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Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.
大家好。这里是 BBC 学习英语栏目的六分钟英语。我是内尔。
And I’m Sam.
我是萨姆。
Have you ever been to an all-you-can-eat buffet, Sam?
你去过自助餐厅吗，萨姆？
You know – a meal in a restaurant where you can eat as much food as you like.
就是一家想吃多少就吃多少的餐厅。
Yes, I went to an Indian buffet once.
是的，我去吃过一次印度自助餐。
I didn’t eat all day before the meal, but I only managed to finish three or four plates. Well, maybe five!
去之前我一天都没吃饭，但我只吃下了三四盘食物，嗯，也许是五盘！
It sounds like your eyes were bigger than your belly, or stomach, a phrase describing someone who has taken more food than they can eat.
听起来你是眼大肚子小呀。这个短语形容的是一个人拿得多却吃不完。
In this programme we’ll be discussing buffets, a feast of many different food dishes where diners are allowed to eat as much as they want or as much as their stomachs will allow.
在这期节目中，我们将讨论自助餐——一种由多种不同菜肴组成的盛宴，食客可以想吃多少就吃多少，或者说，能吃多少就吃多少。
And, of course, we’ll be learning some new vocabulary as well.
当然，我们还将学习一些新的词汇。
The popularity of buffets is booming, especially in Middle Eastern and Asian countries where the variety of foods means there’s something for everyone.
自助餐越来越受欢迎了，尤其是在中东和亚洲国家。那里的食物种类繁多，大家都能找到喜欢吃的。
But feasts are big and boastful. Usually too much is cooked, and buffets have been criticised for waste.
但自助餐厅规模庞大，且自以为畅销，常常做得太多了，因此被批评浪费食物。
We’ll hear more soon, but first I have a question for you, Sam.
稍后我们将进一步讨论，但首先我有个问题要问你，萨姆。
The word ‘buffet’ originated from the French name for the table on which food was served, but buffets themselves don’t come from France.
“自助餐”一词源于法语中上菜的餐桌，但自助餐本身并不来自法国。
So in which country did buffets begin?
那么自助餐起源于哪个国家呢？
Was it a) The United States of America b) Sweden c) China.
是 a) 美利坚合众国 b) 瑞典，还是 c) 中国。
Well, the US is famous for supersizing food so I’ll guess a) America.
美国以超大号的食物而闻名，所以我猜是 a) 美国。
OK, Sam. We’ll find out the answer later in the programme.
好的，萨姆。我们稍后将在节目中揭晓答案。
John Wood, owner of cooking company Kitchen Cut, knows a lot about buffets.
烹饪公司Kitchen Cut的老板约翰 · 伍德对自助餐了如指掌。
He used to run a one-thousand-seat breakfast buffet at the five-star Jumeirah Beach Hotel in Dubai.
他曾经在迪拜的五星级朱美拉海滩酒店经营一家自助早餐店，可以容纳千人。
Here John shares his observations on human buffet behaviour with BBC World Service programme, The Food Chain.
约翰在BBC世界服务栏目的《食物链》节目中分享了他对自助餐食客的观察和见解。
There are different people that treat buffets in different ways.
人们对待自助餐的方式不同。
Some people think this is a great opportunity to try little bits and lots of everything, and we come back as many times as I like.
有些人认为这是一个很好的机会，可以尝试各种各样的吃的，每样都能吃一点，而且可以不停地取餐。
And other people just, whether they don't like getting up and down, which is understandable from their table, just want to pile it high, and people they want to get value for money.
从另一些人的餐桌上可以看出，他们不喜欢来回取餐，他们在盘子上摞满食物，想吃回本来。
So, if you're paying $100, $200 a head for a buffet, you're gonna pile it up high and take the most expensive things you can you know, and get your money's worth.
如果你花100或者200美元买一份自助餐，你会拿你知道的最贵的东西，摞满盘子，吃回本来。
John says buffet diners want to get their money’s worth – get good value for the money they spend, so they often pile up food on their plate.
约翰说，自助餐食客希望花的钱物有所值，也就是说，得吃回本来，所以他们经常在盘子上摞满食物。
If you pile something up, you gather a large amount of it into one place to build what’s called a pile.
把东西摞起来，就是说，把大量的东西聚集到一个地方，堆成一堆。
But buffets are not just about eating until you explode, they’re also an opportunity to show off to your friends.
但自助餐不仅仅是吃到撑，这也是你向朋友炫耀的机会。
Weddings are big in India, and usually include a buffet.
