节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-05-30
难易度:Medium
关键字:phenomenon, desperate, blend, espresso, aficionado, signature
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
And you're joining us for the second day of our lesson about coffee houses.
We already talked a little bit about the origin of coffee houses, where they
began, and of course some of the history and background to coffee.
So many people love coffee.
They drink it every day, maybe even a couple of times a day.
Well, we have a three-day lesson about coffee houses.
I hope you're interested; I mean, maybe you don't even like coffee.
Do you like coffee, Carolyn?
I do like coffee.
I don't think it every day, but I think it's really nice when I need a boost of
energy.
And I know that my dad actually loves coffee, and he does drink it every
morning.
He drinks an entire pot of coffee every morning.
Whoa, your dad and my dad sound like they would be good friends because my dad
has been addicted to coffee before.
And sometimes he would get headaches if he didn't have coffee for a while.
Did that ever happen?
Uh, yes, it did.
But now I think my dad is drinking mostly decaf.
So there's not any caffeine in the coffee.
All right.
Well, some people certainly do love coffee.
I like it, but I don't need it every day.
Anyhow, we're going to learn more about coffee houses today.
So open up your magazine and let's begin.
(Music).
Coffee Houses.
Thanks to Starbucks, coffee houses can now be found all over the world, and the
coffee house phenomenon continues to grow.
As of July last year, Starbucks boasted 17,651 coffee houses in countries around
the world.
While some folks head for the nearest Starbucks when desperate for coffee, other
coffee aficionados want something more.
They look for coffee places that offer extra special coffee.
These shops offer specialty coffee blends or signature coffee drinks.
(Music).
It's nice to be able to go to a coffee house that has a special drink.
And at the beginning of the article today, we see that thanks to Starbucks,
coffee houses can now be found all over the world,
and the coffee house phenomenon continues to grow.
So it sounds like Starbucks is pretty responsible for just how popular coffee is
around the world.
That's right.
Whenever you see that phrase "thanks to something," that means you know that's
the reason for something.
So Starbucks may be one of the biggest reasons for the popularity of coffee
around the world and coffee house phenomenon.
We're talking here about a key word, the word "phenomenon." A phenomenon is
something that you can observe.
It's something that happens that you can observe, you can watch as it happens.
Maybe as something continues to grow or develop, you can see how it develops.
That's a kind of phenomenon.
And it's also something that's usually a bit unique or something you didn't
expect, so.
It's hard to imagine that there would be coffee houses all over the world just
because of one company.
But it continues to grow.
So there are still more and more coffee houses being built, and people are going
to them every day.
That's right.
Well, there are many kinds of phenomena.
That's the plural, P-H-E-N-O-M-E-N-A.
There are many phenomena in the world recently.
Or I guess of the last couple of years,
we've been seeing this phenomenon with... with social networking and seeing how
you can observe the way that people do social networking and do things online.
Well, we're talking about the phenomenon of coffee now.
And we continue in our lesson.
As of July last year, Starbucks boasted 17,651 coffee houses in countries around
the world.
That's a lot of coffee houses, Carolyn, just... just for Starbucks.
That is a lot of coffee houses.
And we see there's this word "boast." Starbucks boasted this large number of
coffee houses.
And if you boast something, then here it just means that you own it.
They have 17,651 coffee houses around the world.
That's right.
It's kind of a fact about them.
But of course they're able to boast about it because it makes them sound good.
That's what you can use this word "boast." You could also use this word in
another way like: That restaurant boasts excellent service.
Of course other things are nice there, but their service is excellent.
They boast excellent service at that restaurant.
So it's to have something that you're very proud of and you want to let other
people know about.
Well, now it's time for us to spend some time with Ken and Steve in the
Information Cloud.
Hi, friends.
Have you ever wondered how Starbucks got its name?
Maybe it had something to do with stars or bucks?
Good guess, Ken.
But I'm afraid that's not the case.
When the three co-founders of Starbucks started the company in Seattle,
Washington, in 1971, they had a meeting to decide what to name their new
company.
One man was an English teacher, one a history teacher and one a writer.
And so they picked the name from the classic American novel Moby Dick.
And the name was Pequod.
Now Ken, I don't know about you, but I would hesitate to drink a hot cup of
Pequod.
I don't blame you, Steve.
Pequod is the name of the whaling ship in Moby Dick.
But it's not a very savory name for a coffee house.
Good thing one of the partners rejected the name.
So after more discussion, all three settled on another name from Moby Dick,
Starbuck, which is the name of the chief mate on the Pequod.
And since there are three partners, they simply added an "S," officially making
the name Starbucks.
And the rest, as we say, is history.
(Chinese).
Thank you, Steve and Ken, for that insightful bit about the origin of Starbucks.
Let's continue with our lesson about coffee houses.
While some folks head for the nearest Starbucks when desperate for coffee, other
coffee aficionados want something more.
So of course a lot of people think about Starbucks when they think about coffee.
But it's not just about Starbucks.
There's so much more.
Isn't that right, Carolyn?
There is a lot more.
But many people when they are desperate for their coffee, they just think of
Starbucks.
But we see this word "desperate." They're desperate for coffee means that they
need coffee.
They must have it, otherwise something bad might happen.
That's right.
When you're desperate for something, you cannot do without it.
When I hear someone say "I'm desperate," and they don't specify what they mean,
that means they might be desperate for a boyfriend or for a girlfriend.
But you can say "I'm desperate for something," that means I need something in my
life, like coffee.
That's right.
Well, we see another great long word in that sentence: coffee "aficionados" want
something more.
So many people just think of Starbucks, but coffee aficionados want something a
little bit more.
And this word is used to refer to a kind of person who has a great knowledge
about a certain subject or is very supportive of something.
So these people probably know a lot about coffee here.
That's right.
They probably know about the different ways that coffee is prepared.
And they know a lot about coffee, what it tastes like.
They're aficionados.
Well, let's continue.
They look for coffee places that offer extra special coffee.
And there are many of those places around the world.
And even maybe in your city, there might be some places that offer extra special
coffee that's just a little bit different.
That's right.
These shops offer specialty coffee blends or signature coffee drinks.
So they have something that is very unique to that shop.
If it's a signature coffee drink, that means that it's their specialty.
It's something that they have made themselves that you probably can't find
anywhere else.
That's right, someone's signature something.
I think of Michael Jackson.
The Moonwalk is his signature dance move.
When you see the Moonwalk, you know: Oh, yeah, that's Michael Jackson's dance
move.
It's his signature dance move.
So you can use that word in many different ways.
Right now it's time for us to continue learning something with Michelle in the
Language Lab.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.