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Laura: It’s quite busy here. It’s true that Chinese people love tea.

Benjamin: That’s for sure. You know that tea is China’s national drink and an indispensable part of the life a Chinese person.

Laura: Just like coffee for us, I suppose. So what do people do in these teahouses?

Benjamin: Many things. You can meet friends, play cards, or just relax here. It’s a good place for entertainment.

Laura: Oh, yes. It’s an ideal place for those things, largely because the atmosphere here is very comfortable.

Benjamin: You can get to know traditional Chinese lifestyles here. In old times, you can find teahouses everywhere.

Laura: What about this one? When did it come into being?

Benjamin: It must have a long history. You see that its decoration is very old and delicate.

Laura: Yeah. Almost everything here is wooden. I like all these carvings on them. I noticed there are many pictures of opera stars here. Do you know why?

Benjamin: There used to be an opera stage here.

Laura: An opera stage in a teahouse? What for?

Benjamin: This way, you could also watch the operas when you were having tea. That was a good way to make the customers stay longer.

Laura: Oh, I love operas. I watched the “Drunken Beauty” with Aunt Shirley days ago. And it’s really amazing.

Benjamin: That’s a real classic. Oh, I almost forgot one thing. Do you want to eat something?

Laura: Do they serve anything good to go with tea?

Benjamin: Sure. There should be a variety of choices.

Laura: Then, let’s order now.

聽看學

羅拉: 這里好多人啊。說中國人愛喝茶可真沒錯。

本杰明: 那是當然的。你知道茶是中國的國飲，是中國人生活中不可或缺的一部分。

羅拉: 我想，這就像是咖啡對于我們的意義一樣。那么人們在茶館里都做些什么呢?

本杰明: 很多啊。你可以來這里跟朋友聚會，打牌，或者是純粹放松。這是一個休閑的好地方。

羅拉: 哦，沒錯，這的確是做那些活動的理想場所，主要是因為這里的氣氛讓人感覺舒服。

本杰明: 在這里你可以了解中國人傳統的生活方式。以前，到處都有茶館。

羅拉: 那這個呢?它是什么時候建成的?

本杰明: 一定有很長的歷史了。你看它的裝飾非常古樸、精致。

羅拉: 是啊。幾乎每一件東西都是木制的。我喜歡它們上面的雕刻。我還看到這有很多戲曲明星的照片。你知道為什么嗎?

本杰明: 這里以前有一個戲臺。

羅拉: 茶館里面有戲臺?用來干什么啊?

本杰明: 這么一來，喝茶同時還可以看戲。這可是留住顧客的好方法啊。

羅拉: 哦，我喜歡戲劇。前幾天我和雪莉阿姨一起看了“貴妃醉酒”。那場戲太精彩了。

本杰明: 那可真是一部經典啊。哦，我差點忘了一件事情。你想吃東西嗎?

羅拉: 這里有什么好吃的可以用來配茶吃嗎?

本杰明：當然了。這里有很多選擇呢?

羅拉：那么，我們現在就點吧。

經典背誦 Recitation

Laura: I heard tea is China’s national drink and Chinese people love tea. The teahouse is a good place for entertainment. You can do many things there, such as meeting friends, playing cards, and so on. The atmosphere there is usually very comfortable. In old times, there would be an opera stage in the teahouse. I thought it would be great to watch operas while you were having tea.

生詞小結

indispensable adj. 不可缺少的

largely adv. 主要的

atmosphere n. 氣氛

wooden adj. 木制的

stage n. 舞臺

語素 Material

The Teahouse

The famous play called the Teahouse by famous Chinese writer Lao She vividly describes the rise and fall of a teahouse. The play is set entirely around a teahouse, but it provides us with an insightful picture of all the dimensions in old Beijing society. The play shows how the teahouse is not just a place for people to enjoy tea, but an information center for the community, or even a witness to a changing society and ups and downs of daily life.

茶館

由中國著名作家老舍創作的著名話劇《茶館》生動地描述了一個茶館的興衰過程。這部話劇完全圍繞一個茶館展開，但卻為我們深入展現了老北京社會各方面的畫面。這部話劇表明了茶館不僅是供人們喝茶的地方，還是人們互相交流信息的中心，或者說是社會激變和人生起伏的見證人。

Tea Craze

Finally there’s a drink that’s fun to eat! The pearl milk tea has become the favorite of the young girls, not only for its unique ingredient—tapioca pearl, but also for its striking appearance. The tea is sweet but it has less sugar than a typical soft drink. It’s usually served in large see-through plastic containers with an extra-wide straw to sip these jumbo pearls. Isn’t it fun?

茶風暴

終于有一種可以用來吃的有趣飲品誕生了!珍珠奶茶已經成了年輕女孩的最愛，不僅因為它所含有的獨特成分——薯粉珍珠，也是由于它那引入注目的外表。這種茶是甜味的，但它所含的糖分卻比一般的軟飲料要少。它通常被裝在透明的塑料杯里出售，外帶一根用來吸食“大珍珠”的大好吸管。這多有趣啊!