Michelle Cheng

Professor Michael Cheng

Writing and Reading II
November 2, 2008
Practice 4
Computers cannot be compared to human brains. In fact, the human brain is more
powerful than any computer. Steven Pinker (1997) said, It has been estimated that the
information-processing capacity of even the most powerful supercomputer is equal to the
nervous system to a snaila tiny fraction of the power available to the supercomputer inside
the human skull. Furthermore, the kind of processing in a human brain and a computer are
different, too. Computers find it easy to remember a 25-digit number but find it hard to
summarize the gist of Little Red Riding Hood, and human brains find it hard to remember
the number but easy to summarize the story, explained Pinker.
Practice 6
Can you believe that the money you pay for a cup of Starbucks coffee is mainly not for
the coffee itself? Statistics, Cost of a Double Cappuccino at Specialty Coffe Shop, in New
York Times done by Sherry Day have proved the doubt right. In fact, in a $3.65 coffee, 3/4 of
the money is used to promote the product and to pay the labor cost at the coffee shop. More
stunningly, only 1/5 of the money is actually for the ingredients of a cappuccino. Next time,
you might want to give it a second thought on stepping into a Starbucks and paying some
money for them to promote their products.
Homework(Page 54)
It is obvious that the cost of a double cappuccino at specialty coffee shops comes
from different parts. The graph reports that there are eight main cost resources. It
is not surprising that the largest component is labor cost at the coffee, which
accounts for $1.35.The cost of shop rent, marketing and general administration is
$1.29, which is the next largest component. By contrast, the cost of shop owners
profit; initial investment;milk;and the cost of the cup; the cost of coffee
millers,exporters,importers,roasters;the cost of coffee growers make up the
insignificant

parts

of

the

total

cost,

which

are

$0.25,$0.18,$0.40,$0.07,$0.175,$0.035,respectively.According to the graph Cost of

Double Cappuccino at Specialty Coffee Shops, we can conclude that if the coffee
shops could save the money which will be spent on the labor and shop rent, the
total cost would be lower.
Graph 2. Cost of a double Cappuccino at Specialty Coffe Shops

Cup of cappuccino: what do we pay for?

Coffee is a popular drink made from roasted seeds of the coffee fruit and is one of the most
important commodities in the World. Coffee is a significant export product for the economy
of many countries, including Brazil, Vietnam and Colombia. However, it is well known that
the commodity cost usually represent the smallest part of the final price, even when its the
most important part of the product itself. According to reporter Sherri Day, coffee growers
only get $0.035 from a cappuccino cup, an Italian beverage prepared with coffee and milk. On
the other hand, shop rent, marketing, and general administration make up $1.29 of its price,
which is 37 times bigger than the cost with coffee growers. The expenses with coffee growers
represent about 0.9%. In contrast, costs with rent and marketing are 34% and are only smaller
than expenses with employees that represent 36% of the cappuccino price (New York Times
29 Nov. 2003: B1).
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
The Cost of Double Cappuccino
How much do you pay for your double cappuccino? According to graph 2, you are
paying not only for your coffee, but also for other elements, too. The graph says
thath the cost of your double cappuccino contains $1.35, the largest part of the
cost, for the labor cost at the specialty coffee shop. Teh graph states that you pay
$1.29 for shop rent, marketing and general administration. Also, the graph
reported the cost of coffee contain $0.24 for shop owner's profit. According to the
graph, you pay only small amount of money for the elements related to coffee. The
coffee cost contain only $0.175 for coffee millers, exporters, importers, and
roasters and $0.175 for coffee growers. In short, you are not only spend money on
your coffee, but also on other elements at coffee shop.