英语访谈对话 293 France

 　　Todd: OK, Hello!

　　Raphael: Hello!

　　Todd: Can you say your name please?

　　Raphael: Yeah, sure. My name is Raphael ThibaultTodd: Thibault!

　　Raphael: Yeah! Thibault!

　　Todd: OK, and that's your last name?

　　Raphael: Ah, yeah, it's my last name, but it's a first name too in France.

　　Todd: Oh, reallyRaphael: Yeah! It's quite traditional. It's from the middle ages.

　　Todd: OKRaphael: Yeah, yeah, yeah!

　　Todd: Wow, Where are you from in France?

　　Raphael: I just finished my studies in Paris, but I was born in the South. Actually, it's the place they make foie gras. If you know about foie gras.

　　Todd: Yeah, yeah, yeahRaphael: We used¹ to eat on Christmas and..

　　Todd: What exactly is foie gras? Sorry, it's hard for me to say.

　　Raphael: It's from the duck. It's um, how do you call it?

　　Todd: The liver²?

　　Raphael: Yeah, the liver! That's it. The liver, and it's cooked an official³ way and you can have it both like cold or hot, I mean, any kind, but the point is, the duck has to be fed in nature, right! It's not working if it's in a, industrial⁴ feeding duckTodd: Oh, really!

　　Raphael: It doesn't produce really good foie gras, yeah!

　　Todd: So the duck must come from nature?

　　Raphael: Yeah, actually, that's why this place is famous for because it's countryside. There's no really big cities and most of the people are farmers so they actually produce some really good foie gras, like I heard the competition comes from East Europe now but they make more like industrial foie gras. It's a little different, but anyway, that's the place I'm born.

　　Todd: Wow! Is that the eastern⁵ side or the western side?

　　Raphael: It's the southwest.

　　Todd: OK, towards Spain.

　　Raphael: Yeah, that's it. Exactly! Like below Bordeaux, a city called Bordeaux, it's a bit below this city.

　　Todd: OK, so Bordeaux is known⁶ for wine.

　　Raphael: Yeah, yeah, exactly.

　　Todd: So, is it near the mountains or?

　　Raphael: It's not that close to Spain. It's, how can I say, yeah, it's not the extremity⁷ of France, it's more like center-south, you know.

　　Todd: Oh, OK. Sounds like a pretty place though.

　　Raphael: What?

　　Todd: It sounds like a pretty place.

　　Raphael: Yeah, yeah, it's quite nice. It's quite nice. I mean, it's countryside right. You have to like it. There's not a lot of things to do, but, I spend like my, from fifteen years old, I live there and then I moved to another city called La Rochelle, which is close to the sea, just in front of the sea actually, and that's a better place. I like it much.

1 used   

adj.用旧了的，旧的；习惯于…；过去惯/经常

参考例句：

• I used to work until nearly 6:00 o'clock each day.我过去常常工作到6:00左右。
• He used to walk anywhere from two to five miles an hour.他过去经常一小时走二至五英里。

2 liver   

n.肝；肝脏

参考例句：

• He has a weak liver.他的肝脏不好。
• The largest organ in the body is the liver.人体最大的器官是肝脏。

3 official   

n.官员，公务员；adj.官方的；正式的；公务的

参考例句：

• The man with glasses is a high official.那个戴眼镜的人是一位高级官员。
• His official duties kept him busy.公务使他繁忙不堪。

4 industrial   

adj.工业的，产业的，实业的；从事工业的；工业高度发达的

参考例句：

• Shanghai is the most important industrial base of China.上海是中国最重要的工业基地。
• Shenyang is among the largest industrial cities in China.沈阳是中国最大工业城市之一。

5 eastern   

adj.东部的，东方的

参考例句：

• Japan is one of the eastern countries.日本是东方国家之一。
• China is an eastern country.中国是一个东方国家。

6 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

7 extremity   

n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度

参考例句：

• I hope you will help them in their extremity.我希望你能帮助在穷途末路的他们。
• What shall we do in this extremity?在这种极其困难的情况下我们该怎么办呢？