Do the British still drink afternoon tea?

◆語篇導讀

下午茶是飲食文化的一種表現形式，活動時間在午餐和晚餐之間。近代的下午茶來自英國維多利亞時代的英式下午茶，人們一邊吃著西式糕點一邊喝茶?？墒乾F在時代變了，人們的口味也變了，下午茶還在嗎？

We regular British people drink tea and eat snacks whenever we feel like them—8 am,9 pm and 2 am.In my house while I was growing up,we would have a big dinner at lunch time and then drink tea.This would consist of a sandwich and a piece of cake that we ate in front of the TV set.Even now the meal after work or school is called tea whether you drink tea or not and whether it consists of sandwiches or is a main meal.

However,if we visit someone in the afternoon,they will make some scones,cakes,sandwiches and other delicious food to be served,and I suppose that is technically“afternoon tea”.

Children come home from school at 4 pm.Mum or Dad will make them a drink and something to eat.Maybe a sandwich,maybe some cakes,maybe a cup of tea.Mum or Dad will probably join in.What do you call this?Afternoon tea!

I go shopping with friends or families to the town centre.We’ve looked in all the shops and now we need to sit down and think about which shops to return to for those final purchases.Look at the watch,it’s almost 4 pm.It may be that we sit down for a cappuccino and a couple of macaroons but I can only think of one word to describe this...afternoon tea.

We’re in the office.Boring!We’ve more or less finished for the day but the clock says no(it’s 4 pm).Someone puts the kettle on and we sit down for a chat about the next few days.Oh,someone found a box of cupcake.Wow!We’ve just had...afternoon tea!

◆詞語積淀

regular/?reɡj?l?(r)/adj.普通的；通常的consist of...由……組成

scone/sk?n/n.烤餅；司康餅

technically/?tekn?kli/adv.嚴格來說

purchase/?pз?t??s/n.購買；購買的東西kettle/?ketl/n.（燒水用的）壺

◆典句賞析

1.Even now the meal after work or school is called tea whether you drink tea or not and whether it consists of sandwiches or is a main meal.甚至現在放學或下班之后吃的東西都叫“茶點”，無論你喝不喝茶，也不管你是吃三明治還是吃正餐。

whether you drink tea or not and whether it consists of sandwiches or is a main meal是并列的兩個條件狀語從句。whether...or not...意為“是……還是不是……”。

【即時嘗試】無論你是否喜歡這個意見,我都將繼續做下去。

2.It may be that we sit down for a cappuccino and a couple of macaroons but I can only think of one word to describe this...afternoon tea.我們可能會坐下來喝杯卡布奇諾 （熱牛奶咖啡），吃幾塊馬卡龍（蛋白杏仁餅干）。但我只能想出一個詞來描述這些，那就是“下午茶”。

that引導的是表語從句，盡管that在此處沒有詞義，但也絕對不可以省略；cappuccino音譯為“卡布奇諾”，意為“熱牛奶咖啡”；macaroon音譯為“馬卡龍”，指蛋白杏仁餅、蛋白椰子餅干；動詞不定式短語to describe this作后置定語，修飾way。

【即時嘗試】他的建議是，我們應該保持冷靜。

譯文助讀

我們普通的英國人隨時都可以喝茶、吃點心——上午8點，下午9點和凌晨2點。在我家，從我小時候開始，我們午餐時間都會先吃一頓很豐盛的正餐，然后再喝茶。喝茶時還會看電視、吃三明治或蛋糕。甚至現在放學或下班之后吃的東西都叫“茶點”，無論你喝不喝茶，也不管你是吃三明治還是吃正餐。

然而，如果我們下午去拜訪別人，他們會準備一些烤餅、蛋糕、三明治，還有一些其他美味的食物招待我們，我覺得那才是真正意義上的“下午茶”。

孩子們下午4點放學回家后，媽媽或爸爸會給他們準備點吃的和喝的?？赡苁侨髦?、蛋糕，也可能是一杯茶，媽媽或爸爸也可能會一起吃。你管這個叫什么？下午茶！

我和朋友或家人去市中心購物，已經逛完了所有的商店，現在需要坐下來想想該回哪家店把看中的東西買下來?？纯幢?，差不多下午4點了，我們可能會坐下來喝杯卡布奇諾（熱牛奶咖啡），吃幾塊馬卡龍（蛋白杏仁餅干）。但我只能想出一個詞來描述這些，那就是“下午茶”。

我們坐在辦公室里，覺得很無聊！一天的工作差不多都做完了，但還沒到下班時間（才下午4點鐘）。有人會燒點水，然后我們坐在一起聊聊未來幾天的事。哦，有人找到一盒紙杯蛋糕。哇哦，我們剛剛喝了……下午茶！