实战口语情景对话：Dinner Debate 晚餐辩论

Todd: So, Marion, what are you going to do for dinner tonight?

托德：玛里昂，你今天晚上打算吃什么?

Marion: I think I'll go home, see what's in my fridge and in my cupboard and cook something up. I'm not sure what yet.

玛里昂：我想我会回家看看我的冰箱和橱柜里有什么，然后做些东西吃。现在我还不确定。

Todd: Ah, you're gonna cook?

托德：你要做饭吃吗?

Marion: Yeah, of course.

玛里昂：对啊，当然了。

Todd: Actually, I almost never cook. I cook maybe once or twice a year.

托德：实际上我几乎不做饭吃。我可能一年会做个一两次。

Marion: Really? (Yeah) Well, what do you do then? What do you eat?

玛里昂：真的吗?(对)那你都吃什么?

Todd: Oh, I always eat out. I buy my dinner every night. I think it's just better.

托德：我一直出去吃饭。我每天晚上会买晚饭吃。我觉得这样更好。

Marion: Oh, my God! Every night?

玛里昂：哦，我的天哪!每天晚上?

Todd: Every night.

托德：对，每天晚上。

Marion: How is it better, Todd? I don't understand.

玛里昂：托德，这样怎么会更好?我不明白。

Todd: Well, I mean, I know it's a waste of money, but it, I look at it, it just saves me a lot of time (Right, OK) so I don't have to go buy the food, store the food, and prepare the food, and cook the food, then clean up afterwards.

托德：我的意思是，我知道这有点浪费钱，可是这为我节省了很多时间，(好)这样我不用购买食物、储存食物、准备食物、烹饪食物，之后也不用进行清理工作。

Marion: Yeah, I don't like that part so much.

玛里昂：是，我也不太喜欢这个部分。

Todd: Right. When you just eat out, you know, it's quick and easy. It saves you time.

托德：对啊，出去吃饭又快又简单。能节省很多时间。

Marion: Yeah, hmm, I think though, I can see what you're saying about the time factor but for me sometimes cooking is a way of almost relieving stress, you know, or if I'm thinking about the day that's gone by and maybe something has stressed me out, I'll just go to the kitchen, and as long as I'm on my own, cause I like to cook on my own, I don't have to talk to anybody, and I can think about things that are going on and while I'm chopping the onions, you know, or opening tins or whatever I'm doing, it's just a time for me where I don't have to think about anything else, really apart from the food I'm preparing and then if something floats into my mind, I can kind of deal with it at the same time. I find it quite relaxing.

玛里昂：是没错，我能理解你说的节省时间的观点，可是对我来说烹饪是一种缓解压力的方法，如果我觉得哪天我过得很有压力，那我就会去厨房做饭，前提是我是一个人，因为我喜欢自己一个人做饭，这样不用和别人说话，我可以想一些事情，对我来说，切洋葱、开罐头或是做其他事情的时候，我除了我在准备的食物不用想任何事情，如果有些事情闯入我的脑海，那我也可以同时处理。我觉得这样非常放松。

Todd: Actually, I can see that. Actually, I run every night (Oh, yeah) you know, I love jogging and I usually jog for about an hour, and so when I come home, I'm sweaty, I need to take a shower, and I just don't have time them to use more time to cook cause I get home late from work so I just buy my food on the way home from my run to save time.

托德：我明白。实际上我每天晚上都跑步(是啊)你知道，我喜欢慢跑，我通常会慢跑一个小时，我回家的时候满身是汗，我需要洗个澡，所以我没有多余的时间做饭，因为我每天下班很晚，我只能在回家的路上买晚饭吃，这样我才能省出跑步的时间。

Marion: That surprises me actually because I know you, you run so you're really into your fitness but do you not consider the health factor about buying food all the time because it's always processed food, you know.

玛里昂：实际上这令我很惊讶，因为我知道你每天跑步，你喜欢健身，可是你在外面买饭吃的时候难道没有考虑过健康问题吗?你知道，那都是些加工食品。

Todd: Yeah, that's true. Well, I try to go to the deli in the supermarket (Oh, OK) and you know, they always have nice people behind the counter, often some sweet old lady or something and she's made some nice salad, or some dish, and I always figure, she can make it better than me.

托德：没错。我一般会去超市的熟食区，你知道那里的销售人员通常是温暖的老妇人，她通常会做好吃的沙拉或其他食物，她认为她做得比我好吃。

Marion: Right, probably.

玛里昂：也许吧。

Todd: And when I buy it I'm providing a job for somebody else, right, so there's a lot of good benefits by doing this system. Plus it's very social, right, because I live alone so I talk to the person at the counter, and I get variety every night.

托德：在我买食物的同时我也为他人提供了工作，这样做有很多好处。而且这也是一种社交，因为我一个人住，这样我就可以和熟食柜台的人说话，每晚都会接触不同的人。

Marion: Yeah, that's true though but if you went to the kitchen, and the place where you stay and you cook that would be very social as well, don't you think?

玛里昂：这话没错，不过如果你在厨房做饭，同样也可以是种社交，你不这么认为吗?

Todd: Yeah, but I live alone. Who would I talk to?

托德：可是我一个人住。我要和谁说话呢?

Marion: The other people in your communal kitchen. Don't you have a big communal kitchen?

玛里昂：公用厨房里的其他人。你那里没有公用厨房吗?

Todd: No, no, no. I live alone. (Ah) I used to, I used to share a kitchen, but now I live alone.

托德：没有，没有。我一个人生活。(哦)以前我和别人共用一个厨房，不过现在我自己住。

Marion: OK, so then, I can understand the social aspect. I really enjoy going out for dinner actually with my friends. I really enjoy that part, but if it's just me, I kind of feel, I think in Japan it's easy to go into a restaurant on your own, but in Ireland I would feel very strange and awkward if I went to a restaurant on my own. I'd feel like people are looking at me and saying, "Oh, she's got no friends."

玛里昂：那我就能理解你说的社交了。其实我很喜欢和朋友们一起出去吃晚餐。我很喜欢，不过如果只有我一个人，我觉得在日本自己去餐厅吃饭很容易，可是在爱尔兰如果我一个人去餐厅吃饭，我会觉得这非常奇怪而且很尴尬。我觉得旁边的人都会看我，而且会说：哦，她没有朋友。

Todd: Ah, man, I do it all the time. (Yeah) and I have no friends.

托德：天哪，我一直都是一个人去餐厅。(是啊)我没有朋友。

Marion: That's not true.

玛里昂：这可不是实话。