Fast food nation《快餐帝国》（精讲之五）

Amber: Man, this place is great.

Pete: Mmm. Yeah, you are only allowed to come here with me. So, are you on the pill?

Amber: Um, no.

Pete: No? Do you have a boyfriend?

Amber: Not really. I'm kinda in between.

Pete: Mm-hmm. Well, they are circling you like sharks. Right? I'm gonna come back here and find that you got, like a little baby fry cook in the oven.

Amber: Ah. You know what?

Pete: What?

Amber: I remember you taking me to Mickey’s when I was a kid.

Pete: No, did I?

Amber & Pete: Yes.

Pete: I was being lazy. I apologize. Now I hate everything about the place.

Amber: Mom said it was a big deal when the first Mickey’s opened here.

Pete: It was tremendous. It was. I mean, you know - Cody was on the map. The, the first one didn't bother me. It was just the 400th that started to, you know, get under my skin.

Amber: Well, I need the money. I really do.

Pete: Yeah? There's no other jobs here, right? You tried A.S.P.C.A. You tried the park services. You tried day care. Why? Nobody around here needs their kids to be taken care of?

Amber: It was the first job I could find.

Pete: Mm-hmm.

Amber: I mean, a friend of mine worked there. What do you want to hear?

Pete: I'm not criticizing you, all right? I think you are great. I just wanna know your timeline for gettin' outta here.

Amber: I wanna go to college.

Pete: Good.

Amber: I'm thinking Oregon or Montana.

Pete: What ya gonna study?

Amber: I don't know. I wanna- I wanna write. I like photography. But I think I wanna study science, aeronautical engineering.

Pete: Aeronautical engineering?

Amber: Yeah. I mean, if I could do anything in the world, I'd be an astronaut.

Pete: All right, well, fucking-A, do it.

Amber: Okay.

Pete: But you need to get outta here to do that.

Amber: Was it hard leaving Cody back when you were a teenager?

Pete: No, not for me. Your mom, though, that was a different story.

Amber: I was on the way. Kinda cuts down on your options.

妙语佳句，活学活用

1. On the pill

On the pill 的意思是“正在服用口服避孕药”，pill 在口语中有“口服避孕药”的意思。

2. In between

In between 是指“在中间的状况”，具体到这个电影片段，Amber 的意思“有比较亲密的关系，但还没发展成恋人”。我们来看个例子：My roommates disagreed and I was caught in between. 我的室友不同意，我被夹在中间进退两难。

3. Get under someone's skin

这个片语的意思是“Irritate someone，bother烦扰某人，惹火某人”，例如：She really knows how to get under my skin with her nagging.

这个片语还有另外一个意思，是“Obsess someone or affect someone's deep feelings深深地影响某人的感情，打动某人”，例如：Jean's really gotten under his skin; he misses her terribly.

4. A.S.P.C.A.

指的是American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

5. Fucking-A

Fucking-A 的意思是“good，excellent”，有时候也表示“Yes, you are right”（例如 Fucking-A man）。 它通常是表示一种强烈的感情，比如热情，感兴趣或者激动，而没有太多的实际意义。

6. Cut down on

这个片语的意思是“Reduce, decrease减少”，例如：I want to cut down my caffeine intake.

文化面面观

快餐文化=美国的符号？

Despite the relentless attacks, hundreds of millions of hungry customers eat fast food daily. The media constantly remind American consumers about its supposed evils. Most are conscious of the health risks from fatty, greasy meals; most realize that they are being served by a poorly paid young worker; and if they choose to ponder it, most are aware that the excessive packaging causes millions of tons of trash each year. But they continue to purchase and eat fast food on a regular basis. Fast food remains central to the American diet because it is inexpensive, quick, convenient, and predictable, and because it tastes good. Even more important, Americans eat fast food because it is now a cultural norm. As American culture homogenized and became distinctively "American" in the second half of the twentieth century, fast food, and especially the hamburger, emerged as the primary American ethnic food. Just as the Chinese eat rice and Mexicans eat tamales, Americans eat burgers.

And fast food has grown even beyond being just a distinctive ethnic food. Since the 1960s, the concept has extended far beyond the food itself, with the term becoming a common descriptor for other quick-service operations, even a metaphor for many of the negative aspects of mainstream American life. Theorists and pundits sometimes use the term "fast food" to denigrate American habits, institutions, and values, referring to them as elements of a "fast-food society." In fact, "fast-food" has become a frequently used adjective, implying not only ready availability but also superficiality, mass-produced standardization, lack of authenticity, or just poor quality.

In the last two decades of the twentieth century, fast food gained additional economic and cultural significance, becoming a popular American export to nations around the world. Some detractors claim that it is even deliberately used by the United States, as a tool of cultural imperialism. The appearance of a McDonald's or Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on the streets of a foreign city signals to many the demise of indigenous culture, replacing another country's traditional practices and values with American materialism. In fact, the rapid spread of American fast food is probably not an organized conspiracy, rather more the result of aggressive corporate marketing strategies. Consumers in other countries are willing and able to buy fast-food products, so chains are quick to accommodate demand. Thought of around the world as "American food," fast food continues its rapid international growth. (answers.com)

考考你

用今日所学将下面的句子译成英语。

1. 他的笑声真是让我冒火。

2. 那种音乐总能打动我。

3. 我们得减少支出了。

Fast food nation《快餐帝国》（精讲之四）考考你 参考答案

1. 吉姆担心他做的实验会把实验室给炸了。

Jim was afraid his experiment would blow up the lab.

2. 别那么大喊大叫——你吓死我了！

Don't shout like that - you scared the shit out of me!

3. 我真不敢相信你能忍受这群淘气的孩子。

I can’t believe that you can stand for these naughty children.