节目资讯
刊物:美国行
日期:2009-07-23
难易度:Low
关键字:microphone, speaker, automatic, squeeze, pharmacy,
Welcome back, everybody.
We are in the middle of the first day of this month’s American Cultrue Corner
discussing drive-throughs.
Now when I think of a drive-through, I immediately think of a fast food
restaurant or even a bank.
But as we’ll find out in this section of the lesson, drive-throughs are popping
up in some very unusual places.
Let’s look at two more key words that you need to know for this portion of the
lesson.
The first is the adjective:
automatic,
as in:
You don’t have to turn on the water; it’s automatic.
Next is the verb:
squeeze.
squeeze.
If we hurry, we can squeeze in lunch before our noon meeting.
OK, everyone.
Let’s resume the reading.
We’ll pick it up online twelve.
A Car Drives Through It.
Then they drive up next to a window in the building to receive their meals.
Banking customers receive their cash from an automatic drawer.
Coffee huts and pharmacies have windows where drivers pull up to get coffee or
medicine.
Alan Hilowitz, a spokesperson for the Starbucks Coffee Company, told The New
York Times newspaper,
”Drive-throughs are a matter of customer want and customer need.
They serve a fast-paced world with people talking on cell phones and trying
anything that will squeeze a little more into the day.”.
Welcome back.
We’re talking about drive-throughs today.
And they’re very, very popular in America.
And we’re going...
And we’re telling you what you need to do if you go through a drive-through.
So the first thing we learned before the break is that you simply drive up next
to the... the area where the microphone is and the speaker.
And usually if you’re at a fast food restaurant, for example,
they’ll have a nice, big menu there so you can look at the menu and place your
order into the microphone.
Chip, what happens next?
Well, after you have placed your order into the microphone, then you drive up
next to a second window,
or you drive up beside the second window where then you receive your food and
you can pay for your food.
So you actually uh, first drive up to the... the microphone and the speaker,
and then you drive up beside uh, another window.
And this whole process might only take a few minutes,
depending on what time of the day it is.
If it’s lunchtime, there might be several cars or maybe eight or ten cars
actually waiting to go through the drive-through.
But usually it’s a very quick process.
It’s... it’s faster than going inside and waiting for your meal.
And at a bank, it’s a little bit different.
Uh, you don’t go to two places.
You actually just drive up to... beside one window.
And at the bank, customers receive their cash, their money, from an automatic
drawer.
Now if a drawer or if something is automatic, that means that it happens
automatically.
It happens by itself maybe because of some...
some kind of mechanical thing or a mechanical tool that helps it happened
independently or by itself.
Right.
So you can usually press a couple buttons and you can exchange your money,
and usually the money goes up through this little tube and it goes into the bank
and you talk to a bank teller,
and they send you whatever you need back through the same tube.
It’s kind of fun. I... As a kid,
I always thought it was really fun to go through the bank drive-through and
watch your money kind of disappear or come back or...
I just enjoyed that as a child.
That’s right.
It’s very automatic.
And actually uh, public restrooms have many things that are automatic in them.
Often you’ll have automatic water coming out of the sink, an automatic toilet
that automatically flashes,
and even automatic paper towels where the... the paper towels come out of the
box or the dispenser automatically.
Good examples, Chip.
So Again, if you go to a bank, maybe it’s through an automatic drawer.
Maybe it’s through some sort of automatic tube.
But your money will go to the right place.
And it’s actually quite easy and quite convenient to use.
Now let’s move on and talk about another idea that it’s gotten quite popular in
the last few years.
And that is the idea of coffee huts.
Coffee huts and pharmacies.
Two very different things,
but the idea is still the same.
You can pull up to these places and get your coffee or your medicine.
OK.
And a pharmacy is a stroe or a place where you would buy drugs or where you
would buy medicine if you’re sick.
And so you can drive up to a coffee hut or a coffee shop and get your coffee.
Or you can drive up to a pharmacy and get your medicine.
We call these coffee huts such... which is kind of an interesting name.
But a hut is just simply a small house.
And... and this is just a very small drive-thru.
I’ve seen them.
And you can pull up and you can order your coffee if you don’t want to take the
time to go inside a coffee shop.
So uh, we have a quote here from Alan Hilowitz.
