1、=VOA- 美语咖啡屋=美语咖啡屋第 1 课Y: 各位听众好, 我是杨晨，欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。 J: Hello everyone, my name is Jody ! And welcome to American Cafe! American Cafe is a place where you can improve your spoken English by meeting people who actually live and work in the United States. Youre going to learn a lot more than English. I pro
2、mise. Y: 没错 , 我们这个节目非常丰富多采。您在这里不但可以学到地道的美国英语，还可以认识很多的美国人。 J: For today, Yang Chen and I spent our Sunday visiting a famous Washington D.C. hangout thats been a success here since 1976. Its called Kramers Books & Afterwards Cafe. Y: 对，在今天的节目中，我们要带您到一个非常有意思的地方。这里是华盛顿当地的居民非常喜欢的一个 hangout, 等一下我们要解释这个词。
3、J: Its a combination of a cafe, a bookstore, a restaurant and a bar. Y: 这个地方是 1976 年开业的。它不仅是一个书店，还是一个咖啡馆和餐厅。 J: Great! Lets introduce Mark who has been working at Kramers for 20 years. 实录 1: Mark: It was . in 1976 when they opened it, it was a unique idea combining a restaurant, bar with a bookstore
4、. Y: 我想在这里我们用 hangout 来形容 Kramers 是再合适不过了。我们俩在这里真的是渡过了一个很愉快的下午，又买书，又吃，非常非常的放松。这也就是人们到咖啡馆的目的吧。J: Exactly. And thats exactly what a customer named Peter explained why people come to Kramers and why its such a popular destination. 实录 2: Peter: Its a great meeting place. Its a very diverse bookstore. An
5、d its just a good place to come. Um, this bookstore has been here a long time, I dont know what long is, maybe 20 years or so. Its always been successful. Its always been lively. Its in a very lively part of town, probably the most cosmopolitan part of Washington. Y: 这个 Peter 有点儿英国口音。不过他已经在 Washingt
6、on 住了三十多年, 我们可以说他是地道的 Washington 人。 J: I think 30 years makes you a resident of the District. Y: 对， 如果 Jody 你要是到北京住三十年，我也可以说你是地地道道的北京人。 J: 好，谢谢您。 Y: 我们没有问 Peter 是做什么的，不过我觉得听他说话好象是一位教授。你看他用的这些词都很好。他用了一个“Cosmopolitan.“ J: I really like that word. “Cosmopolitan.“ Youre hip. Youre with it. Modern. Urban
7、. Y: “Cosmopolitan“ 这个词有世界性的，见过世面的这些意思。 我们可以说在中国，北京了，上海了，这些城市都非常 cosmopolitan. J: I think D.C., Washington D.C. the nations capital, is a very cosmopolitan city. You know, Mark mentioned a good word that I would like to go back to for a minute. 实录 3: Mark: Location, Location, location. Dupont Circle
8、 is a pedestrian neighborhood. There are people walking on the streets from early in morning til the middle of the night. And were the kind of place where you stop in and browse for books, stop in and have a cocktail. Its just an easy, fun place to go. Y: 我觉得 Mark 很有生意头脑。他说 Kramers 为什么这么成功，首先是它的地区。这
9、一带叫 Dupont Circle，是华盛顿非常繁华的一个地区，有很多年轻人住在这里。 J: Its not only the young people who make it successful. Its that diversity of the clientele. Where all different types of people come in . professors or diplomats, famous authors. Everybody stops in Kramers. Its kind of a joke. When someone says what are
10、three things important for the success of a business. The answer is “Location, location, location.“ Y: 一定要说三次。 J: So I thought we would include that. Its kind of a funny expression in English. Y: 对，如果你选对了地方的话，即使你不会经营，它可能也会财源滚滚。 J: Right, right. So both Mark, who is the employee and Peter, who is the
11、 frequent customer of the bookstore, - both of them talked about the importance of having a diverse and cosmopolitan clientele for success. Y: Peter 是位顾客，那我们就从一个顾客的角度来听听为什么 Kramers 这么受欢迎。 实录 4: Peter: Where you locate a bookstore is really absolutely critical. There is a cosmopolitan crowd around th
12、is area. If you stuck this in the middle of the country it would be a total failure. Y: Jody, 时间过得好快，五分钟马上就要到了。 J: I know. It went so fast. Y: 我知道。用五分钟来谈论咖啡文化到底对美国人意味着什么显然是不够的。 J: Really five minutes is not enough time. So, I think everyone should join us again for another program of American Cafe.
