dining hall!
Kayla: Of course it is. My
grandmother cooks all of the food, and it’s the best Ethiopian food
in the city.
I’m biased, of course!
Lucía: Well, I tend to agree with
you. This is the best
meal I’ve had
in a long time.
Kayla: Of course.
Jana: Agreed! I didn’t think I’d come
all the way to the U.S. to have amazing Ethiopian food.
Kayla: Welcome to the U.S.! Because
the country is so multicultural, there are fantastic restaurants
serving delicious
dishes from all
over the globe.
Jana: Even from my country?
Kayla: Most likely. This is a large,
cosmopolitan city. There are people
from all over the world, and some of those people own
restaurants.
Ajay: How about next week we try a
different restaurant? One that serves food from one of our home
countries?
Lucía: Sounds good. But first,
I would like dessert. Kayla,
what do you have?
让我们来学习一些词语（也可阅读英文解释）：
A
dining
hall：学校餐厅/食堂
to be
biased：有偏见，在这个对话中指善意的倾向性，即Kayla总是会认为她祖母做的菜比其他人做的都好吃。
To be biased经常含负面意思；如果说be
biased against
something/someone，意思就是：某人
对某事/某人
有偏见，认为此事/此人不如其他事/其他人。例如：
He is
biased against women; he believes
women are not as smart, hard-working, etc., as
men.（他对女性有偏见；他认为女性不如男性聪明、刻苦，等等。）
如果说be
biased toward
something/someone，意思则是
偏向某事/某人。例如：The
professor was
biased toward older students;
the professor often helped older students study and gave them
better grades.（这位教授偏向年龄较大的学生，经常在学习中帮助他们，还给他们好分数。）
A
meal：一顿饭。例如：Breakfast is
my favorite meal of the day. For breakfast, my father usually makes
a delicious meal of eggs, toast and
sausages.（早点是我一天当中最喜欢的一顿饭。我父亲经常做好吃的鸡蛋、土司、香肠早点。）
A
dish：一个菜。The
main
dish指主菜；
Side dishes是辅菜或小菜。
A
cosmopolitan
city：都市，人口往往来自世界四面八方。
I would like…我想要……是点菜的一种表达方式。例如：
I would like the fish.（我想点鱼。） I
would like a small coffee, please.（我想请要一小杯咖啡。）
What do you have?
你们有什么？在餐馆，后面如跟介词
for，意思是问在一个类别中的更具体选择。例如：
What do
you have for dessert?（你们甜点都有什么？） What do
you have for vegetarians?（你们有哪些素食菜？）
有兴趣听更多英语对话吗？请浏览“
英语学习”专题网页。
American
English
网站提供可供英语学生和教师免费使用的多种英语资源。American
English Facebook网页提供每天更新的英语学习资料。
“日常会话”由美国国务院教育与文化事务局英语语言项目处（Office of English Language
Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs）资深项目官员海蒂·豪兰（Heidi
Howland）编写。
Six students from around the world meet. What do they have in
common? They are all exchange students studying at a U.S.
university for a semester. Throughout the semester, they learn more
English, learn about U.S. culture, and learn more about their
fields of study. This series of Everyday Conversations is about these six
students and their experiences during a semester at a university in
the U.S. These conversations are for intermediate-level
English-language learners or higher.
Audio:
https://share.america.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/DEC-W3-D3.mp3?_=1
Audio Player
Students (
Ajay,
Lucía and
Jana) go to the restaurant
owned by a friend’s
(Kayla’s)
family. They talk about the food at this restaurant as well
as other restaurants in the city that serve food from different
parts of the world.
Ajay: This food is so much better
than the food in the
dining hall!
Kayla: Of course it is. My
grandmother cooks all of the food, and it’s the best Ethiopian food
in the city.
I’m biased, of course!
Lucía: Well, I tend to agree with
you. This is the best
meal I’ve had
in a long time.
Kayla: Of course.
Jana: Agreed! I didn’t think I’d come
all the way to the U.S. to have amazing Ethiopian food.
Kayla: Welcome to the U.S.! Because
the country is so multicultural, there are fantastic restaurants
serving delicious
dishes from all
over the globe.
Jana: Even from my country?
Kayla: Most likely. This is a large,
cosmopolitan city. There are people
from all over the world, and some of those people own
restaurants.
Ajay: How about next week we try a
different restaurant? One that serves food from one of our home
countries?
Lucía: Sounds good. But first,
I would like dessert. Kayla,
what do you have?
Now let’s review the vocabulary.
A
dining hall is a large room in a
school, university, etc., where meals are served and many people
can eat at the same time.
In this context,
to be biased is
used in a positive way. Kayla has a tendency to believe that her
grandmother’s cooking is better than everyone else’s cooking.
To be biased often has a negative
meaning. Someone can be
biased
againstsomething/someone; in this
case, one believes something/someone is not as good as another. For
example: He is
biased against women; he
believes women are not as smart, hard-working, etc., as men.
One can also be
biased
toward something/someone; in
this case, one believes something/someone is better than another.
For example: The professor was
biased towardolder
students; the professor often helped older students study and gave
them better grades.
A
meal is an occasion when food is
eaten. The word
meal can also mean
the food eaten. For example:
Breakfast is my favorite
meal of the day. For breakfast, my father usually makes a delicious
meal of eggs, toast and sausages.
A
dish is food that is prepared in a
particular way for a meal. The
main dish is
the largest or most important dish of a meal.
Side
dishes are smaller dishes served with the main
dish.
A
cosmopolitan city has people from
many different parts of the world.
I would like… is one way to order in a
restaurant. For example:
I would like the fish. I would
like a small coffee, please.
What do you have? This is asked when one
wants more specific information about the food or drink offered,
usually at a restaurant. It is often followed by the word
for. For example:
What do you have for dessert?
What do you have for vegetarians?
Ready to learn more English?
Our materials can help.
The American English
website offers a variety of free resources for learners and
teachers of English. The American English Facebook page posts learning
materials for English-language learners daily.
Everyday Conversations are developed by the State Department’s
Heidi Howland, a senior program officer in the Office of English
Language Programs, Bureau of Educational and Cultural
Affairs.
