ESL杰夫的一天 第70期:工作 休息和吃午饭讲解(8)

 　　"Before long, it's time for lunch," meaning after a short time, it's time for lunch.  “Before long, it's time for lunch”，意思是过了一会儿后，就到了午饭时间。

　　Before long means¹ a short time or after a short time.  “Before long”是“一会儿”或“一会儿后”的意思。

　　"I usually bring my lunch with me to work and eat it at my desk."  “我一般自带午餐并坐在我的办公桌上吃它”。

　　Notice that use of "at my desk," means I'm sitting by my desk and I'm eating my lunch. Sounds kind of lonely. 注意到“at my desk”的使用，意思是我坐在桌旁吃午饭。听起来有点孤单。

　　"If I don't have time to pack a lunch, I sometimes go across the street for some take-out."  “如果我没有时间自带午饭，我有时就会去街对面买外卖。”

　　To pack, "pack," a lunch means to make your lunch at home — a sandwich, for example, 打包（pack）午餐是你在家做午饭的意思，比如三明治，

　　and put that into a bag or a box that you take with you to work; that is to pack a lunch. 然后把它装进你带着去上班的袋子或盒子里；那就是“打包午餐”的意思。

　　If I don't pack a lunch, I usually eat take-out, "take-out. 如果我没有自带午饭，我通常吃买来的外卖（take-out）。

　　Take-out is when you go to a restaurant but you don't eat at the restaurant — you don't dine² in, we would say, "dine" in, 外卖也就是当你去餐馆，但不在那吃的时候，

　　you don't dine in, you do take-out.  你不在那里吃饭，你打包带走。

　　You can also have the restaurant deliver the food, 你也可以让餐馆送餐，

　　bring the food to your house, or bring the food to your office, and we would call that delivery³.  把食物送到你家或办公室，我们把那个叫做送餐。

　　So, you can dine in; you can do take-out, meaning you go to the restaurant, or you can have delivery — someone brings the food to you. 因此，“you can dine in; you can do take-out”，意思是你要么在餐馆里吃饭，要么让餐馆送餐——有人会把食物给你送来。

1 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

2 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。

3 delivery   

n.交付；投递；分娩；解救者；演讲的风格

参考例句：

• The strike caused a great delay in the delivery of the mail.这次罢工严重地延误了邮件的投递。
• He was employed at the local grocery store as a delivery boy.他受雇于当地杂货店当送货员。