【英语趣味课堂】户外烧烤-Barbecue

Todd: What are you doing on Saturday because a friend of mine is having a big dinner, like a big party that a lot of my colleagues¹ are going to go to, it's like a big holiday dinner.

Katia: Really, is it this Saturday?

 

Todd: It's this Saturday yes, it's on the eleventh.

 

Katia: Actually I don't believe I have any plans. Where is it going to be?

 

Todd: It's in a town called Usa, it's not that far from here. I'm going to take the train because I want to drink because we'll have wine and beer at the party so I won't drive. But I think the train will take about an hour and a half which is kind of too bad because it's only a forty minute drive.

 

Katia: It might be worth it. Who is going to be there?

 

Todd: Mainly it's going to be English teachers, people that I work with but they are going to be bringing their wives and husbands and children and friends. There's actually going to be a few students like yourself, a couple of graduate students, so it should be fun. Then we're going to have turkey and ham and desserts.

 

Katia: It sounds like the food is going to be quite good. And why is this exactly? Are you celebrating something in particular or is it somebody else's birthday?

 

Todd: Well no actually it's going to be the Thanksgiving dinner but we missed Thanksgiving because we all live overseas², we all teach obviously³ away from our countries so we do this every year but it's not an American thing or a Canadian thing, it's everybody. So there's going to be British people and Australians and people from India, so it's kind of a big international party.

 

Katia: It sounds quite exciting but do you think it would all right if I can bring somebody else along?

 

Todd: Oh yeah, you can bring as many guests as you like. Well let me take that back. You can bring a couple of guests, I think. I'm sure that it would be OK. But I think it's a pot luck, you're supposed to bring some food.

 

Katia: OK, OK. Let me think because I will need to take the train. It takes about one hour, I'm not too sure. At what time did you say it's going to be?

 

Todd: Actually it starts in the afternoon at about two o'clock and it should end by maybe seven or eight.

 

Katia: OK. Let me think about it.

 

Todd: Sure.

 

Katia: Would that be all right?

 

Todd: Yeah, I don't want to pressure you or anything like that. It's just an offer but if you change your mind just either email me or give me a call and I'll let them know that you're coming.

 

Katia: OK and I'll write it down this Saturday.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

be worth it

 

It might be worth it.

 

When something is worth it, that means⁴ we benefit⁵ from it. Notice the following:

 

Taking the course was worth it.

It's expensive software. I hope it's worth it.

let me take that back

 

You can bring as many guests as you like. Well let me take that back. You can bring a couple of guests.

 

When we want to change something we've just said, we say "let me take that back." Notice the following:

 

Let me take that back. I love your new hairstyle⁶.

Let me take that back. I really didn't mean it.

in particular

 

Are you celebrating something in particular or is it somebody else's birthday?

 

The term 'in particular' is similar in meaning to 'specific⁷'. Notice the following:

 

Are you looking for something in particular?

Are you looking for something specific?

Let me think about it

 

OK. Let me think about it.

 

We use the phrase⁸ 'let me think about it' when we need time to make a decision. Notice the following:

 

It's nice, but let me think about it.

Let me think about it and get back to you.

pressure

 

I don't want to pressure you or anything like that.

 

When we pressure someone, that means we try to get them to do something they don't want to do. Notice the following:

 

They pressured him into quitting.

Stop pressuring me!

1 colleagues   

n.同事，同僚( colleague的名词复数 )；同人

参考例句：

• He wanted to confer with his colleagues before reaching a decision. 他想与他的同事先商议一下再作出决定。
• She is held in high esteem by her colleagues. 她深受同事的敬重。

2 overseas   

adj.海外的；adv.在海外

参考例句：

• Her man has been sent overseas by his employers.她的丈夫已被雇主派往海外。
• Many firms are focusing on increasing their markets overseas.许多商行都专注于扩大国外市场。

3 obviously   

adv.显然；明白地

参考例句：

• Obviously they were putting him to a severe test.显然他们是在给他以严峻的考验。
• Obviously he was lying.显然他是在撒谎。

4 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。

5 benefit   

n.好处，益处，福利；vt.有益于，对…有益；vi.受益于

参考例句：

• The money is to be used for the benefit of the poor.这笔钱用来为穷人谋福利。
• He thought he would benefit from going to school.他认为上学对他有好处。

6 hairstyle   

n.发型，发式

参考例句：

• Do you like my new hairstyle?你喜欢我的新发型吗？
• This hairstyle is in the fashion.这种发型现在很时髦。

7 specific   

adj.明确的；具体的；特定的

参考例句：

• The money is to be used for specific purposes.这笔钱有专门用途。
• We haven't fixed a specific date for our meeting.我们会议的具体日期还没有定下来。

8 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。