和老外聊天的地道口语第77期:喝茶还是咖啡?

Zhao: in China at least, coffee is often associated with an exotic, well-to-do bourgeois lifestyle. Coffee is often considered a hobby of the well-educated, middle-class people.

Tony: maybe that's why some young chaps often spend a whole afternoon in a coffee bar, surfing the net or just typewriting something with laptop. While they are savoring a coffee at a leisured pace, they are actually showing off!

Z: yes. Behind a lifestyle, there is a culture. Young people easily become blind worshippers of a Westernized life. While they may not really life coffee, they think it desirable and enviable to be lavish with money in those high-consumption places.

T: then what about tea? We need to bear in mind in the first place that tea, rather than coffee, jas been the most popular drink for the Chinese people.

Z: well. Tea reprements another facet of popular culture. While a coffee bar is usually quiet and resonates with soft, elegant music, a teahouse is often a noisy, crowded, public space. People visit teahouses to associate with others, playing chess, chatting, or simply listening to operas.

T: what a pity that the traditional teahouses, as depicted Lao She, keep fading away so quickly in this metroplis. It is not easy to find an old-fashioned teahouse that suits the ordinary people's spending powerm either. Teahouses of today all feature a cozy, comfortable environment, and high-quality services, but can easily cost you a good deal—just like a coffee bar.

Z: well, that's true. In a sense, it is not so much what you drink that really counts, as where and how you drink.


在中国,说起咖啡,人们往往会想到异国情调,小资的优越生活方式.喝咖啡通常被认为是有修养的中产阶级的习惯.
也许,这便是有些年轻人动不动就花一整个下午泡在咖啡吧,摆开笔记本电脑,上上网,或者只是打打文件的原因吧.他们悠闲地品着咖啡,其实也是在炫耀自己.
嗯.生活方式背后就是文化.年轻人很容易就迷信西式生活.他们也一定喜欢咖啡,但坚信,在那些高消费场所花钱至少令人羡慕.
那你说喝茶怎么样?要知道,中国人最喜欢的饮料不是咖啡,而是茶.
嗯,茶大概是代表了大众文化的另一个侧面.咖啡吧是那种安静,高雅,余音缭绕的地方,茶馆则往往是嘈杂,拥挤的公共空间.人们去茶馆是想跟人说说话,下下棋,或者只是听听戏.
可惜啊,在北京这个大都市,老舍笔下那种传统茶馆正在迅速地销声匿迹.普通人去的起的那种老茶馆再也难找到了.如今的茶馆都是那种舒适,惬意的环境,还有高档的服务,但是太贵了,跟咖啡厅几乎不相上下.
这是实话,在某种意义上,重要的仿佛不再是喝什么了,而是在哪儿喝,怎么喝.


Exotic: from or in another country, especially a tropical one; seeming exciting and unusual because it is connected with foreign countries 来自异国(*尤指热带国家)的;奇异的;异国情调的;异国风味的
brightly-coloured exotic flowers/plants/birds
色彩鲜艳的异国花卉／植物／鸟儿
She travels to all kinds of exotic locations all over the world.
她走遍了全世界所有具有奇异风情的地方.

Bourgeois:小资的

Young caps:年轻人

Enviable: something that is enviable is the sort of thing that is good and that other people want to have too 令人羡慕的;引起忌妒的 adjective
He is in the enviable position of having two job offers to choose from.
他有两份工作可选,真让人羡慕.

Resonate: of a voice, an instrument, etc. 嗓音、乐器等 to make a deep, clear sound that continues for a long time 产生共鸣;发出回响;回荡
Her voice resonated through the theatre.
她的声音在剧院里回荡.


Show off: to try to impress others by talking about your abilities, possessions, etc. 炫耀自己;卖弄自己

He's just showing off because that girl he likes is here.

他不过是在表现自己,因为他喜欢的那个姑娘在场.

Bear in mind: 记住

Bear in mind that you'll have to practice economy.

记住要厉行节约.