美語情景對話 第328期:Food 食物

I think food is such a great subject, such an interesting subject. I mean, food is something that everyone has to do. It's a life necessity, and actually because of that it can be a real hassle, like when you have to eat when you're hungry but you really can't be bothered to make anything. You can't go out and buy anything. You don't have the money to go out and buy anything is the worst thing, but when you're not in that situation food is great. Um, I'm just sort of thinking over all the different types of food I've eaten throughout my life and the sort of real spread, range of food, throughout different countries. I mean, I come from England where, I wouldn't say England really had a very specific scene of it's own. I think, you know, very nice English restaurant food is probably more like French restaurant food. The only sort of staple things that everyone knows comes from England are obviously Fish and Chips which actually, normal English people don't eat that much of. I probably eat Fish and Chips 3 times a year. Maybe if I lived a bit further north, I'd eat it once a week, but that is known as the sort of number one English dish. Although that's really junk food, and I think a good roast with gravy , Yorkshire pudding, baked potatoes. I see that as proper English food, but just thinking, now living in Japan, the difference between the food in England and the food in Japan, and then I've been brought up very much on like Chinese food as well. My mom always cooked lots of Chinese food, and in England of course, the number one favorite food is Indian curry, and all these different foods are so, so different from each other, just flavors, what you use, I mean, cooking here, is really depressing when it gets to about 7 o'clock in the evening here, cause I go down in the guest house I'm living in, and I walk into the kitchen area, and just the whole area smells amazing from where all the Japanese residents are cooking their normal Japanese meal, which are totally normal to them, but to a foreigner, they seem like these amazingly elaborate meals where I'm sure, like roast beef and Yorkshire pudding would seem the same to a Japanese person, but it's a pity really that sort of countries aren't more, sort of aware of sharing their food with each other. I mean when I get back to England, I'm gonna be in a whole load of trouble cause all the food I eat here, all the ingredients that I need, you can only get in Japan: they're specific Japanese vegetables, or in Asia at least, and I'm gonna have to get to very specific supermarkets to get even half the stuff I want and all the things like the nice vegetables I won't be even able to buy.

我認爲食物是一個非常棒的主題，一個非常有趣的主題。我的意思是，食物是所有人都需要的東西。它是生活必需品，實際上那也是一件麻煩事，因爲你肚子的時候要吃東西，可是你卻懶得去做飯。你不能出去吃飯，也不能去買吃的。你沒有錢去外面吃，沒有錢去買吃的東西，這是最糟糕的事情，但是如果你不處於這種情況，那食物就是非常棒的東西了。我只是回想我人生中吃過的各種食物，食物的範圍，食物的種類，不同國家的食物。我是說，我來自英國，我認爲英國的食物並沒有自己獨特的地方。我認爲，你知道，一家非常棒的英國餐廳的食物可能更像法國餐廳的食物。大家認爲英國最基本的食物顯然是魚類和薯條，實際上這兩種食物，對普通英國人來說並不會食用太多。我一年可能吃三次魚和薯條。也許，如果我住在更靠北的地方，我可能一週吃一次，但是這兩樣卻被認爲是英國排在首位的食物。而實際上它們都是垃圾食品，我認爲烤肉配肉汁，約克夏布丁，烤土豆，這纔是真正的英國食物，但是現在我生活在日本，我會想英國食物與日本食物的不同，而我在很大程度上，是吃中國食物長大的。我媽媽總是會烹飪很多的中國食物，而當然在英國，最受歡迎的食物是印度咖喱，所有這些不同的事物，彼此之間完全不同，你使用的調料就不同，當時間大約到了晚上七點以後，在日本做飯就變得讓人沮喪，因爲，我下樓走到我住的客房的廚房，那裏瀰漫着香味，所有日本居民都在烹飪普通的日本食物，這些食物對他們來說很普通，但是對一個外國人來說，這些是非常精緻的飯菜，當然我確定，像烤牛肉和約克夏布丁對日本人來說也是一樣的有吸引力，但是非常遺憾的是，這些國家並沒有互相分享食物的意識。我是說，我回到英國的時候，我會有很多麻煩，因爲我在日本吃的所有食物，需要的所有配料，都只有日本纔有：他們都是日本特有的蔬菜，或至少是亞洲特有的，我只能去特定的超市買到我所需物品的一部分，而所有這些優質的蔬菜我都買不到。

重點講解：
1. can't be bothered to do sth.
不願找麻煩；不想出力；
eg. I just can't be bothered to look after the house.
我就是不想費事照看這所房子。
eg. Doctors cannot be bothered to explain what they do.
醫生們才懶得解釋他們所做的事情。
2. bring up
養育；撫養；養大；
eg. She brought up four children.
她養大了4個孩子。
eg. We'd been brought up to think that borrowing money was bad.
我們從小就被教導借錢是不好的行爲。
3. it's a pity that
可惜的事；遺憾的事；
eg. It is a great pity that all pupils in the city cannot have the same chances.
非常遺憾的是，在這個城市裏，並非所有的學生都能獲得同樣的機會。
eg. It's a pity that Mike passed up such a good opportunity.
邁克錯過了這麼好的一個機會，真是可惜。
4. a load of/loads of
很多；大量；
eg. You're talking a load of bollocks!
你這是一派胡言！
eg. He's got loads of money.
她有許多錢。
5. be in trouble
處於困境；惹麻煩；將受懲罰；
eg. Do as you're told, otherwise you'll be in trouble.
叫你怎麼做就怎麼做，否則有麻煩。
eg. " We are in trouble, " he said gloomily.
“我們遇上了麻煩，” 他沮喪地說道。