节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-05-29
难易度:Medium
关键字:aromatic, cozy, divorce, insure, prompt, bevergage, barista
In our lesson today, Coffee Houses, we've been learning some of the history and
a little more information about what is going on with coffee,
and why people enjoy this rich, aromatic beverage.
Some people like to go to a cozy coffee shop where they can sit in comfortable
chairs.
Other people like more fancy places.
Well, we do get to learn a little bit more about the history of coffee in the
next reading today.
(Music).
Coffee Houses.
The first public coffee house dates back to 1475 in Constantinople, Turkey,
today's Istanbul.
Coffee was very important to the culture at the time.
A woman was allowed to divorce her husband if he did not keep the coffeepot
full!
Coffee houses arrived in Europe about 1650 and spread to England by 1652.
Some believe the word "tips" first entered the English language in an English
coffee house.
A jar on the counter had a sign that read "To Insure Prompt Service." Customers
who put a coin in the jar were served more quickly.
(Music).
All right.
Well, here we're talking about the first public coffee house.
The first sentence here is:
The first public coffee house dates back to 1475 in Constantinople, Turkey,
today's Istanbul.
Uh, what does that mean, Constantinople, Turkey, today's Istanbul?
Well, the name of the city has changed.
So in 1475, the city was called Constantinople, but today we know this city as
Istanbul.
But it's the same city in the country of Turkey.
All right. I see.
That is today's Istanbul.
So back in 1475.
It says it dates back to this date.
You can use that phrase in other ways.
For example, Studio Classroom dates back to 1962.
That means that's the year it began.
So... the first coffee house was open in 1475.
Well, what do we know about this?
Well, we see how important coffee was.
Coffee was very important to the culture at the time.
And there's a very interesting sentence after that.
A woman was allowed to divorce her husband if he did not keep the coffeepot
full!
Wow! Be careful, husbands.
If you don't want your wife to divorce you, keep that coffeepot full.
I'm glad things are a little bit different now.
But we do want to take a look at that key word "divorce." Carolyn, what does
this mean?
Well, when you get married, then, well, you're married.
But if something happens during your marriage, during your relationship, and you
decide to no longer be married, we call that a divorce.
You get a divorce.
And here a woman could divorce her husband, so it could be a noun or a verb.
That's right.
It could be a noun or a verb.
And of course, this word is an important word to know.
But I think if you're married, that it's probably not a word you want to use too
often.
Even if you're really angry with each other, don't just throw this word
"divorce" out.
Well, we're going to continue with this lesson.
Coffee houses arrived in Europe about 1650 and spread to England by 1652.
So over time, coffee... or the idea of coffee houses was spreading to other
countries.
And it took a while for it to get there because Turkey is fairly close to
Europe.
But it was in 1475 that coffee houses date back to Constantinople, or Istanbul,
and it wasn't until 1650 that they started to make their way into Europe.
Well, continuing, some very interesting information.
Some believe the word "tips" first entered the English language in an English
coffee house.
All right.
So it first entered the language.
We hadn't used that word "tips" before, but we're going to find out where this
word came from, maybe where this word came from.
A jar on the counter had a sign that read "To Insure Prompt Service." All right.
So let's take a look at that phrase: to insure prompt service.
We have two key words there.
The first one is "insure." Now this really makes me think about insurance - what
you buy so that you can make sure that things are safe.
Your things are safe.
You insure those things.
But here it's more like a promise.
If you insure that something is going to happen, then it's a guarantee or a
promise that this is what will happen in the future if you do something else.
That's right.
Now I think that the word that they should have used is "ensure." But I think
that Steve and Ken will talk about that a little more in the Info Cloud later.
First let's talk about that word "prompt." If you have something prompt, that
means it is done right away or in a good amount of time.
There is prompt service.
We'll get to you promptly or right away.
Yes, so very quickly.
To insure prompt service, you could put some coins in this jar on the counter.
It's like a tip that we give today in many restaurants.
That's right.
It is prompt.
It will insure prompt service.
You could use that word "prompt" in other ways.
If you ask someone a question, they might wait a while to get back to you, or
they might give you a prompt response.
They tell you something right away.
It's time for us to learn something right now with Steve and Ken in the
Information Cloud.
In today's lesson our author offers one explanation as to how the word "tip"
entered the English language.
But notice how she wisely started the sentence: "Some belief..." This should be
a clue to you, the reader, that what follows is not necessarily true.
Right.
By using these words, the author is giving the reader freedom to disagree, which
is good because I disagree.
I do, too.
I was suspicious when I saw the word "insure," I-N-S-U-R-E.
It feels like it's being forced to fit for the sake of the letter I.
Right.
Clearly, the better choice is "ensure," E-N-S-U-R-E, which means to make certain
something takes place, like good service.
OK.
A second reason we disagree about this origin of "tips" is because the
explanation would make tips a 17th-century acronym.
And English acronyms didn't really come into existence until the 20th century.
Right. So we think the "To Insure Prompt Service" phrase is just a clever story
to explain something we're not 100 percent sure of.
Reminding us that no matter what the language, we should always read with a
critical eye.
Because not everything that's written is fact.
(Chinese).
It is important to pay attention when we are reading.
And we were talking about tips - To Insure Prompt Service - T-I-P-S.
So maybe that is where "tips" came from.
Well, we have one more sentence in this article today.
Customers who put a coin in the jar were served more quickly.
So it sounds like if you put money into this jar, it would insure, or "ensure,"
prompt service.
Well, this does seem like an interesting idea for where the word "tips" came
from.
But I agree with Steve and Ken.
I'm not sure if it's actually true.
Some believe or some people believe this, but I don't know how true it is.
But I am having fun learning about the origin of coffee houses.
We have more to learn next time.
But of course, right now let's spend some time with Michelle in the Language
Lab.
OK.
(Chinese).
Now I'll give the time back to our teachers.
We're learning about coffee houses today.
And of course you've already learned that a little bit about this aromatic
beverage.
And you've even learned some history that in some places, or actually in
Constantinople, Turkey,
a woman was allowed to divorce her husband if he did not keep the coffeepot
full.
They really thought that coffee was very important.
Well, how important is coffee to you in your life?
Carolyn, is it pretty important to you?
Well, it's really not that important to me.
Sometimes I need an extra boost that it's really nice to have some coffee, but I
don't really drink it every day.
You don't drink it every day, so it's not that important.
I do know some people who drink coffee every day.
I don't drink it every day.
But I think that I know why people do drink it every day.
It really does taste good, or some blends of coffee can taste great.
Well, we're going to learn more about coffee houses tomorrow and the next day.
So please come back here to Studio Classroom.
See you then.