美语咖啡屋 Lesson 3: Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree

J: Hello I'm Jody and welcome to American Cafe.

Y: 各位听众好， 欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。

J: You know, Christmas is just around the corner and I am already starting to feel Christmas all around me.

Y: 你是说商店里现在挤满了抢购礼物的人，还有电视上不停地在播放圣诞节的广告，对不对？

J: No, no! I ignore all of that stuff 1. No, what I mean, is I'm starting to hear and smell Christmas. OK, Close your eyes, Yang Chen, and think about Christmas and tell me what you hear and smell.

(Silence. Long pause)

J: Yang Chen? Yang Chen, anything yet? You know people are waiting.

Y: 哎呀，你等一等。我正在竖着耳朵听呢，还得使劲闻一闻。你不是说要我闭着眼睛寻找感觉吗？呣,我找到了。 在一个美丽的夜晚，星星在闪耀，我站在雪地里，听到了雪橇那悦耳的声音。对，就是这种感觉，你觉得怎么样？

J: That's okay. But I was thinking more like ... chainsaws.

Y: Chainsaws? 啊呀，你真是扫我的兴啊。原来你说的声音是电动锯的声音。太不浪漫了。

J: Well, I know it's not romantic, but I love the sound of a chainsaw and the smell of a pine tree being cut. The Christmas tree tradition is one of the best things about Christmas.

Y: 对。真正的圣诞树用的是松树？

J: Right, pine tree.

Y: 那人们是不是要到森林里去砍树呢？

J: Oh, no no-no. You don't go to a forest to cut down your Christmas tree. There are Christmas tree farms.

Y: 哦, 原来有Christmas tree farms。这还不错，用不着去破坏森林。说道这里，我倒是好象真的闻到了松树的味道了。

J: Oh, that's me.

Y: 你用了什么香水？

J: Not perfume 2! I have just come from a Christmas tree sale in my neighborhood.

Y: 有意思吗？

J: I did. And it was wonderfully entertaining. The elementary school held a Christmas tree sale to raise money. And there I met a woman named Ann, who is not only the organizer of the sale but she is also very active in the elementary school with the Parent Teacher Association 3, also known as the PTA.

Y: 好啊，那我们就听听组织者Ann都说了些什么。

Ann: We have from Charlie Brown trees to big beautiful balsam firs And we have a range of prices. And we do this to support the school PTA and it pays for supplies and trips and things like that for the children. And, um, so we do it two days over the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, and hopefully raise some money. And also just build a lot of good feelings about the school inside the community.

Y: Ann刚才说的 PTA 就是老师和家长联合组成的协会。原来他们举办圣诞树销售活动是为了协会筹款，另外还可以增强学校和社区的感情。

J: Right. And it really does spread community feelings in the neighborhood. That's what Christmas is all about!

(Enter Music "O Tannenbaum" from Cyrus Chestnut's A Charlie Brown Christmas)

Y: Ann 刚才提到Charlie Brown。 我们都知道Charlie Brown是著名的花生漫画系列里的人物。

J: Again, here's Ann.

Ann: Well, Charlie Brown, the cartoon character, always had a very small little sad-looking tree that nobody wanted, but he took it home and was very happy with it. So we always have some people that come and look for a Charlie Brown tree.

Y: Ann 刚才说的多好啊，一棵瘦小的圣诞树在可怜巴巴地等待着有人把它带回家。

J: The holiday cartoons with Charlie Brown and Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang 4 are really an important part of Christmas for almost all children in the United States. Well, not just children. because every year I watch the Charlie Brown Christmas Special.

Y: 你要借给我看一看。

J: I will, I will give it you. You and your family will love it. And truly Charlie Brown fell in love with a small, scrawny, little lonely Christmas tree that nobody wanted. And took it home and he gave it love. And it turned out to be a perfect Christmas tree.

Y: 没错。Charlie Brown过圣诞是一个非常经典的故事，大人小孩都喜欢。Jody，你知道吗，我们家那棵圣诞树又小有不太好看，而且是塑料的，用了好几年。我今年本来打算把它扔了，可是我女儿不让我扔。我想她可能对这棵树非常有感情。不过今天听你解释了Charlie Brown Christmas tree，我想要是下次有人再笑话我们家的树太小太难看的话，我就可以告诉他这棵树可是典型的Charlie Brown Christmas tree。

J: Of course, you tell them you have a Charlie Brown Christmas tree, Yang Chen!

Y: 没错。我可以向别人炫耀我有棵Charlie Brown Christmas tree。

J: Thanks for tuning 5 into American Cafe. Okay, see you again!

Y: 谢谢大家到我们的美语咖啡屋。好，我们下次再见。