A、A great character in history. B、A theatrical role in a play. C、A special symbol in life. D、An imaginary person in a fiction. D

If you are in any major city in America, the chances are high that you are not far from a Starbucks. The company started in the West Coast city of Seattle, Washington, in 1971. Starbucks was named after a character in the famous American novel "Moby-Dick" by Herman Melville. Today, there are more than twelve thousand Starbucks around the world.
     Sales last year were almost eight billion dollars. The company believes in opening many stores in busy areas of cities. For example, there are about thirty Starbucks stores in downtown Seattle. Starbucks sells more than just plain coffee. It started a whole coffee culture with its own special language and coffee workers called baristas. It sells many kinds of hot and cold coffee drinks, like White Chocolate Mocha and Frappuccino. It also sells music albums, coffee makers, food, and even books. But most of all, it sells the idea of being a warm and friendly place for people to sit, read or talk.
     However, some people do not like the company’s aggressive expansion. Faith Lapidus, a small coffee sell-er is taking the company to court. She says the way the company does business is illegal because it stops property owners from leasing stores to other coffee companies. She sees Starbucks as controlling the market and forcing out competition.
     Nicolas O’Connell works for La Colombe, a coffee roasting company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He says Starbucks has helped to educate people about coffee from many countries. But he criticizes the company for using machines more than people to make the coffee. Mr. O’Connell points out that the coffee culture is all about a hand-made product and interaction between people.