Larry 到小燕工作的“金龙”餐馆去找她，发现餐馆里很忙。今天我们要学
两个常用语，一个是jumping ，一个是joint.

    （Sound of a busy restaurant）

    LL： Hi ， Xiaoyan. I was in the neighborhood and wanted to stop by
and say "Hi." —— Wow. This place is jumping ！

    XY：没错，真是忙死我了，今天是星期五，每到星期五和星期六晚上，这是
餐馆最忙的时候。

    LL： So ， Xiaoyan， you obviously know that when a person says a
place is "jumping" - they mean it is very busy.

    XY：这我还能不知道，别忘了，我可是餐馆的领班。我早就知道，说什么地
方jumping 就是客人特别多，生意特别好的意思。

    LL： Say， Xiaoyan， I'd like to stay and chat with you ， but I know
you have a lot of work to do. Is there a time when the restaurant isn't
jumping ？

    XY：你也知道，金龙是中国城生意最好的餐馆，从来就没有闲的时候。

    LL： But surely there are times when "The Golden Dragon" is not as
jumping as it is tonight.

    XY：相对来说，星期二晚上客人少一些，你要来吃饭，最好是星期二来。

    LL： Okay ， I will. See you later， Xiaoyan.

    XY：哎，别急着走啊！虽然客人多，但我还是可以休息一小会儿。你等等啊，
我跟同事交代一下。（用中文跟另外一位带位小姐交代，对方用中文回答说，没
问题。）

    LL： Are you sure she doesn't mind working for you when the place
is jumping， Xiaoyan？

    XY：没关系，就几分钟的时间，我怎么说也不能让你白跑一趟啊！

    LL： That's nice of you ， Xiaoyan. You know， I was hoping to have
dinner here at "The Golden Dragon"， but I didn't expect that it would
be jumping like this. How long is the wait for a table， anyway ？

    XY：现在来，差不多要等半个小时，再过一会儿，可能就要等上一个小时才
有空位了。

    LL： Thirty minutes to an hour？ That's too long. Is there anyplace
nearby I can have dinner that isn't jumping ？

    XY：我听说街对面那家德国饭馆挺不错的，而且随时有空位，要不然你去那
边试试看？

    ******

    LL： Well ， I guess I will have to try the German joint， Xiaoyan.

    XY：你刚才说joint ，我以前也经常听人这么说，joint 到底是什么意思啊？

    LL： "Joint" is a slang for "place" - and it is often used to refer
to restaurants， clubs or other places of entertainment.

    XY：哦，我明白了，joint 指的是饭馆、酒吧和夜总会这类地方。我今天又
学了个新词。You should go to the German joint then.

    LL： I'm just sad I can't eat at your joint ， Xiaoyan. After all ，
the Golden Dragon is the best Chinese restaurant in town.

    XY：金龙确实是这里最好的中餐馆，但是我听说，对面那家德国餐馆真的很
不错，不仅味道正宗，价格也很合理，你不会失望的。

    LL： Say， Xiaoyan， maybe I can come back after I have dinner and
you get off work， and we can go grab a beer at some joint nearby. What
do you think about that ？

    XY：好啊，你吃完饭再回来找我，如果到时候，客人没有那么多了，我就提
前下班，咱们一起去喝两杯。

    LL： Okay. See you later！

    （Incidental music， door opening sound ）

    LL： Hello， Xiaoyan.

    XY： Larry，你回来了！Good to see you again.

    LL： Good to see you， too， Xiaoyan. So， is this joint still jumping
or has business slowed down since earlier this evening？

    XY：现在客人少多了，你等一下，我跟老板打个招呼，就可以走了。

    LL： Do you know of any good joints nearby， Xiaoyan， where you can
have a beer and listen to music ？

    XY：我知道附近有一个爱尔兰酒吧，可以一边喝酒一边听爱尔兰音乐，气氛
特别好。

    LL： That does sound like fun ， Xiaoyan. How do we get to this Irish
Pub from here anyway？

    XY：走过去，三条街就到了。

    LL： Well ， let's hurry over to the Irish joint， Xiaoyan. I could
really use a beer ！

    我们今天学习了两个常用语。一个是jumping ，是指一个地方客人多，生意
繁忙。另一个是joint ，是指餐馆、酒吧、夜总会和俱乐部等消遣的地方。