节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-05-31
难易度:Medium
关键字:reward, patron, yarn, novice, furry
Today we've been having a lot of fun learning all about different coffee houses
around the world.
The first one we talked about today was one in Melbourne, Australia, where you
can enjoy a very unique environment with wooden chairs hanging from the ceiling.
Another one we've talked about today was one in Japan, Usagi-to-Cafe, where you
can sit and pet one of their rabbits while you drink your coffee.
Well, we have several more very unique and interesting coffee houses to learn
about in the next part of our reading.
(Music).
Coffee Houses.
At Wash & Coffee in Munich, Germany, patrons enjoy a cup of coffee and use the
Internet as they do their laundry.
This place aims to make people feel at home.
At the Big Knit Cafe in Bangkok, Thailand, customers are served yarn along with
their coffee.
The cafe attracts all levels of knitters - experienced staff offer help to the
novices.
A coffee house may just serve great coffee, or it may offer something extra.
Either way, there's nothing like the rich smell of coffee.
(Music).
Ah, coffee does have quite a nice smell.
Well, let's begin at the beginning of this section here.
At Wash & Coffee in Munich, Germany, patrons enjoy a cup of coffee and use the
Internet as they do their laundry.
Well, talk about killing two birds with one stone, you can do a lot at this
coffee shop.
You can be a patron and enjoy a cup of coffee while you do your laundry.
Well, this is certainly a very unique and interesting coffee shop if you can go
there to wash your clothes and also drink coffee at this place called Wash &
Coffee.
But we see that the people who go there are referred to as patrons.
If you are a patron, then you attend something.
So here we have patrons of Wash & Coffee.
What are some other things you might be a patron of, Gabe?
Oh, patrons. I think of customers.
Some customers can be referred to as patrons, people that... that use something
or that attend something.
Um, if you go to a concert, can you be called a patron, Carolyn?
Well, I guess you could be called a patron.
But usually it's something we use when you are frequently there.
Maybe you buy something there quite often, so.
If you go to a particular concert hall, (a place where they have concerts,) you
might be a patron of that building,
but not necessarily a patron of the concert because the performer might be
different.
OK. So you might need to go somewhere frequently to be called a patron
somewhere.
Well, you can see a picture of this coffee shop in your magazine Wash & Coffee.
Actually it kind of seems appealing to me.
I would like to go and visit this coffee shop, especially if I have some laundry
to do.
But I'm not going to take my laundry from here to Munich, Germany, just to go
and taste the coffee.
However, if I'm visiting Munich, I will visit this coffee shop.
Well, it's time for us right now to see what Steve and Ken have for us in the
Information Cloud.
It's the last day of the month, and it's high time to do the laundry.
I hope you're joking, Steve.
I do my laundry at least twice a week.
Yes. Yes, Ken, I was joking, but let's talk about laundry for a minute.
It can be a confusing word.
Yes, it can be.
Laundry can either refer to dirty clothes that will be washed or clean clothes
that have just been washed.
Right.
We can do the laundry, hang laundry out to dry, and finally, fold the laundry.
Another word for laundry is "wash." So instead of do the laundry, you can do the
wash.
Notice "wash" is used as a noun.
And that should not be confused with washer, which is short for washing machine.
So you would put the wash in the washer.
And you do the wash because he want all the dirt and stains to come out in the
wash.
Nice one, Ken.
"Coming out in the wash" is also an idiom.
Just like a clothing stain that can be removed by washing, a problem can "come
out in the wash" meaning that it'll be revealed or it'll turn out well in the
end.
(Chinese).
Thanks, guys.
Well, we were talking about this coffee house called Wash & Coffee.
In the article we see this place aims to make people feel at home.
So it aims to make people feel at home.
And if you can sit and drink coffee while you do your laundry, it does seem like
you would be at home.
But I really like this phrase here: It aims to do something.
So let's look at that for a minute.
Gabe, what does it mean if you aim to do something?
Well, that means it's your goal.
So it's the goal of Wash & Coffee to make customers or patrons feel at home
there at the coffee shop while they're doing laundry and surfing the Internet.
It's their aim to do this.
You could also use this in other ways.
It's our aim here at Studio Classroom to help you improve your English.
It's our aim to do that.
That's right.
And a lot of people their aim, or their goal, is to make other people happy.
They aim to please other people.
Do you aim to please?
I think Wash & Coffee aims to please its patrons.
I think so, too.
And we're going to learn about another coffee house here.
We're going around the world a little bit to Bangkok.
At the Big Knit Cafe in Bangkok, Thailand, customers are served yarn along with
their coffee.
This sounds really interesting so far.
Let's take a look at that key word "yarn." When I think of yarn, I think of a
kind of string.
