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24. Coffee or Tea Break
喝咖啡或者喝茶
Do you prefer a coffee break or a tea break?
你比較喜歡喝咖啡時間還是喝茶時間？
Are you getting off the lift at the ground floor, or are you going to get off the elevator on the first floor?
你要在地面那層樓 (ground floor)出升降機(jī) (lift) 還是在一樓(firstfloor)下電梯(elevator)？
Travelers to English-speaking countries have to adjust to differences between British and American English.
到英語系國家旅行的人必須適應(yīng)英式英語和美式英語之間的差異。
There are also cultural traditions to understand, ways of life which differ between London and New York, Auckland and Toronto, and Sydney and San Francisco.
此外也要了解他們的文化傳統(tǒng)，也就是要了解倫敦和紐約、奧克蘭和多倫多以及悉尼和舊金山之間不同的生活方式。
Learning these differences is fun, and, when you travel to different English-speaking countries, it's very useful.
學(xué)習(xí)這些差異很有趣，而且當(dāng)你到不同的英語系國家旅行時也會非常有用。
So, what is a coffee or a tea break?
那么，什么是喝咖啡時間或喝茶時間呢？
Americans and Canadians prefer coffee drinking to tea drinking.
美國人和加拿大人喜歡喝咖啡勝過喝茶。
Tea lovers need not worry, though; millions of North Americans drink tea and only tea every day.
但愛喝茶的人不必?fù)?dān)心，有數(shù)以百萬計(jì)的北美洲人每天只喝茶。
Though teahouses are rare there, every supermarket has a wide variety of Far Eastern, South Asian, and herbal teas to choose from.
雖然那兒的茶館很少，但每家超市都有種類繁多遠(yuǎn)東和南亞出產(chǎn)的茶以及天然植物茶可供選擇。
Still, coffee is the preferred drink in the Americas; after all, South America is one of the world's greatest coffee-producing areas.
然而，咖啡仍是美洲地區(qū)較受歡迎的飲料；畢竟，南美洲是世上最大的咖啡產(chǎn)區(qū)之一。
One social custom in the U.S. and Canada is the mid-morning and mid-afternoon coffee break.
在美國和加拿大早上約9到10點(diǎn)，下午約3到4點(diǎn)鐘左右習(xí)慣上為喝咖啡時間。
This is very informal; it may be spontaneous (Hey! Let's break for coffee) or institutionalized (The coffee break in our office is from 3:30-3:50 daily).
這并不是很正式的；它也許是隨興而起的（嘿！咱們喝杯咖啡休息一下），也有可能是制度化的（本公司的喝咖啡時間為每天下午3點(diǎn)半到3點(diǎn)50分）。
Coffee (or tea) may be drunk only, or, more likely, a selection of baked goods such as doughnuts, cookies, slices of cake, or crackers will be available, too.
這段時間也許只喝咖啡（或茶）而已，更有可能的情況是，同時也享用了一系列如甜甜圈、餅干、切片蛋糕或酥餅等烘焙食品。
These breaks are not only for eating and drinking but also for chatting.
這些休息時段不只是吃吃喝喝而已，也是用來閑聊的。
In Great Britain, New Zealand, and Australia, people prefer a spot of tea during their tea break in the mid-morning or mid-afternoon, and later on at home, they have high tea in the early evening.
英國、新西蘭和澳洲，那里的人喜歡在早上9點(diǎn)到10點(diǎn)或下午3點(diǎn)到4點(diǎn)的喝茶時間來上一杯茶，而稍后在黃昏時則在家中享用“茶餐”。
High tea consists of a light, cold meal or baked goods, followed by a more substantial meal later in the evening.
“茶餐”包含清淡的冷食或烘焙食品，之后晚上再接著吃一頓較為豐盛的餐食。
Tea breaks may be formal in homes, with a silver tray filled with tea cups on saucers, a silver bowl with sugar, and a silver pitcher with cream brought into a living room, dining room, or drawing room.
在家庭中喝茶時間可以是很正式的——1個盛滿碟子上放著茶杯的銀盤、1個裝糖的銀碗和1個裝奶精的銀壺被端進(jìn)起居室、飯廳或客廳里。
Baked goods are also served at tea breaks. In both the U.K. and the U.S. as well as in other English-speaking countries, most people eat three full meals daily, but stopping for coffee or tea breaks has also become customary.
喝茶時間也享用烘焙食品。在英、美及其它英語系國家，大部分的人1天吃3次正餐，但其間的喝咖啡時間或喝茶時間也已經(jīng)成為習(xí)慣。
Another useful difference to understand between the British and American ways of life concerns traffic, which is of the utmost importance to travelers or visitors.
另一個英式和美式生活之間值得了解的實(shí)用差別則和交通有關(guān)，這對旅行者或游客而言是最重要不過了。
In London, one takes the underground, whereas in New York it's the subway (whether or not traveling below the ground).
在倫敦人們搭的地下鐵叫作 "underground"，然而在紐約它叫 "subway"（不管是不是在地底下行走）。
Streetcars are taken in American cities, but trams are found in Britain.
美國城市里有街車 (streetcar) 可搭乘，但在英國則是電車 (tram)。
Make sure you fill up with gas at the gas station in Miami, but in Manchester you should top up the tank with petrol at the petrol station.
在邁阿密的加油站 (gas station) 時務(wù)必說把油加滿 (fill up with gas)，但到曼徹斯特的汽油站 (petrol station) 時則應(yīng)該說把油箱加滿汽油 (top up the tank with petrol)。
Not sure whether you need oil?
不確定你是否需要加機(jī)油嗎？
Check under the bonnet in Bristol but the hood in Houston.
在布里斯托說打開車前蓋 (bonnet) 看看，但在休斯頓則說引擎蓋 (hood)。
Check your wing mirror in Wales but your side mirror in Rochester.
在威爾士說看側(cè)翼鏡 (wing mirror)，但在羅徹斯特說側(cè)視鏡 (side mirror)。
And watch out for those traffic circles in Tampa but those roundabouts in Reading.
此外，在坦帕市要當(dāng)心注意的圓環(huán)叫 "traffic circle"，但在里丁市則叫 "roundabout"。
It should not surprise anyone that British and American English are a little different grammatically
任何人都應(yīng)該不會驚訝英式英語和美式英語之間文法會有一點(diǎn)不同
(Americans say, "I don't have" and "I have a lot" but the British say "I haven't" and "I have much").
（美國人說 "I don't have" 和 "I have a lot"，但英國人說 "I haven't" 和 "I have much")，
Their pronunciation and vocabulary also differ.
還有它們的發(fā)音及字詞也有差異。
These should not be sources of consternation when you visit different Anglo countries; instead, they should be occasions for adventure and enjoyment.
當(dāng)你造訪不同英語系國家時，這些差異不但不應(yīng)該是恐懼驚慌的來源，反而應(yīng)該是探險和享受的時刻。
Just as Mandarin-speaking foreigners can manage their way through the various dialects of Mandarin spoken in mainland China,
就像說華語的外國人能夠設(shè)法通行于中國大陸各種漢語方言之間，
so, too, should anyone versed in conversational English —— of any stripe —— succeed in having fun with the different worlds of English.
同樣地，任何精通英語會話——任何一種都行——的人也應(yīng)該能成功地悠游在不同的英語世界中。
