ESL露西的一天 第87期:晚餐与甜点讲解(2)

 The dining room, "dining " room is the place in your house where you eat.  餐厅，“餐厅”，就是你在家吃饭的地方。

To dine¹, "dine," is to eat.  用餐，“用餐”，就是吃饭。

Lucy says for her "birthday last year," her "brother gave" her "some place mats that have maps of the United States on them."   露西说，“去年生日”，她“哥哥给了”她“几块印有美国地图的餐具垫。”

A place mat, "place mat," is a piece of plastic or paper, it could also be a piece of cloth material that you put underneath² your plate - each plate on the table so that the table does not get dirty. 餐垫，“餐垫”，是一块塑料或纸，也可以是一块布，放在餐盘下面——而餐盘放在餐桌上，这样桌子就不会脏。

These place mats "have maps of the United States on them." 这些餐垫“上面有美国地图。”

Lucy says that she has "always been bad at geography."  露西说，她的地理一直很差劲。

To be bad, "bad," at something means that you are not very good at it. 不好，“不好”，意味着你不太擅长。

You could say, "I'm very bad at tennis," that means I don't play tennis very well.  你可以说：“我很不擅长网球”，这意味着我网球打得不好。

Or, "I'm very bad at dating. Whenever I meet a girl, she hates me after the first date,"  或者，“我很不擅长约会。每次我见女孩，第一次约会后，她们就开始讨厌我，” 

that's the story of my life!  这就是我生活中的故事！

1 dine   

vi.吃饭，进餐；vt.宴请

参考例句：

• I wish I could afford to dine off fresh meat every day.我要是能天天吃到新鲜的肉就好了。
• Let's dine out tonight，I'm too tired to cook.我太累了，不想做饭，今晚咱们到外面吃吧。

2 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。