背诵为王 第 三 册 第 26 课

Lesson26 Come to a Party!
Most parties are quite relaxed these days, especially young people'sparties. You don't have to wear a long dress or a black tie when you want tohave a good time. In fact, you can usually wear what you like — anythingfrom jeans to suits and dresses. British and American people are often quiteinformal.
People will expect an answer even to an informal¹ invitation.
Just call to say if you can or cannot come. Some people of course(especially older ones) still enjoy formal parties. An invitation to a smartparty often has RSVP written at the bottom. This is short for the Frenchphrase responde si vous plait. It means² that you must write a letter ortelephone to say if you can or cannot come. People often send outinvitations weeks before a party. It's polite to answer as soon as possible.
What do you do if someone asks you to 'tea'? For some British people, 'tea'
means a cup of tea and a biscuit at 4:30 or 5 p.m. For others, 'tea' means ameal at 6:30 or 7 p.m. 'Formal dress' usually means a suit and tie for men,and a smart dress for women. 'Black tie' means that the men wear dinnerjackets and the women wear evening dresses. 'Black tie' is only for veryspecial occasions³.

smart party 正式的聚会、社交活动

聚会去！
今天的聚会大多相当随意，尤其是年轻人的聚会。想要玩得高兴，你不需长礼服或半正式礼服。事实上，你一般喜欢穿什么就穿什么——从牛仔到套装和礼服。英美两国的人常常穿得很休闲。
即使是一个非正式邀请，人们也会期待一个回复。你只要打个电话告知会不会去。当然，有些人（尤其是年纪大些的）仍然喜欢正式的聚会。一个高雅聚会的邀请函经常在底部写着RSVP。这是法语respondesi vous plait的简写。它的意思是你必须写信或打电话答复是否会来。邀请大都在聚会前几周发出。尽快答复是礼貌的做法。
如果有人邀请你“喝茶”，你会怎么做？对英国人来说，“喝茶”意味着在下午四点半或五点喝杯茶，吃点饼干。对有的国家的人来说，“喝茶”指在晚上六点半或七点吃饭。“正式礼服”一般指男人穿的套装和领带，以及女人穿的时髦的裙装。“小礼服”指男宾穿无尾礼服，女宾穿晚礼服。“小礼服”仅在非常特殊的场合才会穿。

1 informal   

adj.非正式的，不拘礼的，通俗的

参考例句：

• I got an informal reception.我受到了非正式接待。
• The leaders met over informal lunches.领袖们在非正式午餐时进行会晤。

2 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

3 occasions   

n.机会( occasion的名词复数 )；时刻；原因；需要

参考例句：

• The prosecution stated that intercourse had occurred on several occasions. 控诉方称发生过数次性交。
• He has been late on numerous occasions. 他已经迟到过无数次了。