 1983, Schultz traveled to Italy. The special environment of the espresso (浓咖啡) bars there caught his eyes. Back in the USA, Schultz created an environment for Starbucks coffee shops that was comfortable and casual, and customers everywhere seemed to like it. Starbucks began opening more stores across the USA. Then the company opened coffee shops in other countries as well. Today, there are more than 16,000 Starbucks coffee shops all over the world.

    However, that does not mean Starbucks has not had problems. In fact, many Starbucks stores have closed over the past few years. On the one hand, this is because there were too many coffee shops competing for business in one small area. On the other hand, stores in some countries closed because the coffee culture there did not match with the "feel the same everywhere" environment offered by Starbucks.

    Top five universities in Asia-Pacific region

    ⒈National University of Singapore.

    The National University of Singapore is a highly international university with more than half the students made up of international students. With 17 schools across three campuses in Singapore, it has overseas colleges in many different places including Israel, Germany, the US and Sweden. The university started as a medical school in 1905 and has since developed to be one of Asia's best universities.

    ⒉Peking University

    The university was built in 1898 and was the first national university in Chinese modern history. The teaching language for college students is English. As the leading university in China, it has 31 colleges and 14 departments. It has the largest university library in China containing more than 4 million volumes. Many of the buildings on campus remain their original Chinese-style design and structure.

    ⒊University of Melbourne

    The University of Melbourne is a public research institution and Australia's second-oldest university. Four Australian prime ministers have graduated from the institution since it was set up in 1853. It is one of the leading research universities in Australia and some of the research developed there has been widely used throughout the world. In the 1970s, research at the institution led to the first successful cochlear implant(人工电子耳).

    ⒋Tsinghua University

    Tsinghua University was built in 1911. It is one of the best-known institutions in the world. Its 20 schools and 54 departments cover subjects in art, economics, education, engineering, history, management, medicine, law, literature, philosophy and the sciences.

    ⒌Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

    Nanyang Technological University, Singapore is a young institution and is considered Singapore's main science and technology university. It was set up in 1991 and three campuses: Yunnan Garden, NTU @one-north, and Novena. Yunnan Garden is the biggest in Singapore and has been one of the top 15 most beautiful campuses in the world and has planned to be the greenest campus in the world by 2022. Located in Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore is often overshadowed by National University of Singapore. But it is still one of students' dream universities in Asia-Pacific region.

    It's true that every country has its customs.

    We all know that in America if people are pleased with you, they will give you a sign "OK". But maybe you don't know this sign is rude in Brazil.

    In Poland, guests usually choose flowers as presents for hostesses(女主人). Remember the number must be odd(奇数的). And the hostess doesn't hope that you remove the cover of the bunch(束) of flowers. You must be more careful when you give red roses to a woman because the red rose means love.

    In China we often hear people say that "nodding" means agreement(同意). And "shaking the head" means disagreement. But in Bulgaria they mean the opposite.

    We really need to pay more attention to the differences in customs. What's more, we should learn more about them in order to avoid embarrassment(尴尬). Do remember: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

    In many English homes, people eat breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner a day. People have breakfast at any time between seven and nine in the morning. They eat porridge, eggs, or bread. Also they drink tea or coffee at breakfast.

    Lunch comes at one o'clock. The English people like take-away food. The most popular(最受欢迎的) food is fish and chips. They usually go to a fish and chip shop. They put the food in paper bags, and take it home, or to their work places. Some people eat take-away food in the park.

    Afternoon tea is about 4:30 in the afternoon. People usually drink tea with milk. And dinner is at about half past seven and it is usually a big meal. First they have soup, and then they have meat or fish with vegetables. After that they eat some other things, like bananas, apples or oranges. But not all English people eat like that. Some of them have their dinner in the middle of the day. People often eat dinner at a restaurant or at homes, and they think all these meals are very necessary (必要的).