Less than one year after France imposed(強(qiáng)加于)a nationwide ban on smoking in most public places, it will, from Jan. 1, 2008, extend the ban to bars, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs - and the most cherished of all: caf?s.
Ireland and Italy show that countries with longstanding smoking traditions may introduce bans fairly smoothly, as they did in 2004 and 2005. In Germany, where regulations vary locally, Berlin will join France on Jan 1. But fierce critics of the new law in France say it all but destroys the caf?'s basic function: to serve as the socioeconomic glue of society.
C?cile Perez, owner of La Fronde, a typical Parisian neighborhood caf? said: "In the morning, street cleaners in bright green uniforms sip coffee next to well-dressed businessmen; at lunch hour, working-class types rub shoulders with those of the latest fashion at the bar, while couples of all ages rub noses over salads; during the after-work rush, there is a steady soundtrack of clinking glasses combined with conversation; the constant, no matter what time of day, is the smoke that drifts through the air in curls and clouds, seemingly unnoticed."
"Our motto in France is: liberty, equality, fraternity," Olivier Seconda, a regular at the caf?, said.
"The caf? is the place that represents that. You're free to smoke, everyone pays the same price for a beer and different kinds of people talk with one another. This new law goes against that."
Seconda expects the ban to be felt even more strongly in small villages far from Paris, where the caf? is often the only means of social activity. "People already miss the space that allows people of all walks of life to share something-even if it is sometimes no more than a few words and the smoke floating between them."
69. In Germany, ______.
A. caf? smoking will be forbidden from Jan,1, 2008
B. the tradition of caf? smoking is and will be well-kept
C. local customs are well respected in terms of smoking
D. there are different regulation on smoking
70. C?cile Perez mentions the curls and clouds of smoke drifting through the air to ______
A. describe a friendly atmosphere B. show the beauty of his own caf?
C. support the ban on smoking D. remind us of something unnoticed
71. Olivier Seconda implies that ______.
A. the caf? provides people with enough liberty, equality, and fraternity
B. people, regardless of their social class, enjoy equal rights in a caf?
C. the new ban on caf? smoking should be put in effect only in villages
D. people would not find fun in a caf? without smoking a cigarette
72. The passage is written to _______.
A. show the writer's personal opinion against a new law
B. provide information for law-makers to pass a new law
C. tell why some people are unhappy about smoking ban in caf?s
D. compare attitudes to a law, held by people from different countries