在印度，婚礼很盛大，婚宴通常就是自助餐。
The richer the people getting married, the bigger the buffet, sometimes inviting as many as five thousand guests.
结婚的人越富有，自助餐就越盛大，有时会邀请多达5000位宾客。
If each guest eats around six dishes, we’re taking about a seriously big buffet!
如果每位客人吃六盘，那真是一顿丰盛的自助餐！
Sandeep Sreedharan is a wedding caterer from Goa in South India.
桑迪普·斯里达兰是印度南部果阿的一名婚宴承办人。
He owns a company which provides the food and drink for special social occasions.
他开着一家公司，承办特殊场合餐饮活动。
Here he talks with Ruth Alexander, presenter of BBC World Service, The Food Programme, about organising an Indian wedding buffet.
在BBC世界服务栏目的《粮食计划》节目中，他与主持人露丝·亚历山大讨论了印度婚礼自助餐的筹备。
It's a very vicious circle, I think, right?
这是一个恶性循环，对吗？
Everybody wants to overwhelm everybody around you.
每个人都想胜过身边的每一个人。
OK. That's the aim.
这就是他们的目的。
They are out to impress. They want to ‘wow’ the guests, knock their socks off.
他们想要给客人留下深刻印象，让他们惊叹。
Knock their socks off.
让他们大吃一惊。
They should just go back saying, "I couldn't eat even half of it!", you know.
他们希望客人回去说：“我连一半都吃不下！”
Some people just come for eating. They don't even worry about who's wedding is it.
有些人只是来吃东西的。他们甚至不在意这是谁的婚礼。
They know that… Who's the caterer? Ah, these guys are catering. Oh my God, this is gonna be great.
他们只知道这里有位宴席承办人。啊，这些人包办餐饮。天哪，这餐一定会很棒的。
Wedding buffets are designed to amaze and overwhelm the guests with their huge displays of food.
婚礼自助餐是为了陈列展示大量食物，让宾客们惊叹。
They need to ‘wow’ the guests, or knock their socks off, an idiom meaning to amaze and impress someone.
他们想让客人大吃一惊。“knock their socks off”是一个俚语，意为让某人惊讶、印象深刻。
The problem is that no matter how extravagant and expensive one buffet is, the next one has to be even more impressive,
问题是，无论这场自助餐多么奢侈、昂贵，下一场都必须更好。
Something Sandeep calls a vicious circle, a difficult situation which has the effect of creating new problems which then make the original situation even worse.
桑迪普称之为恶性循环，就是说，某种困境引发新的问题，新的问题又加剧了原来的困境。
It seems the secret to enjoying a buffet is trying a little bit of everything, without stuffing yourself until you can’t move.
享受自助餐的秘诀似乎是浅尝所有东西，而不是把自己撑得动弹不得。
Although in the past, I think, that was exactly the idea.
但在过去，吃撑的确是吃自助餐的宗旨。
OK, it’s time to reveal the answer to my question, where did the buffets originally come from?
好了，是时候揭晓我的问题的答案了。自助餐起源于哪里呢？
I guessed it was from the United States. Was I right?
我猜是从美国来的。对吗？
That was… the wrong answer, I’m afraid, Sam.
回答错误，萨姆。
In fact buffets are thought to have come from Sweden in the Middle Ages.
其实，自助餐起源于中世纪的瑞典。
OK, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned.
好了，让我们来回顾一下本期词汇。
Starting with the expression, eyes bigger than your belly, or eyes bigger than your stomach, used when someone has taken more food than they can eat.
首先是“eyes bigger than your belly / stomach”，指某人占得多但吃不完。
If you pile up your plate, you gather a large quantity of food together into a pile.
“pile up your plate”，意为，摞一堆食物。
The phrase to get your money’s worth means to get good value for the money you have spent .
“get your money’s worth”这个短语的意思是，让你花的钱物有所值。
A vicious circle is a problematic situation, having the effect of creating new problems which then make the first situation even worse.
“a vicious circle”恶性循环，指这样一种困境——它引发新的问题，新的问题又加剧原来的困境。
The idiom "to knock your socks off" means to wow, amaze or impress someone.
“to knock your socks off”这个俚语的意思是让人惊叹、印象深刻。
And finally, a caterer is a person or company which provides food and drink for special social occasions.
最后，“caterer”是指承办特殊场合餐饮活动的个人或公司。
Once again, our six minutes are up.
我们的六分钟又到了。
Bye for now! Bye!
再见了！再见！
