Lesson 40



Food and talk



First listen and then answer the question.



Was Mrs. Rumbold a good companion at dinner?



Last week at a dinner party, the hostess asked me to sit next to Mrs. Rumbold.



Mrs. Rumbold was a large, unsmiling lady in a tight black dress.



She did not even look up when I took my seat beside her.



Her eyes were fixed on her plate and in a short time, she was busy eating.



I tried to make conversation.



'A new play is coming to "The Globe" soon,' I said. 'Will you be seeing it?'



'No,' she answered.



'Will you be spending your holidays abroad this year?' I asked.



'No,' she answered.



'Will you be staying in England?' I asked.



'No,' she answered.



In despair, I asked her whether she was enjoying her dinner.



'Young man,' she answered, 'if you ate more and talked less, we would both enjoy our dinner!"




hostess  [ˈhəustis]  n. 女主人


unsmiling  [ʌnˈsmailiŋ]  adj. 不笑的，严肃的


tight  [tait]  adj. 紧身的


fix   [fiks]   v. 凝视


globe  [ɡləub]  n. 地球


despair  [disˈpɛə]  n. 绝望