VOA慢速英语20060102b

THIS IS AMERICA - Diners: A Taste of America's Past Stays Fresh in Minds and StomachsBy Katherine Gypson

Broadcast: Monday, January 02, 2006

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. This week, sit down and enjoy an American tradition -- the diner.

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VOICE ONE:

A diner is a small restaurant. Old-time diners were built in a factory and transported to their place of business.

Diners usually have an open kitchen and a long counter. People can sit at the counter and watch the cooks make their food.

A diner can be a place for people in a community to gather, drink coffee and talk. Or it can be a welcome stop for travelers on the road.

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VOICE TWO:

Around the late eighteen fifties, there was a young man in Providence¹, Rhode Island, named Walter Scott. In fact, the American Diner Museum says he was just seventeen. Walter Scott discovered a way to make extra money. He brought food to men who worked late at night in the city.


Walter Scott

Back then, restaurants closed by eight o'clock. Hungry workers needed a place where they could buy homemade food quickly and easily.

In eighteen seventy-two, Walter Scott began to sell food out of a wagon² pulled by a horse. He could move his business from place to place and sell more night lunches.

VOICE ONE:

People in other cities improved on the idea. They bought their own wagons³ and called them night cafes or lunch wagons. Companies began to make wagons big enough for people to sit inside.

In some places, lunch wagons were so popular that city leaders thought there were too many of them in the streets. To avoid trouble, the owners parked their businesses on empty lots that were out of the way.

Soon, the owners recognized that they could make more money by staying in one place and selling many different kinds of food.

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VOICE TWO:

By the nineteen twenties, lunch wagons were bigger and stayed open all day, instead of only at night. Owners added tables, to appeal to women who did not want to sit at a counter.


Inside of the Premium⁴ Diner, which is currently⁵ for sale in New Jersey⁶.

The companies that made lunch wagons began to make them look like the railroad⁷ cars of the time. Owners thought that a new name would make people think of the dining cars on trains. They began to call their businesses diners.

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VOICE ONE:

Diners survived the Great Depression of the nineteen thirties. Americans who did not have jobs often ate at diners because the meals were low-priced.

After World War Two, companies began to make diners that looked like rockets and spaceships. They built diners out of shiny stainless⁸ steel, and made brightly colored signs lit by neon gas.


The Premium Diner was built by the Fodero Dining Car Company of Newark, New Jersey in 1949-1950. It is currently for sale.

Diner owners were always searching for ways to make their businesses look more modern. By this time, thousands of diners were being built across America.

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VOICE TWO:

Diners are known for comfort food. This kind of food reminds people of the meals their mothers and grandmothers made. Meatloaf is a good diner meal. It is baked in an oven⁹ and traditionally served with potatoes that are mashed¹⁰ and mixed with milk or cream.

Most diners serve breakfast meals all day long, not just in the morning. Pancakes are a favorite breakfast food at diners. They are a thin, round cake made of flour, eggs and milk -- all cooked on a greased¹¹ surface.

Another popular diner food is a milkshake. This sweet, thick drink is made of ice cream and milk. In the nineteen forties and 'fifties, teenagers would meet at diners to talk, drink milkshakes and listen to music.


Couple enjoying fries, hamburger and milkshake

Many diners had jukeboxes that people could operate from their tables. Someone could put in a coin, choose a song and then listen as it played throughout the restaurant.

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VOICE ONE:

Immigrants¹² owned many of the diners across America. They added foods from their own countries to the menu. Many diners offer Greek foods like baklava, a sweet, nut-filled pastry¹³. A gyro is another favorite -- lamb wrapped in soft bread and served with yogurt sauce.

Over the years, diners changed as American tastes changed. In the nineteen sixties, diners became less popular. New businesses like McDonald's offered fast food. The prices were low, service was quick and people knew they could find the same meals from place to place.

Soon diners across the country began to close. Many owners who stayed in business did not have enough money to improve their buildings. Instead of looking modern and new, diners looked old and tired. They could not keep up with the speed of American living.

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VOICE TWO:

Diners are much less common than they used to be. But they still hold a place in the American imagination. Several large companies have opened new diners that recreate the look of the past.

