VOA常速英语:Restaurant Newsletter Has Global Reach

短语讲解：

1. All the while, they often wish they had something quick, light, and interesting to read.

all the while一直, 始终
例句：He teaches English in the school all the while.
他一直在这所学校里教英语。

2. It’s a weekly publication that’s printed, front and back, in three columns, and placed in racks for customers to pick up.

pick up拾起, 捡起; 抬起
例句：I picked up your book by mistake.
我拿错了你的书。

3. The middle column is filled with wise sayings, trivia items, notes about the day in history, weekly horoscopes and offbeat stories, such as a recent item about a horse that stands just 36 centimeters tall.

be filled with充满着
例句：The hall was filled with persons welcoming him.
大厅里挤满了欢迎他的人。
such as像, 例如
例句：We dislike people such as him.
我们不喜欢像他这号人。

4. The two outside columns are packed with ads for neighborhood car washes, wedding photographers, pest-control companies and so forth.

be packed with挤满..., 装满..., 塞满...
例句：The park is packed with a dense crowd.
公园里黑压压地挤满了人。

5. The idea originated in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1982, with a woman named Jean Daum. She had seen restaurant patrons pick up sugar packs from their containers on the table and read the brief, entertaining factoids printed on the back, just to pass the time.

pass the time消磨时光
例句：Playing Majiang is a marvelous way to pass the time.
打麻将是消磨时间的一种很棒的方法。

6. She began distributing a little newsletter, loaded with breezy reading material, to restaurants, coffee shops, barber shops - even hospital waiting rooms.

load with使装满; 使受重压
例句：The cart was loaded with fruit.
那辆车上装满了水果。

7. Pretty soon, other businesses started calling her, asking for copies to give to their customers, and it wasn’t long before she was selling Coffee News franchises all across Canada.

ask for请求…, 要求…
例句：Might I ask for a photograph of your little daughter?
我能要一张你小女儿的照片吗?

8. When Baum died of cancer in 2007, Bill Buckley purchased worldwide distribution rights.

die of死于
例句：People are dying of cancer more and more often.
死于癌症的人越来越多了。

9. Just this week, his representative signed up the first Coffee News franchise in Congo, which joins 300 other overseas outlets in 20 countries

sign up跟…签订合同
例句：They manage to sign up all the best performers.
他们设法跟所有最佳演员签订合同。

10. Franchisees pay $8,500 for the right to distribute the publication in territories of up to 50,000 people.

pay for为…付钱
例句：I have to pay 150 dollars for the sewing machine.
我得花150美元买这台缝纫机。