古德明《征服英语》之英语军事故事，古德明，香港英语教育作家，他开了一个《征服英语专栏》，在专栏中专门用英语写了世界近代史上的军事小故事，用英语讲述历史中那些惊心动魄的战争。
皇 和 咖 啡
a coffee craze first gripped the world about 600 years ago, travelling from ethiopia to the middle east, where muslim monks used coffee as a stimulant to stay up during prayers. in the late 1500s, coffee had reached europe, and vatican officials were clamouring to condemn it as satanic. after all, coffee came from the islamic world.
according to legend, vatican officials asked pope clement Ⅷ to impose a ban on coffee. he refused to do so before trying it first himself. thus, he ordered that some coffee be prepared for him. he evidently enjoyed it, and he remarked, "this satan's drink is so delicious it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it. we shall fool satan by baptising it." this removed the biggest obstacle for the popularisation of coffee in europe.