VOICE ONE:

Some people, though, are loyal¹⁴ to the old diners that have stayed in business. These people prefer to eat at places that have remained in the same spot for years. They eat at diners so often that the waitresses remember their names and ask about their families.

The Tastee Diner in Maryland opened in nineteen thirty-five. There are three locations. If you walked into the one in Bethesda, there is a good chance you would meet Jim. He is a regular there. In fact, he says he has been eating at the Tastee Diner since nineteen seventy-four.

Jim used to eat three meals a day there. Now, he stops by for coffee and a little something to eat.

Nathan has worked as a cook at the Tastee Diner for ten years. Nathan and the waitresses happily greet Jim every time he walks through the door. They talk to him while they go about their work.

Jim says that the people who work at the diner are like a second family for him. He laughs, and says a diner is the only place where you can find good food and pretty waitresses.

VOICE TWO:

Today, the Tastee Diner seems more popular than ever. Frank¹⁵ Long, the manager, says Saturday and Sunday mornings are very busy. People have to wait in long lines outside the small diner.

The Tastee Diner also continues another tradition. It stays open twenty-four hours a day. Frank Long says many people come to the diner in the middle of the night to eat comfort food and drink coffee.

In a way, not much has changed since Walter Scott sold food out of a cart in Providence, Rhode Island, more than a hundred thirty years ago.

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VOICE ONE:

You can learn more on the Internet about the history of American diners. Some of our information, for example, came from the University of Vermont Historic¹⁶ Preservation¹⁷ Program. The university Web site is uvm.edu. The American Diner Museum in Providence is not ready to serve visitors in person yet, but it's always open at dinermuseum.org.

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Our program was written by Katherine Gypson, who just finished an internship¹⁸ in Special English and works¹⁹ in a diner. Our producer was Caty Weaver²⁰. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Internet users²¹ can read and listen to our reports at www.unsv.com. Listen again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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1 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

2 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

3 wagons   

n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车

参考例句：

• The wagons were hauled by horses. 那些货车是马拉的。
• They drew their wagons into a laager and set up camp. 他们把马车围成一圈扎起营地。

4 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

5 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

6 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

7 railroad   

n.铁路；vi.由铁路运输

参考例句：

• The railroad connects two cities,namely,New York and Chicago.这条铁路连接两个城市，即纽约与芝加哥。
• My brother is working on the railroad.我兄弟在铁路系统工作。

8 stainless   

adj.无瑕疵的，不锈的

参考例句：

• I have a set of stainless knives and forks.我有一套不锈钢刀叉。
• Before the recent political scandal,her reputation had been stainless.在最近的政治丑闻之前，她的名声是无懈可击的。

9 oven   

n.烤炉；烤箱

参考例句：

• You put food inside an oven to cook it.你把食物放进烤箱里热一下。
• She baked bread in an oven.她用烤炉烤面包。

10 mashed   

a.捣烂的

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。

11 greased   

灌足酒的，醉的

参考例句：

• Iron corrodes unless it is greased or kept clean. 如果不涂油或保持清洁铁便会腐蚀。
• I greased front and rear hubs and adjusted the brakes. 我在前后轮毂上都抹了润滑油，还调校了刹车。

12 immigrants   

n.移民( immigrant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Illegal immigrants were given the opportunity to regularize their position. 非法移民得到了使其身份合法化的机会。
• Immigrants from all over the world populate this city. 这个城市里生活着来自世界各地的移民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 pastry   

n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry.厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• The pastry crust was always underdone.馅饼的壳皮常常烤得不透。

14 loyal   

adj.忠诚的，忠心的

参考例句：

• He is a loyal friend.他是一位忠诚的朋友。
• I judge him to be loyal.我认为他很忠诚。

15 frank   

adj.坦白的，直率的，真诚的

参考例句：

• A frank discussion can help to clear the air.坦率的谈论有助于消除隔阂。
• She is frank and outgoing.她很爽朗。

16 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

17 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

18 internship   

n.实习医师，实习医师期

参考例句：

• an internship at a television station 在电视台的实习期
• a summer internship with a small stipend 薪水微薄的暑期实习

19 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

20 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

21 users   

用户，使用者( user的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new software will prove a boon to Internet users. 这种新软件将会对互联网用户大有益处。
• Ramps should be provided for wheelchair users. 应该给轮椅使用者提供坡道。