13、Y: 那么希望下次节目和您再见。 J: Come on Yang Chen, lets go hang out over a cup of coffee! -美语咖啡屋第 2 课J: Hello, Im Jody! Y: 大家好, 我是杨晨! J: And welcome to American Cafe. Y: 欢迎您到美语咖啡屋. Enter pipe band music Y: Jody, 今天的这个音乐, 我怎么觉得怎么熟悉啊 ？ J: Today I thought we would introduce Margaret Peng, the Chinese-American woma
14、n we met who does something quite uncommon. Shes a drummer in a Scottish pipe band. Yang Chen, how cool is that!? Y: 你说得没错，我对她的印象特别的深. 这个女孩儿叫 Margaret Peng, 是一位华裔，是华盛顿苏格兰风笛乐队的队员之一。在这种乐队里华人并不多见。那么，作为一个华裔，她是怎么迷上这种音乐的呢？我们来看看她是怎么说的： 实录 1: Margaret Peng: Im a tenor drummer in the pipe band and I started
15、playing in high school. Eh. I had a friend who was in the bagpipe band in high school. That what she played. She said: “Come on join it with me, join it.“ So I did it and I didnt think Id keep doing it but I am (laughs). J: How many years now? MP: Ive been in this band Ive been in for 12, 12 years.
16、Right. Y: Margaret 刚才说她是在高中就加入了乐队一直到现在她练了十二年了，很长时间。 J: 12 years! Wow. Y: 真的很不简单。 她加入乐队的原因其实很简单。 她当时她有一个朋友在乐队里吹bagpipe 的, 就问她, 你参加不参加? 她说好啊，就是那么简单. J: Thats simple. She was in high school and a friend told her to come join the band. Y: 没错，没错。她在乐队里是鼓手。 J: Yang Chen, I was so impressed when we saw Marg
17、aret Peng twirling her mallets in the air! Its like she was dancing! Really beautiful. She explained to me that the mallets are actually the sticks you use to bang the drum. Y: 对， “mallet”就是敲鼓用的鼓槌，或者小音槌。当时如果你能看到 Margaret Peng 挥舞小音槌的姿势，你会觉得她非常优美，简直就象跳舞一样。 J: The music of the Scottish pipe band is so
18、bizarre, isnt it? Y: Bizarre? J: You know, 奇怪。 Y: 我想在这里可能说它奇特更合适吧。 J: Oh, 不是奇怪的意思? Y: “Bizarre“当然有奇怪的意思，不过这里说奇特更合适一些，因为这个音乐还是很好听的。J: I dont think anything sounds quite like the music of Scotland. And especially the bagpipes. While the drums are familiar, Yang Chen, to many cultures, I dont think the
19、 bagpipes are.实录 2: Margaret Peng: It takes a lot of time. Its very difficult. Theres a bag that you inflate with a blowpipe in your mouth. And you inflate the bag and every time you blow then you squeeze after you finish blowing. And you have to keep the pressure constant to keep that drone sounds.
20、 And then you have to play and then you have to walk. So theres a lot of things going on at the same time. Y: 说起来这种乐器的名字里面有个“笛”，风笛。其实它比中国笛子或长笛相比要大得多，看上去也很重。 J: They have to carry all their instruments as they are marching. Y: Margaret 刚才提到吹奏风笛有一种“drone sound”。我想要让听众更好地了解这种声音，还是让他们听一段音乐。 J: Of course
21、 thats the best way. Lets play a droning bagpipe. Enter bagpipe music. J: I mean, picture this, Yang Chen. A group of musicians, men and women, dressed in the same very formal Scottish costume with kilt, you know a skirt, and carrying their instruments as they parade around. Y: 大家可以想象一下，一群人带着自豪感，昂首阔
22、步地前进。我还记得 Margaret 当时给我的印象很深，她很威风，对不起？ J: Exactly. Y: 苏格兰男子身上穿的这种花格裙是苏格兰特有的一种服饰。这种裙子的正确说法是 “kilt,“ 而不是 “skirt.“J: Youre right Yang Chen, the word is “kilt.“ K-I-L-T. I think Margaret gave a good explanation of the origin of Scottish pipe band music.实录 3: Margaret Peng: And bagpipes are the tradition
23、al Scottish instruments used in time of war to help signal whether they were going to retreat or whether they were going to attack. Y: 原来在古代的苏格兰，人们用吹奏 bagpipe 来向军队发出信号，告诉他们应该进攻还是撤退。 最后我们来欣赏一段传统的苏格兰音乐。Jody, 你知道吗，这段音乐是我的一个朋友演奏的。 J: Oh, thats wonderful. And actually thats the end of our show today. So,
24、 thank you for stopping in to American Cafe. Y: 再见! J: See ya! -美语咖啡屋第 3 课J: Hello Im Jody and welcome to American Cafe. Y: 各位听众好， 欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。 J: You know, Christmas is just around the corner and I am already starting to feel Christmas all around me. Y: 你是说商店里现在挤满了抢购礼物的人，还有电视上不停地在播放圣诞节的广告，对不对？ J
