中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
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 Prime minister’s questions: Mr Cameron holds his hard-won coffee as he meets teenager Josh King |
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The fury over the ill-fated pasty tax should have warned David Cameron to stay well clear of Britain’s high street eateries. But the prime minister wandered into a café for a cup of coffee to a decidedly frosty reception – when he was told to get in line by an acid-tongued waitress. If that wasn’t enough, when he turned tail the premier was given a ticking off for taking his custom next door. Mr Cameron was visiting Plymouth for Armed Forces Day when he stopped at The Sandwich Box Plus in search of a pick-me-up. Café worker Sheila Thomas failed to recognise the Tory leader and told him she was busy serving other customers. ‘I didn’t realize it was him at first,’ she said. ‘I was in the middle of serving a customer so I was running around trying to do something and didn’t take too much notice, to be honest. ‘He asked if we served takeaway coffee and I said, “Yes but I’m in the middle of serving somebody” and he said, “I’m so sorry”. It was only afterwards somebody told me it was the prime minister.’ After a ten-minute wait, Mr Cameron’s aides popped to Warrens bakery next door to buy the peckish premier a jam doughnut and a cup of tea. He sat outside in the sunshine before heading back inside The Sandwich Box to pose for a photograph with teenager Josh King. But Mrs Thomas had words with Mr Cameron when he returned. ‘He came back in afterwards and I told him off for not getting a coffee here,’ she said. ‘He shook hands and was very pleasant.’ The incident comes after other recent forays into the ‘real world’ backfired. Last month the prime minister left his eight-year-old daughter Nancy in a Buckinghamshire pub after a Sunday family meal. And on holiday in Italy last year, he was forced to carry a tray of drinks to his table when a waitress told him she didn’t have time. He left without tipping but returned later to make amends. (Read by Brian Salter. Brian Salter is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
卡梅倫早該警覺人們對注定倒霉的餡餅稅的憤怒，遠離主街道上的食品店。但首相卻踱入一家咖啡店買咖啡，結果遭到店員的斷然冷待——一位刻薄的女店員要他排隊等候，不要插隊。 這還不夠，當他折回咖啡店的時候，這位首相又因攜帶鄰家餐點入店再遭數(shù)落。 那天，卡梅倫正要前往普利茅斯出席軍人節(jié)慶祝大會，他把車停在The Sandwich Box Plus店外，想進去買杯咖啡提提神。 咖啡店員工席拉?托馬斯并未認出這位保守黨領袖，告訴卡梅倫說她現(xiàn)在很忙，正在為其他顧客服務。 她說：“我一開始根本沒意識到是他?！?/p> “我正在為一位顧客服務，跑來跑去地干這干那，確實沒太在意?！?/p> “他問我這里有沒有外賣咖啡，我說‘有，但我正在為別的顧客服務?！蛯ξ艺f，‘很抱歉。’事后才有人告訴我，剛才那位客人是首相。” 卡梅倫等待了10分鐘還沒買到咖啡，于是卡梅倫的助手趕緊到隔壁Warrens面包店買了一個果醬甜甜圈和一杯熱茶拿給饑腸轆轆的首相。 卡梅倫坐在店外明媚的陽光下喝茶，隨后重新進入The Sandwich Box與一名叫喬希?金的少年合影。 但當卡梅倫再次進入店內(nèi)時，席拉又責備了他?！八髞砘貋淼臅r候我責備他帶著別家的咖啡進店，”她說：“但他態(tài)度非常友好，一點也不在意，繼續(xù)跟店里的人握手?！?/p> 最近，在此事發(fā)生之前，首相就曾試圖體察“真實世界”卻反遭詬病。 上個月，卡梅倫在周日家庭聚餐后將8歲的女兒南希落在了白金漢郡的一家酒館。 去年在意大利度假時，他不得不自己用托盤將酒水端回餐桌，因為服務員告訴他她沒時間。 他走的時候沒有付小費，但后來又回來補付。 相關閱讀 （中國日報網(wǎng)英語點津 陳丹妮 編輯：Julie） |
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Vocabulary: pasty tax: 今年3月，英國財政部在宣布財政預算中提出，政府將對任何高于常溫的食物征收20%的增值稅，餡餅屬于被征稅之列。這項政策一經(jīng)宣布便在英國社會上掀起軒然大波，不僅老百姓不愿意，一些食品制造企業(yè)也紛紛提出抗議，烘焙師們甚至抬著特制大餡餅來到唐寧街示威，反對政府對熱外賣小吃征收增值稅。 ticking off: [英國俚語]責備，斥責，訓斥 pick-me-up: 提神飲料 peckish: 有點餓的，想吃東西的，肚子空的 tell (somebody) off: 斥責，責備 backfire: 產(chǎn)生事與愿違（或適得其反）的結果 |
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