美語情景對話 第532期:Dinner Debate 晚餐辯論
Todd: So, Marion, what are you going to do for dinner tonight?
託德：瑪里昂，你今天晚上打算吃什麼？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.
瑪里昂：我想我會回家看看我的冰箱和櫥櫃裏有什麼，然後做些東西吃。現在我還不確定。Todd: Ah, you're gonna cook?
託德：你要做飯吃嗎？
Marion: Yeah, of course.
瑪里昂：對啊，當然了。Todd: Actually, I almost never cook. I cook maybe once or twice a year.
託德：實際上我幾乎不做飯吃。我可能一年會做個一兩次。Marion: Really? (Yeah) Well, what do you do then? What do you eat?
瑪里昂：真的嗎？（對）那你都吃什麼？Todd: Oh, I always eat out. I buy my dinner every night. I think it's just better.
託德：我一直出去吃飯。我每天晚上會買晚飯吃。我覺得這樣更好。Marion: Oh, my God! Every night?
瑪里昂：哦，我的天哪！每天晚上？Todd: Every night.
託德：對，每天晚上。Marion: How is it better, Todd? I don't understand.
瑪里昂：託德，這樣怎麼會更好？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.
託德：我的意思是，我知道這有點浪費錢，可是這爲我節省了很多時間，（好）這樣我不用購買食物、儲存食物、準備食物、烹飪食物，之後也不用進行清理工作。Marion: Yeah, I don't like that part so much.
瑪里昂：是，我也不太喜歡這個部分。Todd: Right. When you just eat out, you know, it's quick and easy. It saves you time.
託德：對啊，出去吃飯又快又簡單。能節省很多時間。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.
瑪里昂：是沒錯，我能理解你說的節省時間的觀點，可是對我來說烹飪是一種緩解壓力的方法，如果我覺得哪天我過得很有壓力，那我就會去廚房做飯，前提是我是一個人，因爲我喜歡自己一個人做飯，這樣不用和別人說話，我可以想一些事情，對我來說，切洋蔥、開罐頭或是做其他事情的時候，我除了我在準備的食物不用想任何事情，如果有些事情闖入我的腦海，那我也可以同時處理。我覺得這樣非常放鬆。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.
託德：我明白。實際上我每天晚上都跑步（是啊）你知道，我喜歡慢跑，我通常會慢跑一個小時，我回家的時候滿身是汗，我需要洗個澡，所以我沒有多餘的時間做飯，因爲我每天下班很晚，我只能在回家的路上買晚飯吃，這樣我才能省出跑步的時間。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.
瑪里昂：實際上這令我很驚訝，因爲我知道你每天跑步，你喜歡健身，可是你在外面買飯吃的時候難道沒有考慮過健康問題嗎？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.
託德：沒錯。我一般會去超市的熟食區，你知道那裏的銷售人員通常是溫暖的老婦人，她通常會做好吃的沙拉或其他食物，她認爲她做得比我好吃。Marion: Right, probably.
瑪里昂：也許吧。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.
託德：在我買食物的同時我也爲他人提供了工作，這樣做有很多好處。而且這也是一種社交，因爲我一個人住，這樣我就可以和熟食櫃檯的人說話，每晚都會接觸不同的人。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?
瑪里昂：這話沒錯，不過如果你在廚房做飯，同樣也可以是種社交，你不這麼認爲嗎？Todd: Yeah, but I live alone. Who would I talk to?
託德：可是我一個人住。我要和誰說話呢？Marion: The other people in your communal kitchen. Don't you have a big communal kitchen?
瑪里昂：公用廚房裏的其他人。你那裏沒有公用廚房嗎？Todd: No, no, no. I live alone. (Ah) I used to, I used to share a kitchen, but now I live alone.
託德：沒有，沒有。我一個人生活。（哦）以前我和別人共用一個廚房，不過現在我自己住。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."
瑪里昂：那我就能理解你說的社交了。其實我很喜歡和朋友們一起出去吃晚餐。我很喜歡，不過如果只有我一個人，我覺得在日本自己去餐廳吃飯很容易，可是在愛爾蘭如果我一個人去餐廳吃飯，我會覺得這非常奇怪而且很尷尬。我覺得旁邊的人都會看我，而且會說：哦，她沒有朋友。Todd: Ah, man, I do it all the time. (Yeah) and I have no friends.
託德：天哪，我一直都是一個人去餐廳。（是啊）我沒有朋友。Marion: That's not true.
瑪里昂：這可不是實話。
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重點講解：
1. cook up
煮熟，燒熟，做好（尤指豐盛的飯菜）；
eg. She cooked up a simple meal for him when he arrived unexpectedly.
她沒料到他會突然到來，所以就爲他做了頓簡單的飯菜。
eg. Mom is in the kitchen cooking up a storm.
媽媽正在廚房裏大顯身手呢。
2. clean up
打掃；清掃；把…弄乾淨；
eg. Mama made him clean up the plate.
媽媽要他把盤子洗乾淨。
eg. Aunt Mary volunteered to clean up the kitchen.
瑪麗阿姨主動要求清掃廚房。
3. on one's own
單獨地；獨自地；
eg. I'm well able to manage on my own.
我完全能夠獨自處理。
eg. He can be left to work on his own.
工作可交給他一個人去做。
4. as long as
只要；
eg. As long as there is life, there is hope.
只要有生命，就有希望。
eg. As long as he comes, the problem can be solved.
只要他來，問題就能解決。
5. apart from
除…外（尚有）；此外；
eg. It's a good piece of work, apart from a few slight faults.
除了一些小缺點之外，這不失爲一件漂亮的工作。
eg. Apart from bad weather, we had a good time.
除了天氣不太好以外我們還是玩得很愉快。
