British Vision Issue 65, 星巴克黯然退出故宫

Host: welcome back, now hold the Grande Cappuccino, the coffee chain Starbucks has been forced to close its branch in Beijing's Forbidden City. The company said the decision to close had been congenial, but since the café opened 7 years ago, it's become the target of an increasingly widespread protest campaign, claiming it tramples¹ over Chinese culture. Here's Harry² Fawcett.

Harry: Starbucks was here by invitation, the authorities who run the Forbidden City – Beijing's enormous 15th-century imperial palace complex, encouraged the small, almost invisible franchise³ of the global chain to open in 2000, a sign of a modern outward looking China as it prepared for the Olympics in 2008. But within weeks, the shop was the target of vehement⁴ opposition⁵; a blight⁶, it was said, on the Chinese cultural treasure and world heritage site. Tourists too, seemed to find it at best a curiosity.

Tourist: it doesn't look like one, I don't see a sign, but large.

This is a forbidden green tea cappuccino, and it tastes like, er, ice grass, but you know plasmids so it is just delicious all the same.

Harry: the campaign to remove the café took off earlier this year when a blog by influential⁷ Chinese newsreader Rui Chenggang in which he called on Starbucks to pull out was featured heavily in the media. Thousands supported his stands and museum managers eventually bowed to the pressure.

Manager: we talked to Starbucks, and they've had some alternative plans, so they agreed to move out of the Forbidden City.

Harry: while some visitors today were disappointed to be denied their lattes, others were fully⁸ in favor.

Visitors: It's better, it's harmed the traditional culture.

Visitors: I think it doesn't belong into the Forbidden City. It's not…should not be as commercialized like that.

Harry: in fact, commercialization is hardly new here; the for-now locked-up café is already being made over into one of many souvenir shops on the site. Starbucks says it respects the decision and with more than 250 outlets⁹ already in China, its most important market after the U.S., the company can afford to be sanguine¹⁰ about this one bit of forbidden territory.

Host: Harry Fawcett, now tonight…

1 tramples   

踩( trample的第三人称单数 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯

参考例句：

2 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

3 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

4 vehement   

adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的

参考例句：

• She made a vehement attack on the government's policies.她强烈谴责政府的政策。
• His proposal met with vehement opposition.他的倡导遭到了激烈的反对。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。

7 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 sanguine   

adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的

参考例句：

• He has a sanguine attitude to life.他对于人生有乐观的看法。
• He is not very sanguine about our chances of success.他对我们成功的机会不太乐观。