Olivia： Oh no！ I dont understand how this can happen！

Tony： Told you so.

Sarah： Hi Olivia！ Whats the problem？

Carlos： （in background） Excuse me...

Olivia： Its not just here， not just the café...

Sarah： What do you mean？

Tony： Told you so.

Carlos： （in background） Excuse me...

Olivia： Its true！

Sarah： What is？

Olivia： They want to knock

down my shop， as well as the

café！

Sarah： 1）Demolish it？ Get rid of

it completely？

Olivia： Yes.

Tony： Told you so.

Sarah： Oh no！

Olivia： Thats what I keep

saying...

Carlos： （louder） Excuse me！

Tony： Yes？

Carlos： Could I have something

to eat please， and a cup of tea？

Tony： Sure， heres a menu， go

and take a seat somewhere.

Sarah： Oh dear...lets go and sit

down—theres Harry over there， lets sit with him.

Harry： Hello there. Magdas on her way. I think we need to have a plan...

Olivia： Yeah， but what can we do？

（Magda opens the door.）

All： Hey Magda！ Hi！ Were over here！ Come and sit down！

Magda： Hello everyone！ Whats the matter？ Why does everyone look so sad？

Harry： The café is going to close...

Sarah： ...and Olivias shop too！

M a g d a ： W h y ？ O h ， t h e p r o p e r t y company...theyre building new flats...I remember now...

Harry： Thats right， and they want to demolish this place， and Olivias shop next door.

Olivia： Theyre offering us 2）compensation...

Magda： “Compensation”？ Sarah： Money.

Olivia： But its not enough. I want to keep my shop.

S a r a h ： Ye s ， a n d I want to keep this caféopen...theres nowhere else where we can all meet.

Carlos： Excuse me...

All： Yes？

Carlos： I couldnt help 3 ）o v e r h e a r i n g y o u r

conversation.

Magda： Were you listening to us？

Carlos： No， sorry， I wasnt listening. I just heard what you were talking about.

Olivia： Is this the first time youve been here？

Carlos： Well， yes it is， actually...

Harry： Itll probably be the last.

Carlos： Well， yes， I know...thats what I wanted to say.

Sarah： What？

Carlos： Im afraid I work for the company， the building company.

Olivia： The company who wants to knock down my shop？

Harry： And our favourite café？

Carlos： Im afraid so， yes.

Olivia： Can you stop them？

Carlos： Well， no， Im not sure about that.

Sarah： What do you do for the company？

Carlos： Well， thats the problem. Im not one of their top managers， or anything like that...

Harry： Thats a shame.

Carlos： Im just the 4）caterer.

Magda： Caterer？

Carlos： Yes， I make food for them.

Harry： Hang on a minute， I dont understand...youre the caterer...you make food. Carlos： Yes， thats right. Im a 5）chef， actually.

Or at least thats what Id like to be...

Harry： But youve just come in here to get food. Carlos： Oh yeah...well， you see， the problem is， I dont really like the food I have to cook for other people. I prefer to try new things—so I came in here！

Harry： （unconvinced） Right.

Olivia： Can you help us？

Carlos： Im not sure what I can do...I dont really want to lose my job.

Sarah： No， I guess not—but if you work for the building company， you could do some research for us...

Carlos： Research？ How do you mean？

Sarah： You could find out some information for us.

Carlos： Erm， well， OK， I mean， if I can...Id like to help you！

Olivia： Great！ Lets see what we can do...we can save this place！

All： Ah， yes.

小鏈接

《泰晤士報》（The Times）是英國全國發(fā)行的綜合性日報，是對全世界政治、經(jīng)濟、文化發(fā)揮著巨大影響的報紙。

《泰晤士報》隸屬于魯伯特·默多克的新聞集團。長期以來，《泰晤士報》一直被認(rèn)為是英國的第一主流大報，被譽為“英國社會的忠實記錄者”?！短┪钍繄蟆吩谟鴩鴥?nèi)政治和國際關(guān)系問題上扮演了重要角色。在被魯伯特·默多克收購之后，有指《泰晤士報》的風(fēng)格逐漸趨向保守。

《泰晤士報》的英文名稱The Times，中文直譯過來應(yīng)該是《時報》。然而它的譯名卻變成與讀音相近、但毫無關(guān)聯(lián)的“泰晤士河”（River Thames）一樣。由于約定俗成的關(guān)系，錯譯保留至今?，F(xiàn)今世界各地有許多名為Times的報章，如《紐約時報》（The New York Times）。為了區(qū)分出來，《泰晤士報》有時被英語使用者稱為《倫敦時報》（The London Times）?！短┪钍繄蟆肥鞘澜缟系谝环菀浴癟imes”命名的報紙。