BBC地道英语|How do you like your coffee? 咖啡你喜欢怎么喝?
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Hello, I‘m Catherine. Welcome to Six Minute English, where we engage in some lively debate and discuss six stimulating items of vocabulary! And let’s start. Here’s your cup of coffee, Rob.
大家好,我是凯瑟琳。欢迎来到六分钟英语,在这里我们会进行热烈的辩论以及讨论六个刺激的单词。我们开始吧。这是你的咖啡,罗伯。
Thanks! But what took you so long, Catherine?
谢谢!但是什么耽误了你这么长时间,凯瑟琳?
Sorry, Rob. I bumped into somebody I knew in the café and we stopped for a chat.
抱歉,罗伯。在咖啡馆里我碰到了认识的人,我们停下来聊了一会。
OK, well, that fits well with today’s show, where we’re talking about cafés or coffee houses. Did you know, Catherine, that coffee houses were originally a meeting place for lively debate and intellectual discussion?
好的,那正好和今天节目很符合。我们要谈论的和咖啡馆或咖啡厅有关。凯瑟琳,你知道咖啡厅最初是激烈辩论和学术讨论的聚集地吗?
Really? I didn’t know that, Rob. A debate, by the way, means a discussion that a lot of people take part in. So how long ago was this debating society?
真的吗?我之前并不知道,罗伯。顺便提一下, A debate指的是有很多人参加的讨论。所以这个辩论协会是多少年以前有的?
Well. The first coffee house was set up in Oxford in 1650. But they quickly became popular and soon they were all over London too. You paid a penny to get in. And this included access to newspapers and stimulating conversation!
第一间咖啡厅是1650年建于牛津。但很快咖啡厅就流行起来,并且在不久后同样遍布伦敦。你只要付一便士就可以进入。并且这一便士包括读报和进行刺激的、充满新思想的交谈。
If something is stimulating, it encourages ideas and enthusiasm. Andd I expect the coffee helped with that a bit, did it?
如果某件事比较刺激,它会鼓励不同的想法,激发人们的热情。并且我认为咖啡对此有所帮助,不是吗?
It certainly helps me first thing in the morning.
早上一起来确实对我有帮助。
Which brings me on to today’s question, Rob? How many cups of coffee do we consume in coffee shops or stores in the UK every year? Consume, by the way, is another word for eat or drink. Is it…a) 2.3 million b) 23 million or c) 23 billion?
那么今天的问题,罗伯!在英国每年我们要在咖啡馆或咖啡厅消耗多少杯咖啡?顺便提一下,consume是表达吃或者喝的另一个词。是a) 230万 b) 2300万 还是 c) 230亿?
Oh, I don’t know. But it’s got to be a lot, so I’m going to go for c) 23 billion.That sounds like a lot of coffee, but I buy several cups a week, and I expect you do too, Catherine?
哎呀,我不知道。但是肯定很多,所以我选是c选项230亿。那听起来像是很多咖啡,但我一周就会买几杯,我猜你也是,凯瑟琳?
I do indeed. But I have to say, while I was getting our coffees earlier, there was nobody else in the café talking except me and my friend. Everybody else was sitting on their own, tapping away on their laptops. Let’s listen now to Douglas Fraser, BBC Scotland’s Business and Economy Editor, describing the vibe or atmosphere in a typical 21st century café…
我确实是。但是我必须得说,当我早些时候去买咖啡时,咖啡馆里除了我和我朋友之外其他人都没有交谈。他们都坐在自己的座位上,敲打着他们笔记本电脑的键盘。让我们现在听一下BBC苏格兰商业与经济编辑道格拉斯•弗雷泽是如何描述21世纪典型咖啡馆里的氛围或气氛的。
Ten or so in the morning, the café has five people at tables with their backs to the wall, each staring into a screen, plugged in, ears plugged.The flow of bytes through this coffee shop’s free wifi is transporting these customers to diverse destinations far from the person beside them. Collaborative working, research grant application, a potential blockbuster novel, and inevitably, someone distracted by kitten pictures on social media.
早上十点左右的时候,咖啡馆里有五个人坐在桌边,背靠着墙,每个人盯着屏幕,戴着耳机。一个个流动的字节通过咖啡馆里的免费无线网将顾客带到不同的目的地,与周围的人隔离开来。他们或许在团队协作、申请研究经费、写一本可能一鸣惊人的小说,不可避免地,有人会被社交媒体上可爱的猫咪图案分心。
So the spirit of those 17th century coffee houses has disappeared then? No more lively debate and intellectual discussion?
所以17世纪咖啡馆的精神已经消失了?没有热烈的辩论和学术讨论了?
It seems so, Rob. As Douglas Fraser says, many people sit alone plugged into their laptops. And they’re all doing different things – working, writing, messing about on social media.
