节目资讯
刊物:美国行
日期:2009-06-25
难易度:Low
关键字:infant, diaper, neighborhood, look forward to, reg
Welcome back from the break, everyone.
If you’re just joining us, we are talking about parties.
So Conversation A involved Laura going to a baby shower.
It’s a kind of celebration for an expecting mother.
In the next conversation, we’ll find Laura in the kitchen getting ready to go to
a potluck.
Remember?
When you go to a potluck, you need to bring something to eat or drink.
What’s Laura going to bring?
Stay tuned.
Now the last two key words of the lesson.
The first is the noun:
neighborhood,
as in:
Three new families moved into our neighborhood last summer.
Next is the idiom:
look forward to,
as in:
Ava is really looking forward to her birthday party.
OK.
Let’s pick up Conversation B on the left side of page fifty-one.
(Music).
American Parties.
Conversation B.
Jack comes into the kitchen.
Mmmm, I can smell that cake all over the house.
Can I have a piece?
Not now.
I’m taking it to the neighborhood potluck tomorrow.
I’m looking forward to that.
There are some great cooks in our neighborhood!
I’ll make sure I have a good appetite!
You always do!
I think six people are bringing desserts,
and the rest are bringing salads.
And we have to bring our own meat to barbecue, right?
Right.
I already bought some steaks.
I can’t wait!
We are back.
And we are getting ready to look at another conversation with Jack and Laura.
Now I think Jack and Laura really like going to parties because we just learned
of Laura’s party with her friend Jordan,
the baby shower.
And now Jack and Laura are going to be attending a party of another kind.
That’s right.
They’re going to a potluck.
And yesterday we learned that a potluck is when everybody brings a dish, uh, any
kind of food to a gathering.
And you get to sample different kinds of food.
So Jack comes into the kitchen and he says:
Mmmm, I can smell that cake all over the house.
Can I have a piece?
Now I’m sure, Chip, that you said that before because I know your wife here is a
good cook.
I... I’ve learned to actually not ask if I can have a piece.
I just try to sneak a piece when she’s not looking,
especially if she’s baking a cake as Laura’s doing.
Laura says:
Not now.
I’m taking it to the neighborhood potluck tomorrow.
Now that word neighborhood is one of our vocabulary words today.
Chelsea, what does... what does a neighborhood?
Well, a neighborhood includes all the people who live close together in a
certain area.
You might live in a big neighborhood if you live in a big city maybe.
Or if you live in a smaller town, you might not have as many neighbors in your
neighborhood.
But neighborhood potlucks are a lot of fun because chances are you probably
don’t know all of your neighbors.
So this is a great way to get to know people.
I know when I lived in Michigan and I was dating my... my now husband, he would
often have neighborhood potlucks.
And this was a way for us to get to know his neighbors and also to sample a lot
of delicious food.
So it looks like Jack is looking forward to the neighborhood potluck.
You know, I... I feel like I know Jack.
I feel like we would be good friends because I think a lot like Jack. He says:
I’m looking forward to that.
He’s looking forward to the potluck.
When you look forward to something, that means that you are looking into the
future with excitement,
and you really are excited about the future becoming a part of the present.
And why is he looking forward to the potluck?
Well, he says that there are some great cooks in our neighborhood.
I’ll make sure I have a good appetite.
He knows that once he gets to this potluck, there’s going to be a lot of good
food that’s been made by a lot of good cooks,
so he’s going to need plenty of room to be able to eat all that he wants to.
He wants to have a good appetite.
That means that you want to be hungry when you go.
If a person has a good appetite, they’re a good eater.
They like to eat.
They’re usually hungry and they can often eat a lot at once.
You know, I’ve even heard of some neighborhoods doing something fun like this:
They will have a community potluck,
and then they will have a contest,
and they will vote on who brings the best tasting dish.
So what it... it requires people to do is make their best dish so everything you
try is definitely delicious.
Sure.
I can understand how a little spirit of competition would help the food quality
increase in a potluck like that.
Well, sure, I think it sounds like a lot of fun to do something like that.
