开口英语

65. Italian Culture

第65课 意大利文化

Italy is a land of history and culture.
意大利是个富有历史和文化的国家。
And as we all know, the ancient architecture there is breathtaking.
我们都知道，那儿的古代建筑令人惊叹不已。
Just as we Chinese are proud of our history and culture, so are the Italians.
就如同我们中国人对我们的历史文化感到骄傲，意大利人也是一样。
One of their traditions is to enjoy a long midday meal.
享受漫长的中餐是他们的传统之一。
This lengthy lunch can last up to four hours!
这顿漫长的午餐可以持续到四个小时之久呢！
As you can imagine, after all the eating, drinking and chatting, they need to take a nap.
你可以想像得到，在这番吃喝闲聊之后，他们需要小睡片刻。
Well, this custom may be great for the stomach, but it's not so great for getting things done.
嗯，这种习惯对胃来说可能很棒，但对办事可就不怎么好了。
If you happen to be in Italy, don't be surprised if you have to wait for a long time for the banks and post offices to open.
如果你正好在意大利，那么等银行和邮局开门要等上老半天也不必太惊讶。

26. School Mascot 校吉祥物

Lisa needed a job to pay for a car. She needed a car so she could get to school and other places more easily. Lisa saw an ad looking for a school mascot（吉祥物）. It was paying $12 an hour, which was a lot for a high school student. She went to the try-outs（选拔）. The interviewer（面试者） asked Lisa why she wanted the job, and why she thought she would be a good fit（合适）. Lisa said that she was very proud of being a tiger and would love to get other students excited about the school's sports teams.

Lisa found out that she got the job! Her first day of work would be at the football game tonight. When she got to the football field（运动场）, she put on（穿上） her costume（戏服） and her tiger head. It was smelly（难闻的） and hot inside. She kept thinking about how she needed a car. Then, she overheard（无意听到） someone say that it would suck（差劲） to wear the tiger costume. Lisa felt bad about the job.

Lisa's high school football team won. The crowd（人群） got up from their seats and cheered（欢呼）. A lot of people wanted to take a picture with the tiger. Lisa spent an hour just taking pictures. After the day was over, Lisa thought about how much money she made. It was the only thing keeping her going.

选自美剧 极品老妈