【英语趣味课堂】餐前小吃-Tapas

Chris: So what about other good dishes, tell me?

 

Ade: Well it’s not a dish, but is very popular in Spain when you order a beer, they put you a tapas and it’s very nice to go out with your friends and have some tapas. I love to do that because you have small portions¹ of food and you can go and ask for some fish or for some meat, so you have a very different kind of lunch doing that, no.

 

Chris: Oh yeah, of course, everybody knows about the tapas. But they say it’s really something from the south and it has a story behind it, but I don’t really remember it. Could you enlighten² me with that story, please?

 

Ade: Yeah. Tapas means³ 'to cover' in Spanish. So it was before that when they order something to drink they have to put a little plate on top so the flies don’t go into the drink. That’s why they started calling it tapas, because it covers the drink.

 

Chris: So when then in the end on that plate they start putting like little things to eat?

 

Ade: Yeah, exactly.

 

Chris: And then just that got just bigger and bigger and bigger?

 

Ade: Yeah, really big. But the problem is that it’s very popular in the south because it’s still original kind of going to have some tapas, because in the north now is like it’s popular but only for tourists. And you have to pay a lot of money to have a tapa. And actually in the original way of having a tapa means that you only pay for the drink and the tapa comes for free.

 

Chris: For free, oh nice, so that’s what tourists don’t know. So what do you say about that we go and have a beer?

 

Ade: Yeah, sure.

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

dish

 

So what about other good dishes, tell me?

 

The word dish can have two meanings. It can mean a plate, or a type of food. Here it means food. Notice the following:

 

My favorite Italian dish is lasagna.

That Chinese restaurant has many spicy⁴ dishes.

go out with

 

It is nice to go out with friends.

 

When you go out with friends, you do something together away from home to enjoy each other's company. Notice the following:

 

I like to go out with friends on the weekend.

I plan to go out with my coworkers tonight.

take your word

 

I'll take your word on that.

 

This phrase⁵ means you trust what someone says. Notice the following:

 

I would not work for that company. The manager is a bad man.

I'll take your word on that.

enlighten

 

Could you enlighten me with that story?

 

When you enlighten someone, you educate them in an entertaining way. Notice the following:

 

He enlightened⁶ us with his tales of Europe.

My father used to always enlighten us at the dinner tables with stories of his youth.

flies

 

They put a little plate on top so the flies don’t go into the drink.

 

A fly is a very common insect that flies around and like to land on food. Notice the following:

 

There are alwasy flies around cows.

I killed the fly with a fly-swatter.

1 portions   

一部分( portion的名词复数 )； 一份遗产（或赠与的财产）； 分享的部份； 嫁妆

参考例句：

• Three portions of fish and chips, please. 请来三份炸鱼薯条。
• supersize portions of fries 超大份炸薯条

2 enlighten   

v.授予...知识，启发，教导，开导

参考例句：

• Can you enlighten her on this subject?对这个问题你能启发启发她吗？
• Please enlighten me with your instructions.请不吝赐教。

3 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。

4 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。

5 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。

6 enlightened   

a.开明的，有知识的

参考例句：

• The teacher's words made me at once become enlightened. 老师的一席话使我顿开茅塞。
• What she said enlightened all of us. 她一讲，大家心里都亮堂了。