Usually you might see a ball of yarn.
And you can use yarn to make clothes or other kinds of materials, yarn.
That's right.
And so here you can knit with yarn at this cafe, the Big Knit Cafe in Bangkok,
and you get yarn with your coffee.
And we see that the cafe attracts all levels of knitters - experienced staff
offer help to the novices, or the novices.
So it's very interesting that you can knit while you drink your coffee here.
I think it's an interesting idea, too.
Would you like to go to a coffee shop and begin to knit the next sweater you
will wear?
Or maybe you can make a gift for somebody while you sit and drink your coffee.
Let's take a look at another Word Bank word here, the word "novice." Now a
novice is a beginner at something.
You're talking here about the experienced people helping the novices.
So of course there are the experts, the people who know what they're doing.
And they're there to help novices like me, who do not know how to knit yet.
That's right.
I would also be a novice when it comes to knitting.
But this sounds like a really great place to learn.
You can sit there, have so many experienced people show you how to do it, and
enjoy some really nice coffee in Thailand.
I think I might have to take a trip to Thailand just to learn how to knit.
Just to learn how to knit.
Well, I think that there are many different kinds of novices.
You see that key word, and you can talk about a beginner in a lot of different
ways.
Maybe if you're just learning how to play musical instrument, you could call
yourself a novice at the guitar.
You're just learning how to play.
The letters N-O-V, "nov-," actually mean new.
So you're new to this... this topic or this experience.
That's right.
So I guess I will be a novice at tai chi. Right?
Really? You just started?
Yes, I did. I just started taking tai chi lessons this past month, I guess.
And yeah, it's... it's very difficult, so I would be a novice.
All right. Well, you can still teach me something because I know nothing about
tai chi.
Well, we're continuing to learn more about coffee and coffee houses.
And a coffee house may just serve great coffee, or it may offer something extra.
So we're just reviewing this lesson about coffee houses.
Of course it could just have great coffee, or maybe the best coffee houses, the
coolest coffee houses give you a little something extra.
It's true.
But either way, there's nothing like the rich smell of coffee.
And it's true, coffee does have a very rich smell.
We talked about that on the first day of this article.
But there's a little phrase in this sentence, "there's nothing like..." There's
nothing like something else.
What does that mean?
That means this is truly a unique experience.
The smell of coffee, the rich smell of coffee is really unique.
There's nothing like it.
You can use this phrase in other ways.
There's nothing like a hot shower in the middle of winter. Yes.
Well, how else can use that phrase?
Well, you might also say there's nothing like a mother's love.
It's a very unique kind of love, and your mother is the only one that can give
it to you, so there's really nothing like it.
All right.
Well, how else can you use that phrase?
Try that today.
Use this phrase: There's nothing like something.
All right.
Now it's time for us to continue with a review skit.
And then we're going to join Michelle in the Language Lab.
Ah, coffee house with good coffee.
What could be better?
A cool coffee house with good coffee.
Cool? What do you mean?
Japan has a coffee treehouse.
A coffee house in a real tree?
Well, no. It's not in a real tree, but it's still impressive.
Take the elevator, and you are rewarded with coffee and an ocean view.
That is cool.
There's also a coffee cafe in Japan with bunnies.
Real bunny rabbits?
Yes. You can sip your coffee and pet one of 18 bunnies.
Hooray! Let's go to Japan.
But wait, wait, wait.
In Germany, patrons can enjoy coffee, watch TV and do laundry.
People can do that at home.
That's the idea - to make you feel at home.
No, thanks.
In Thailand, customers are served yarn with their coffee.
Do they drink it?
No. They knit with it.
The cafe attracts all levels of knitters.
So do you want great coffee or great coffee with something extra?
Either way is good, just give me that rich coffee smell.
Ah.
(Chinese).
And now let's get back to our teachers.
We've been talking all about coffee houses.
Do you go to a coffee house just for great coffee, or do you go for the
environment to see what is special about that coffee house?
Well, my question for you is what is the most interesting coffee house that you
have been to.
Maybe you've been to quite a few.
What is one interesting one?
Carolyn, have you ever been to a unique coffee house?
Well, I have been to a few unique coffee houses.
But one that really sticks out to me was one I went to in college.
And you could go in and sit in these very comfy, cozy chairs and just sit and
play games for hours.
And they had very, very many specialty drinks.
And they sold pastries baked by people locally.
So it was a very interesting place to enjoy coffee.
That sounds good.
I've been to a coffee house where they had a bunch of cats running around, and
you didn't have to pay a dollar just to pet the cats.
Well, it's time for us to say goodbye for now.
But we will see you next time right here at Studio Classroom.
See you.