The Charcoal Pit

Lesson 16

Text A

                                     The Charcoal¹ Pit
    Erika was worried. Her restaurant was losing customers. The new restaurant across the street now had more customers than she did. She had even seen some of her own customers going to eat at The Charcoal Pit. What was she going to do?
    One thing she could do was revise her menu. Maybe not everyone wanted hamburgers. She might add omelets and casseroles. The menu might help.
    Perhaps the decor of her restaurant was dated. She could redecorate the place. Erika decided² to consult an interior³ decorator who could give her some new ideas. A face-lift for Burger Haven⁴ would certainly lift her spirits.
    In fact, she felt better after thinking of some improvements. Erika would fight to make her restaurant the most popular one in town.

 

 

                                             Text B
                                 There Is Hepe for Us !

   Tina and Leela are talking to each other. They are standing⁵ outside a dance-hall and they are talking about dancing. TINA:   I haven't danced for a long time.
LEELA:   Neither have I.
TINA:   We must go to a dance soon, or we'll forget how to dance.
LEELA:   Yes, we must. What have you been doing since I last saw you?
TINA:   I've been studying hard for my examinations. And you?
LEELA:   I've been learning Japanese every evening.
TINA:   Why have you been learning Japanese? Why not English?
LEELA:   I hope to visit Japan next yesr.
TINA:   Well, we'll both have to start learning all the new dances.
LEELA:   Yes, let's go into the dance-hall and ask if we can take dancing-lessons .
TINA:   A good idea. They can teach elephants to dance nowa days  perhaps there's hope for   us !

　
 
Questions on Text B

7. Read the following passage once. Underline the key words while reading and retell the story to your partner.

    When I looked out the window and saw the snow drift in the driveway, I thought to myself that I should never have gotten out of bed. I had been making preparatioris for more than two days for a large dinner party to bc held that night and knew that several of the people I was expecting to come would be calling to cancel if the snow continued much longer. I called upstairs to tell Jerry to look out the window. Jerry heard me and quickly got out of bed. He knew that the weather people had been predicting snow. Now it had really come. To Jerry, two or three inches of fresh snow would be just what was needed to make the ski trip a big success.
 
 

1 charcoal   

n.炭，木炭，生物炭

参考例句：

• We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 interior   

adj.在内的，内部的，内地的，国内的；n.内部

参考例句：

• There is water in the interior of the cave.在山洞的内部有水。
• They went into the interior room.他们进了内室。

4 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。