来自世界不同地方的六位学生在美国相遇。他们都是交换学生,到美国大学就读一个学期,学习英语,了解美国文化,同时修专业课程。英语“日常会话” (Everyday Conversations)系列围绕这六位学生在美国的经历展开。这套材料适于中级或中级以上英语水平的学生使用。
三个学生(Ajay, Lucía and Jana) 到一个朋友家(Kayla’s)的餐馆吃饭。他们谈论这家餐馆的菜肴以及城里餐饮的国际风味。
Ajay: This food is so much better than the food in the dining hall!
Kayla: Of course it is. My grandmother cooks all of the food, and it’s the best Ethiopian food in the city. I’m biased, of course!
Lucía: Well, I tend to agree with you. This is the best meal I’ve had in a long time.
Kayla: Of course.
Jana: Agreed! I didn’t think I’d come all the way to the U.S. to have amazing Ethiopian food.
Kayla: Welcome to the U.S.! Because the country is so multicultural, there are fantastic restaurants serving delicious dishes from all over the globe.
Jana: Even from my country?
Kayla: Most likely. This is a large, cosmopolitan city. There are people from all over the world, and some of those people own restaurants.
Ajay: How about next week we try a different restaurant? One that serves food from one of our home countries?
Lucía: Sounds good. But first, I would like dessert. Kayla, what do you have?
让我们来学习一些词语(也可阅读英文解释):
A dining hall:学校餐厅/食堂
to be biased:有偏见,在这个对话中指善意的倾向性,即Kayla总是会认为她祖母做的菜比其他人做的都好吃。
To be biased经常含负面意思;如果说be biased against something/someone,意思就是:某人对某事/某人有偏见,认为此事/此人不如其他事/其他人。例如: He is biased against women; he believes women are not as smart, hard-working, etc., as men.(他对女性有偏见;他认为女性不如男性聪明、刻苦,等等。)
如果说be biased toward something/someone,意思则是偏向某事/某人。例如:The professor was biased toward older students; the professor often helped older students study and gave them better grades.(这位教授偏向年龄较大的学生,经常在学习中帮助他们,还给他们好分数。)
A meal:一顿饭。例如:Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. For breakfast, my father usually makes a delicious meal of eggs, toast and sausages.(早点是我一天当中最喜欢的一顿饭。我父亲经常做好吃的鸡蛋、土司、香肠早点。)
A dish:一个菜。The main dish指主菜; Side dishes是辅菜或小菜。
A cosmopolitan city:都市,人口往往来自世界四面八方。
I would like…我想要……是点菜的一种表达方式。例如: I would like the fish.(我想点鱼。) I would like a small coffee, please.(我想请要一小杯咖啡。)
What do you have? 你们有什么?在餐馆,后面如跟介词for,意思是问在一个类别中的更具体选择。例如:What do you have for dessert?(你们甜点都有什么?) What do you have for vegetarians?(你们有哪些素食菜?)
有兴趣听更多英语对话吗?请浏览“英语学习”专题网页。
American English 网站提供可供英语学生和教师免费使用的多种英语资源。American English Facebook网页提供每天更新的英语学习资料。
“日常会话”由美国国务院教育与文化事务局英语语言项目处(Office of English Language Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs)资深项目官员海蒂·豪兰(Heidi Howland)编写。