And he is a spokesperson for the Starbucks Coffee Company.
And I’ve seen quite a few Starbucks Coffee huts around.
And what does he say in his quote to The New York Times?
Well, he says... he told The New York Times newspaper that drive-throughs are a
matter of customer want and customer need.
And that word... er, sentence, uh, we’re going to take a look at that sentence
with Liz in Grammar on the Go.
Hi, friends.
Welcome to Grammar on the Go.
My name is Liz.
We’ve been talking about drive-throughs and that’s exactly what my friend and I
were hoping to take advantage of.
We wanted to get something to eat at a fast food restaurant.
Unfortunately,
there’s such a long line at drive-through that my friend decided that it would
be faster to just walk into the restaurant and order our to food in there.
So while I’m waiting outside for her to get the food, let’s take a look at
today’s grammar tip sentence.
Drive-throughs are a matter of customer want and customer need.
Notice the phrase:
are a matter of.
It just means:
are a subject or situation all about.
So today’s sentence just means:
Drive-throughs are a subject all about customer want and customer need.
Use this phrase ”be-verb + a matter of” when you want to talk about what
something is all about.
For example,
The new airport regulations are a matter of national security.
Or a Roman gladiator’s performance in the arena is a matter of life or death.
Want more example sentences?
You’ll find them in today’s grammat tip section in your Studio Classroom
magazine.
Oh, and I see my friends coming out with the food,
so I guess that’s it for today.
Thanks for joining.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go signing off.
Bye-bye.
So did you get the extra packs of ketchup for the fries?
Did you?
Thanks, Liz.
So we learned here from Alan Hilowitz, who is a spokesperson, that drive
throughs are a matter of both customer want and customer need.
Now before we go on, Chip, tell us what a spokesperson is?
This is one of our More Information words.
That’s right. Well, it sounds like Mr. Hilowitz is the spokesperson for uh,
Starbucks,
which means that he is the person who speaks for this company.
He speaks to the public uh, for the Starbucks company.
And a spokesperson uh, can speak for a group of people.
Or a spokesperson can speak for uh, a single... a single person and an
individual.
Right.
So let’s finish our lesson now.
We see that these uh, coffee huts or these drive-throughs serve a fast-paced
world with people talking on cell phones and try anything that will squeeze a
little more into the day.
People like these drive-throughs because they are so convenient.
And they’re trying to do so many things at once that they want to squeeze a lot
of time into their day.
which just means they... they want to push a little more into their day.
Well, right now we need to watch a skit.
Thanks for joining us.
Join us next time as we look at a conversation between Laura and Jack.
Ohh. Hey, you’re finally home.
Where have you been?
I went to the bank, to the pharmacy and the fast food restaurant.
But all of those places have drive-throughs for your convenience.
Did you drive through?
No. I don’t like the drive-throughs.
But they’re so easy.
You just use the microphone and the speakers to place your order.
But it’s so embarrassing.
Nobody understands what I say and I can’t understand what they say.
Just say what you want and then pick it up at the window.
It’s that simple.
Oh.
I guess I could get used to it.
Saving time is important.
We live in a fast-paced world.
We use cell phones, fax machines and e-mail.
I guess pulling up to get coffee and medicine would save time.
Right.
Squeeze a little more time into your day.
Think of all the things you can do without ever leaving the car.
All right, all right.
I’ll start using drive-throughs.
Good for you!
But there is one problem, dear?
And what’s that?
We don’t have a car.
Oh, yeah...
Hi, everyone.
I’m Michelle.
(Chinese).
And I hope learning English becomes automatic for you.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
Bye-bye.
Thank you, Michelle.
So drive-throughs exist at fast food restaurants and banks.
But if you’re in America, you might also find a drive-thru at a coffee shop or
pharmacy.
And if you look hard enough, maybe you’d spot one at a wedding chapel or even a
funeral home.
You mean getting married or going to a funeral without ever getting out of your
car?
That’s right.
That’s right.
That’s incredible, isn’t it?
Well friends, we want to hear what Jack and Laura have to say about
drive-throughs.
And that happens tomorrow.
Right now it’s time to say goodbye.
So from all of us here at Studio Classroom Worldwide, have a great day.
(Music).