VOA双语新闻 McDonald's, Starbucks（在线收听）

Beauty and the Beast; The Prince and the Pauper; city mouse meets country mouse: Three classic tales where opposites cross paths, learn from each other, and live happily ever after.

《美女与野兽》、《王子与贫民》和《城市老鼠和乡村老鼠》这三个童话故事中，不同背景的“人”相识相遇，取长补短，从此以后融洽地生活在一起。

Which is exactly what McDonald's and Starbucks would like to do.

这大概也是麦当劳和星巴克想要建立的融洽关系。

Omnipresent McDonald's, boasts 30,000 eat-fast and drive-through restaurants in 119 countries. And upscale Starbucks, the coffee-bar king, helped hook America on premium, sweet and frothy coffee creations.

麦当劳快餐店遍布全球，在119个国家设有三万个快餐店，人们甚至不用下车，开车到一个小窗口就可以买到你想要的美味快餐。迎合高消费阶层的星巴克咖啡店则是咖啡店之王，他们推出的高档咖啡饮品， 味道香甜可口，上面漂浮的白色泡沫令人赏心悦目，令消费者欲罢不能。

Mickey D's has kids' "happy meals" and plastic-covered tables and chairs. At Starbucks, caramel "frappicinos," rumpled copies of the New York Times, and overstuffed couches are the vogue.

麦当劳以价廉物美的儿童餐、 简便的塑料桌椅为特色。 星巴克咖啡店的时尚饮料则是焦糖特调冷饮frappicino， 桌上还有几份顾客留下来的纽约时报，顾客可以坐在松软舒适的沙发上惬意地享受着悠闲的时光。

You get small, medium, and large Cokes at McDonald's. At Starbucks, if you don't use the proper words -- "tall," "grande," or "venti" -- to order your coffee, the baristas wrinkle their noses at you. You can even specify what they call "skinny," "dry" or "upside down" treatment of your steaming drinks.

在麦当劳，可口可乐分为小杯、中杯或大杯。而在星巴克咖啡店，要用tall表示一般尺寸大小的杯，中杯的称为grande 、最大尺寸的杯子称为venti。如果你用错了这些专有名词，就显得太土了，或许还会惹得巴台服务员冲你皱眉头。在星巴克，你可以告诉服务员你要点的饮料用skinny、dry或upside down，直译过来就是用“少”、“干粉”和“上下颠倒”的方式来调制出一杯热腾腾的饮料。

Two different worlds. But not if the companies get their way, especially at breakfast time.

听起来这是两个不同的世界。不过如果按照这两家公司的未来设想，尤其是在早餐时间，你将会看到一种完全不同的景像。

Along with muffins and scones, many Starbucks now have drive-through windows and sell breakfast sandwiches, just like McDonald's. Starbucks' are snootier, of course, with spinach and eggs, herbed sausage and aged cheddar cheese.

除了松饼和烤饼，现在许多星巴克咖啡店都为开车的顾客设有快餐窗口， 象麦当劳一样，出售早餐三明治，只不过星巴克的三明治配料更丰富， 里面夹有菠菜和鸡蛋、香草香肠和特制乾酪。

McDonald's, meantime, is going "uptown" with its own, premium Arabica-bean coffees, high-class pastries, and toasted Italian sandwiches. They're served in a wood-paneled corner of the store called the "McCafe."

而与此同时麦当劳却在往上层路线的方向发展，提供用特级阿拉伯咖啡豆自制的咖啡，精致的糕饼和意大利三明治。当劳专门在店里开辟出一个"McCafe"，出售这些高档食品。

So while McDonald's takes a bite out of Starbucks' clientele, Starbucks has begun to nibble in Mickey D's terrain. It's a new twist on the old story: burger mouse meets coffee mouse.

这样一来，虽然麦当劳拉走了星巴克咖啡的一些顾客，但是星巴克咖啡也开始侵入麦当劳的领地。故事的开始是汉堡鼠和咖啡鼠相遇进而相识，这个古老的童话故事出现了新的转折。