25、: No, no! I ignore all of that stuff. No, what I mean, is Im starting to hear and smell Christmas. OK, Close your eyes, Yang Chen, and think about Christmas and tell me what you hear and smell. (Silence. Long pause) J: Yang Chen? Yang Chen, anything yet? You know people are waiting. Y: 哎呀，你等一等。我正在竖着
26、耳朵听呢，还得使劲闻一闻。你不是说要我闭着眼睛寻找感觉吗？呣,我找到了。 在一个美丽的夜晚，星星在闪耀，我站在雪地里，听到了雪橇那悦耳的声音。对，就是这种感觉，你觉得怎么样？ J: Thats okay. But I was thinking more like . chainsaws. Y: Chainsaws? 啊呀，你真是扫我的兴啊。原来你说的声音是电动锯的声音。太不浪漫了。 J: Well, I know its not romantic, but I love the sound of a chainsaw and the smell of a pine tree being cut
27、. The Christmas tree tradition is one of the best things about Christmas. Y: 对。真正的圣诞树用的是松树？ J: Right, pine tree. Y: 那人们是不是要到森林里去砍树呢？ J: Oh, no no-no. You dont go to a forest to cut down your Christmas tree. There are Christmas tree farms. Y: 哦, 原来有 Christmas tree farms。这还不错，用不着去破坏森林。说道这里，我倒是好象真的闻到了松
28、树的味道了。 J: Oh, thats me. Y: 你用了什么香水？ J: Not perfume! I have just come from a Christmas tree sale in my neighborhood. Y: 有意思吗？ J: I did. And it was wonderfully entertaining. The elementary school held a Christmas tree sale to raise money. And there I met a woman named Ann, who is not only the organize
29、r of the sale but she is also very active in the elementary school with the Parent Teacher Association, also known as the PTA. Y: 好啊，那我们就听听组织者 Ann 都说了些什么。 实录 1: Ann: We have from Charlie Brown trees to big beautiful balsam firs And we have a range of prices. And we do this to support the school PTA
30、and it pays for supplies and trips and things like that for the children. And, um, so we do it two days over the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, and hopefully raise some money. And also just build a lot of good feelings about the school inside the community. Y: Ann 刚才说的 PTA 就是老师和家长联合组成的协会。原来他们举办圣诞树销售活
31、动是为了协会筹款，另外还可以增强学校和社区的感情。 J: Right. And it really does spread community feelings in the neighborhood. Thats what Christmas is all about! (Enter Music “O Tannenbaum“ from Cyrus Chestnuts A Charlie Brown Christmas) Y: Ann 刚才提到 Charlie Brown。 我们都知道 Charlie Brown 是著名的花生漫画系列里的人物。 J: Again, heres Ann.实录 2
32、: Ann: Well, Charlie Brown, the cartoon character, always had a very small little sad-looking tree that nobody wanted, but he took it home and was very happy with it. So we always have some people that come and look for a Charlie Brown tree. Y: Ann 刚才说的多好啊，一棵瘦小的圣诞树在可怜巴巴地等待着有人把它带回家。 J: The holiday ca
33、rtoons with Charlie Brown and Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang are really an important part of Christmas for almost all children in the United States. Well, not just children. because every year I watch the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Y: 你要借给我看一看。 J: I will, I will give it you. You and y
34、our family will love it. And truly Charlie Brown fell in love with a small, scrawny, little lonely Christmas tree that nobody wanted. And took it home and he gave it love. And it turned out to be a perfect Christmas tree. Y: 没错。Charlie Brown 过圣诞是一个非常经典的故事，大人小孩都喜欢。Jody，你知道吗，我们家那棵圣诞树又小有不太好看，而且是塑料的，用了好
35、几年。我今年本来打算把它扔了，可是我女儿不让我扔。我想她可能对这棵树非常有感情。不过今天听你解释了Charlie Brown Christmas tree，我想要是下次有人再笑话我们家的树太小太难看的话，我就可以告诉他这棵树可是典型的 Charlie Brown Christmas tree。 J: Of course, you tell them you have a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, Yang Chen! Y: 没错。我可以向别人炫耀我有棵 Charlie Brown Christmas tree。 J: Thanks for tuning int