And going back to Jack’s appetite, Laura reminds him that he always has a good
appetite.
I think like many men, they’re often hungry,
so something like a potluck is perfect for them.
Laura goes on to tell him that I think six people are bringing desserts,
and the rest are bringing salads. So it sounds like they’ll have a good mix-up:
sweet food and those desserts and with some healthy food for the salads.
Definitely.
And then Jack mentions that we or he and Laura need to bring their own meat to
barbecue.
Now this is also very popular in America as well as I think it’s quite popular
in Asia.
You love to have barbecues as much as we do.
And often people will bring their own meat to put on the grill to barbecue, to
cook outside.
And that’s also a great way to make sure that you get to eat the meat that you
enjoy whether it’s chicken or beef or lamb or fish.
It’s up to you.
Yeah.
And I think also because meat tends to be the most expensive part of a meal,
I think that tends to even out the costs,
so that one person is not stuck having to pay a lot more than everybody else.
Well, sure, it does help even out the costs.
Now Laura responds to Jack’s question.
She says: Right.
I already bought some steaks.
So it sounds like they’re going all out and having some nice, big, juicy steaks.
And Jack responds:
I can’t wait.
And I don’t blame him.
This potluck sounds like a lot of fun.
And I know steaks on the grill are delicious.
Well, we hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s lesson.
And maybe you can think of a good reason to have a party.
It’s summertime, right?
Because summer is a very fun time to have parties.
I know sometimes people have parties that focus on ice cream,
and everybody brings a different topping for the ice cream.
That’s another great idea.
Rachel, when you throw an ice cream party, you give me a call.
We’ll be... we’ll... Chelsea and I would both be there.
Sounds good.
And maybe we could even have a pool party this summer and go swimming.
And it’s really hot out.
Pool parties are always fun too.
Definitely.
I’ve been to a few of those.
And you definitely need ice cream at pool parties.
Well friends, we hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s lesson.
We’re going to visit the Chat Room right now.
Joining us next time here at Studio Classroom Worldwide.
And keep up the great work.
Welcome to the Chat Room.
I’m Ken.
And I’m Vickie.
Well, in conversation B, we saw that Laura had baked a cake and Jack wanted to
have a piece.
Jack says to Laura:
Can I have a piece?
Vickie, does Jack have to say a piece of cake?
Can he simply say:
Can I have a cake?
Well Ken, if he said, ”Can I have a cake?” then he’d be asking for the whole
cake,
and that would be too big for him to eat.
Oh, so it’s like pizza.
One pizza is one entire pizza.
Right.
You eat pizza by the slice and one pizza usually has eight slices.
(Chinese).
OK.
So Ken, do you know what a piece of cake means?
Hmm, somehow I sense that it’s not just something I can eat.
Ah, you’re catching on.
A piece of cake is an idiom that refers to something that can be accomplished
easily.
If you think a test was really easy and you did well on it, you might say that
test was a piece of cake.
Got it.
(Chinese).
Vickie, there’s another cake expression that I’m a little confused by.
And that is:
You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
What does that mean?
OK.
Well, if someone gives you a cake, you have it, right?
But sooner or later you’ll eat it and it’ll be gone.
You will no longer have it.
Of course the phrase has nothing to do with food.
It basically means you can’t have things both ways.
You have to choose one or the other.
I see.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
(Chinese).
Well friends, we’re sure this lesson was a piece of cake for you.
So keep up the good work.
Goodbye, everyone.
Bye.
Hi, everyone.
I’m Michelle.
(Chinese).
And I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.
I’ll see you then.
Bye-bye.
Thank you, Michelle.
Well, I’m sure this lesson was helpful because if you are the type of person who
likes to party,
we have given you basically two more excuses to get together with your friends
and family.
The shower for women only.
Sorry, guys.
And the potluck.
If you’ve never been to a potluck, you can try to organize one yourself.
It’s easy and they’re always a lot of fun.
Tomorrow starts our Viewpoint article.
This month we’ll be looking at the pros and cons of studying abroad.
We hope you join us for that.
For now I hope all of you have a great day.
Bye-bye, everyone.
(Music).