Using English at Work：26 Taking a Break and Eating Lunch(3)

"To join someone" means to do something that other people are doing.

For example, you may say to your friend, "I hear that you're going to see a movie tonight.

Can I join you?" You're asking if you can do the same thing that your friend is doing.

Diana is inviting¹ me to have lunch with her and some other people by asking me to join them.

I say, "Yes!" and the three of us walk across the street to a restaurant.

I'm happy that we went to the restaurant early, because we beat the rush.

"To beat the rush" means to do something or get somewhere early before it gets very crowded. In this case, we get to the restaurant early, before most people go there to eat lunch.

At lunchtime, the busiest hour for a restaurant in the U.S. is normally² between noon (or 12:00 p.m.) and 1:00 p.m.

You might beat the rush for a concert by buying your tickets very early, rather than waiting until the day of the concert. Both of these are cases of "beating the rush."

When we get to the restaurant, the hostess seats us at our table.

The "hostess" is a female³ restaurant employee who welcomes customers to the restaurant, takes them to their table, and often asks what they would like to drink.

If this employee is a man, he's called a "host."

Our hostess takes our "drink orders."

A "drink order" is what you ask for to drink at a restaurant or a bar just like a "food order" is what you ask for to eat.

Your drink order might be soda⁴, juice, beer, or some type of alcohol⁵.

Next, our server comes over with our drinks.

A "server' is the same thing as a "waiter" or a "waitress."

A "waiter" is a man, a "waitress" is a woman; a "server" can be either a man or a woman.

This is a restaurant employee who "serves," or brings food to the customers.

When the server comes with our drinks, we place our food orders.

I choose the lunch special and so does Diana.

A "lunch special" is a combination⁶ of foods that are offered for a lower price during lunchtime hours, usually Monday through Friday.

1 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

2 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

3 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

4 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

5 alcohol   

n.酒精，乙醇；含酒精的饮料

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。
• The alcohol is industrial.这些酒精是供工业用的。

6 combination   

n.组合，合并，联合；

参考例句：

• He carried on the business in combination with his friends.他与朋友们合伙做生意。
• The materials can be used singly or in combination.这些材料可以单独使用也可以混合用。