36、o American Cafe. Okay, see you again! Y: 谢谢大家到我们的美语咖啡屋。好，我们下次再见。-美语咖啡屋第 4 课Y: 各位听众好。我是杨晨，欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。在今天的节目中.。 哎，我们的另外一位节目主持人,Jody, 还没来哪。Oh, Jody. 别担心，别担心， 她来了.。 ( Door closing. Bags rustling.) J: Yang Chen, Im so sorry Im late. Has the program started yet? Y: 当然已经开始啦。 J: Oh, Im so sorry everyone. Hel
37、lo everyone! Welcome to American Cafe. My apologies. Y: 你怎么今天迟到了? J: Just go ahead without me. Im going to get my bags. (Sound of rustling bags.) Y: Jody 你干吗呢? 能不能集中点精神？ . 啊?! 你竟然去逛街去了？ J: Shopping? No, no, no. I was not shopping. Y: 那这些购物袋是怎么回事儿呢？ J: What bags? Oh, these bags? Right, You see, Yang
38、Chen, I was doing research. Y: 作研究, 做什么研究啊？ J: Research on . buying and selling. Y: 啊哈，作市场调查。那还不是和逛街差不多。 J: Okay, I may have done a little shopping. But I just wanted to get in the mood. Because I thought shopping is such a popular pastime for Americans, we could do a show on shopping. What do you t
39、hink? Y: 我知道美国人，特别是女士们周末喜欢逛街。我也很喜欢啊。你下次再作市场调查可要叫我和你一快去啊。 J: Oh, absolutely! Actually for todays show I thought we could talk about a special type of store that Ive always wanted to know more about, a consignment store!Y: Consignment store? 哎, 咱俩那天在 Dupont Circle 路过的那家店就是一家 consignment store,对不对？ J:
40、The one and the same! Its called Secondi Consignment Store. And when I went back, I spoke with Molly, an employee there, who helped me understand exactly how a consignment store operates. Y: 我们来听听 Molly 怎么解释 consignment store 是什么意思。 实录 1 Molly: A consignment store is a store where people own the ite
41、ms that the store sells for them on their behalf. The original owner of the items is only paid once the items are sold on the store. Y: 这种商店在中文里应该叫寄售商店。 J: Lets listen to Molly again as she talks more about how a consignment store operates.实录 2 Molly: The consigner comes in. One of the managers goes
42、 through the items and tells the consigner “Yes, we can sell it“ or “No, we cant.“ “Heres what we think we can sell it for“ pricewise. And then the consigner gets 50 percent of that price. Y: Molly 刚才提到的 “consigner“. right? J: Consigner. Correct. Y: . 就是委托他们出售商品的客户。一般来说，客户拿东西到她们商店来，有一位专门负责收购的经理决定哪些她
43、们能卖出去，哪些她们不愿意卖。然后和客户商订价钱，商店会得到售价的 50%。 J: Wow, Yang Chen, you summed that up really well. A consigner is the person who brings the clothes in that they want the store, the consignment store, to sell for them. So a consignment is just like being a distributor. You know, a slang word for distributor i
44、s “middle man.“ And you say “middle man“ even if its a woman. Y: 呣, 在中文里呢, “middle man“应该就是“ 中间人“ 或者“经纪人“ 的意思。 J: Oh, hey, Yang Chen, also at Secondi they have a great system that keeps the inventory fresh. Y: 这家商店，就是 Secondi 这家商店，那么他们怎么避免货品的积压呢？我们再让 Molly解释一下。实录 3 Molly: After the first month the c
45、lothing goes down 20 %, and after the second month it goes down 40%, and after the third month if its still here, the contract that we have with the consigner is just that we can donate it automatically for them. Y: 噢，原来她们的货物第一月没卖出去就降价 20%，两个月卖不出去就降 40%，三个月还卖不出去就要捐出去了。听 Molly 怎么一说，如果我们每天去这家商店，那每天都能看
46、到她们的货架上有新的东西。 J: Oh, they have some really great items there. Some were way out of my price range. Too expensive! Y: 我知道，你说的 “well out of my price range“就是对我来说价钱太贵了，买不起。 J: But look at my new jeans! $28 and they still had the tag on them! Y: 才 28 美元？太值了！好了，各位听众，您今天了解了美国的 consignment store，不知道您有什么感想呢？我觉得，我真是一种很不错的消费方法，以低于零售商店的价格买到名牌衣服。这简直就是每个女士的梦想。哎，Jody， 咱们现在就去吧！ J: Thanks for tuning to American Cafe. Come on, Yang Chen, lets go! Y: 谢谢您收听美语咖啡屋，我们下次再见。-美语咖啡屋第 5 课
