Conflict is on the menu tonight at the café La Chope. This evening, as on every Thursday night, psychologist Maud Lehanne is leading two of France's favorite pastimes, coffee drinking and the "talking cure". Here they are learning to get in touch with their true feelings. It isn't always easy. They customers-some thirty Parisians who pay just under $2 (plus drinks) per session-care quick to intellectualize , slow to open up and connect. "You are forbidden to say 'one feels,' or 'people think',"Lehane told them. "Say 'I think,' 'Think me'."

A café society where no intellectualizing is allowed? It couldn't seem more un-French. But Lehanne's psychology café is about more than knowing oneself: It's trying to help the city's troubled neighborhood cafes. Over the years, Parisian cafes have fallen victim to changes in the French lifestyle-longer working hours, a fast food boom and a younger generation's desire to spend more time at home. Dozens of new theme cafes appear to change the situation. Cafes focused around psychology, history, and engineering are catching on, filling tables well into the evening.

The city's psychology cafes, which offer great comfort, are among the most popular places. Middle-aged homemakers, retirees, and the unemployed come to such cafes to talk about lover, anger, and dreams with a psychologist. And they come to Lehance's group just to learn to say what they feel. There's a strong need in Paris for communication, says Maurice Frisch, a cafe La Chope regular who works as religious instructor in a nearby church. "People have few real friends. And they need to open up" Lehanne says she'd like to see psychology cafes all over France. "If people had normal lives, these cafes wouldn't exist", she says,"If life weren't a battle, people wouldn't need a special place just to speak." But them, it wouldn't be France.

Questions:
question_stem: What are people encouraged to do at the cafe La Chope?
choices: tag: A
text: Learn a new subject

tag: B
text: Keep in touch with friends.

tag: C
text: Show off their knowledge.

tag: D
text: Express their true feelings.
answer_key: D

question_stem: How are cafes affected by French lifestyle changes?
choices: tag: A
text: They are less frequently visited.

tag: B
text: They stay open for longer hours.

tag: C
text: They have bigger night crowds.

tag: D
text: They start to serve fast food.
answer_key: A

question_stem: What are theme cafes expected to do?
choices: tag: A
text: Create more jobs.

tag: B
text: Supply better drinks.

tag: C
text: Save the cafe business.

tag: D
text: Serve the neighborhood.
answer_key: C

question_stem: Why are psychology cafes becoming popular in Paris?
choices: tag: A
text: They bring people true friendship.

tag: B
text: They give people spiritual support.

tag: C
text: They help people realize their dreams.

tag: D
text: They offer a platform for business links.
answer_key: B