看起来是这样的,罗伯。正如道格拉斯•弗雷泽所说,一些人独自坐着沉浸于他们的手提电脑中。他们做着不同的事情,工作,创作,在社交媒体上闲逛。
I think the café owners should turn off the free wifi and force these café squatters to move on! I don’t think people should be allowed to sit all day using the internet, hogging tables and not talking to anybody! Especially when some of them don’t even buy a coffee!
我认为咖啡馆老板应该关闭免费无线网并强制那些蹭咖啡馆资源的人的离开。我不认为应该允许人们整天坐着上网,占用着桌子并且不和任何人交谈。特别是他们中的一些人甚至连一杯咖啡都不买。
That’s a bit extreme, Rob. Café owners need customers, and they encourage people to stay by having comfy sofas and newspapers to read and the free wifi! A squatter, by the way, is someone who lives in an empty building without paying rent. And if you hog something you use most or all of it in a selfish way.
那就有点极端了,罗伯。咖啡馆老板需要顾客并且他们通过提供舒适的沙发,报纸以及免费无线网来让顾客留下来。顺便提一下,squatter指的是那些住在空置的房屋中不用交房租的人。而且如果说你hog某些东西,指的是你自私地使用这个东西的大部分或者所有。
I suppose you’re right, Catherine. Now, how about telling us the answer to today’s question then?
我猜你是对的,凯瑟琳。现在告诉我们今天问题的答案怎么样?
OK, so I asked: How many cups of coffee do we consume in cafés or stores in the UK every year? Is it… a) 2.3 million b) 23 million or c) 23 billion?
好的,所以我问的是在英国我们每年在咖啡馆消费多少杯咖啡?是a) 230万 b) 2300万 还是 c) 230亿?
I could sit in a cafe and use their free wifi to research the answer, but I had a guess and said 23 billion.
我可以坐在咖啡馆里用他们的免费无线网查找答案,但是我猜是230亿。
Well, you didn’t need that free wifi Rob because you were absolutely right! 23 billion coffees per year works out on average as 45 cups per adult in the UK.
好吧,你不需要哪个免费无线网,因为你完全正确。每年230亿杯咖啡,平均到每位英国成年人的身上就是45杯。
OK, I think it’s time we looked back at the words we learned today. Our first word is ’debate’ – a discussion that a lot of people take part in.
好的,我认为是时候回顾一下我们今天学的单词了。我们第一个单词是debate,指的是一项很多人参加的讨论。
For example, ’I took part in a number of stimulating debates at school.’ Number two, if something is ’stimulating’, it encourages new ideas and enthusiasm. For example, ’It’s hard to have a stimulating conversation with someone, who’s looking at their phone all the time.’
例如,我在学校参加了很多的激烈的辩论。第二个,如果某些事情是stimulating,它能鼓励新的观点和热情。例如,同那些整天盯着自己手机的人进行令人兴奋和刺激的对话会比较困难。
That’s very true. Let me just slide my phone into my pocket! Our next word is ’consume’ – another word for eating or drinking. But it can also mean ’to use’. For example, ’My car consumes a lot of petrol.’
那是真的。让我神不知鬼不觉地把手机放进口袋里。下一个词是consume,表示食用或者饮用的另一种说法。但它也可以指消耗。例如,我的车消耗了很多汽油。
Or, ’How do I calculate my car’s fuel consumption?’ So ’consumption’ there is the noun.Number four is ’vibe’ – which means the mood or atmosphere in a place. For example, ’Oxford is a city but it has a small-town vibe.’
或者是我如何计算我车子的燃料消耗呢?所以那里的consumption是名词。第四个词是vibe,指的是一个地方的气氛或者氛围。例如,牛津是一个城市,但它却有小镇的气氛。
Well, I’m getting bad vibes from our next word, which is ’squatter’. That’s someone who lives in an empty building without paying rent. The building is called a ’squat’. So for example, ’I lived in a squat for two years.’
好吧,下一个词squatter让我有不好的情绪。那是指某些住在空置的建筑物里,不用支付房租的人。那个建筑物叫做squat.所以例如,我在一个不用付房租的空置房里住了两年。
Really? You squatted in a squat, Rob?
真的吗?你在空置房里住吗,罗伯?
No, No, No. It was just an example. I’m not a squatter.
不,不,不。它只是一个例子。我不是一个住空置房的人。
You’ve never squatted?
你从来没有住过吗?
No I haven’t. Look we’re wasting time here! We need to move on to our final word – hog. If you ’hog’ something, you use all or most of it in a selfish way.
不,我没有过。瞧,我们现在正在浪费时间。我们得说我们最后一个单词了-hog。如果你hog某个东西,就是你自私地用大多数或者用光。
For example, ’Rob! You’ve hogged the only comfy chair! That is so selfish!’
例如,罗伯,你独占了唯一一张舒适的椅子,太自私了!
I admit it, Catherine. I’m a chair hog. That’s the noun.
我承认,凯瑟琳!我是一个椅子独享者。那是名词。
Bye!
再见