"I love Coca-Cola and this is not Coca-Cola," she said with a slight grimace(鬼臉).

　　It certainly wasn't and that's the point of Mecca-Cola-a soft drink named after Islam's holiest land and created to protest against US foreign policy in the Middle East. Senegal is one of the first sub-Saharan African countries to put Mecca-Cola on the market,and it's an obvious choice. The population is 95 percent Muslim and opposition to the war in Iraq has been more vocal here than elsewhere in the region.

　　Thousands took to the streets to protest against the fighting in Iraq and now Mecca-Cola, which has sales of about five million bottles in Europe. will gives thirsty Senegalese a thought-provoking, alternative thirst reliever to the US brand.

　　"Being a Muslim, I was attracted by the name Mecca-Cola," said Hassane Brahim Fardoun, the businessman behind the drink's distribution in Senegal."I will do my best to penetrate the Senegalese market with this new product."

　　The drink's launch coincided with increasing popular opposition to US foreign policy and the first six-packs of Mecca-Cola were delivered to two shops in Senegal's capital Dakar the same week US troops stormed Baghdad. More will follow if it sells well.

　　He says the advertising campaign has not yet started because posters have not arrived from France, but he has high hopes for word of mouth marketing.

　　Elyse is one of the first to taste the new drink at a tiny shop in the city centre. Unfortunately for Fardoun, she is Catholic, and a little reserved about whole-heartedly backing the political viewpoints behind Mecca-Cola's existence.

　　Mecca-Cola has already found fans in Africa, as well as in Europe. The cola with a crusade (改革運動)is the brainchild of French businessman Tawfik Mathlouthi, who launched the drink last November in France as a protest against US foreign policy.

　　Mecca-Cola is not unique. There is a wide range of similar ideological drinks, like Muslim Up or British-based Qibla-Cola, whose website cries "Liberate your taste". Ironically, the drink that typifies the American way of life was flavoured originally with cola nuts, widely prized in West Africa as a stimulus and a dowry gift at weddings.

　　測試題

　　1.Mecca-Cola named after Islam's holiest land was produced in order to___________________________.

　　2.Senegal first put Mecca-Cola on the market because there were_______________to the war in Iraq.

　　3.As a Muslim, Hassane Brahim Fardoun said he would try his best to______________with the new soft drink.

　　4.When were the first six-packs of Mecca-Cola sent to Dakar?

　　5.Cola nuts were very popular in West Africa of being a gift at weddings as well as______________.

　　答案詳解

　　1.[protest against US foreign policy in the Middle East]

　　[定位]根據題干中的Mecca-Cola和Islam's holiest land查找到文章第3段首句。

　　解析：本題詢問生產麥加可樂的目的。原文中的created對應題干中的produced，created后的不定式to...表目的，to后的內容即為答案。

　　2.[more vocal opposition]

　　[定位]根據題干中的Senegal和the war in Iraq查找到第3段最后兩句。

　　解析：空白處應該填入名詞(詞組)，題干是對笫3段最后兩句的近義改寫，對末句中and后的內容稍加概括即為本題答案。

　　3.[penetrate the Senegalese market]

　　[定位]根據題干中的Muslim,Hassane Brahim Fardoun以及try his best查找到第5段。

　　解析：題干中的try his best是對原文直接引語中的do my best的同義改寫，the new soft drink也指代原文中的this new product，所以原文中do my best to后的penetrate the Senegalese market即為本題答案。

　　4.[The same week US troops stormed Bagh dad.]

　　[定位]根據the first six-packs of Mecca-Cola和Dakar查找到第6段首句。

　　解析：題干中的sent是對原文中的delivered的同義改寫，所以Dakar后面的時間狀語即為答案。

　　5.[a stimulus]

　　[定位]根據Cola nuts，West Africa以及gift at weddings查找到文章末句。

　　解析：空白處應該填人名詞(詞組)，very popular為原文中widely prized的同義改寫，as well as又對應原文中的and，故as后面的a stimulus為答案。

　　參考譯文

　　San Elyse從塑料杯中吸了一口。她像個有經驗的品酒師一樣把這種深色的液體含在嘴中涮了一圈，然后吞下去。

　　“我喜歡可口可樂，而這并不是可口可樂，”她做了個鬼臉說。

　　它當然不是可口可樂，而這正是麥加可樂的特點。麥加可樂是一種軟飲料，以伊斯蘭最神圣的圣地命名。[l]生產這種飲料的目的是反對美國在中東的對外政策。[2]塞內加爾是撒哈拉以南把麥加可樂推向市場的第一個非洲國家，而且，這是個顯而易見的選擇。該國人口中95%是穆斯林，[2]在這里，對伊拉克戰爭的反對情緒比該地區的任何其他國家都強烈。

　　過去，成千上萬的人走向街頭抗議伊拉克戰爭，而現在，麥加可樂為口渴的塞內加爾人提供了一種可以替代那個美國品牌又能讓人有所思考的解渴飲料。在歐洲，麥加可樂已經銷售了約500萬瓶。

　　“作為穆斯林，我被麥加可樂這個名字吸引了，”Hassane Brahim Fardoun說。他正是負責麥加可樂在塞內加爾銷售的分銷商。[3]“我會竭盡全力使這種新產品滲透到整個塞內加爾市場。”

　　這種飲料投放市場正值人們對美國的對外政策日益不滿之際，[4]首批六箱麥加可樂是于美軍攻下巴格達的同一個星期送達塞內加爾的首都達喀爾的兩個商店的。如果它們銷售得好，更多的產品將隨后送來。

　　他說,因為海報招貼畫還沒有從法國運到，所以廣告推廣活動還沒有展開。不過他對口碑促銷抱很大的希望。

　　Elyse是在市中心的一家小商店試飲這種飲料的第一批客戶之一。對Fardoun來說，很不幸，她信奉天主教，麥加可樂代表著要全心支持它隱含的政治觀點，而Elyse對此卻持一絲保留態度。

　　麥加可樂在歐洲和非洲都已經擁有主持者。這種帶有政治色彩的飲料是法國商人Tawfik Mathlouthi想出來的產品。去年11月他在法國推出了這種飲料用來反對美國的對外政策。

　　麥加可樂并不是絕無僅有的。帶相似意識形態色彩的飲料有很多，比如Muslim Up(模仿Seven Up“七喜”飲料)和英國生產的Qibla-Cola，它在自己的網頁上呼吁“解放你的口味”。具有諷刺意味的是，作為美國生活方式代表的飲料最初是用可樂果來調味的，[5]而可樂果作為一種提神劑和婚禮上用作嫁妝的禮物，在西非一直以來就廣受歡迎。