J: Hello, welcome to American Cafe! I'm Jody!

Y: 各位好，欢迎到美语咖啡屋。我是杨晨。

J: Hey, Yang Chen, don't forget to keep next weekend free.

Y: Oh, 对，下个周末我们要去看音乐剧。因为Eric要在里面扮演一个角色。说Eric起来，我觉得他可是够忙碌的，又要上学，又要参加学校剧团的演出。

J: He is a very busy 14 -year old. But you know, all kids sooner or later are in a school play.

Y: 是吗，所有的孩子都有机会参加演出啊？

J: Oh sure. And today we'll hear from Eric and his mom Lara about what it means to be in a school play.

Y: 好啊。那我们就先来认识Eric的妈妈Lara 。

Lara: It's, I think fairly common, almost every junior high school and high school in the country has some sort of play or dramatic opportunity that kids can participate in.

Y: 原来我以为只有那些将来想进演艺界的小孩才会参加这种演出呢。

J: Oh no, no, no. Everyone tries out for school plays!

Y: "Try out" 就是参加audition，I mean 参加“演员挑选”

J: That's right. Everyone tries out. The nerdy students try out, the artsy students try out and just the plain ol' average students try out. Again here is Lara.

Lara: Everyone tries out. Anyone who's interested can try out. The more nerdy kids, if you will, the artsy kids, and just plain ol' average kids. Anyone can try out.

Y: 哎， Jody，你来给大家描述一下，如果说个人很nerdy， 那该是什么样子呢？

J: OK. A nerd is anyone who studies too much, never gets into any trouble and carries around lots of pens and pencils. That is a nerdy student.

Y: Nerdy kids 一般来说都是书呆子。 那么artsy呢？

J: Artsy, very creative, artistic students. But no matter if you are nerdy or artsy , being in a play makes you busy.

Y: 没错，特别是对一个14岁的孩子来说。 那他有那么时间吗？

J: Well, Yang Chen, that is the negative side of being in a school play - it can really drain a student's time.

Lara: The negatives are... it's a very large drain on a kid's time. For an individual play it's several weeks of practice - maybe six weeks of practice.

Y: 要花 6 个星期的时间来排练。 那这样会不会影响他的学习成绩呢？

J: Well, it probably does influence a student's grades. But I also think it's well worth it.

Y: Jody, 你的意思是说参加演出比取得好成绩还要重要吗？

J: Well, it could be. Acting in a play is a wonderful opportunity to develop such things as public speaking abilities, confidence.

Lara: Well, the pros are that it's a wonderful opportunity for kids to develop public speaking ability and confidence. That's a definite plus - building a positive self-image.

Y: 说了半天，Eric到底参加的是那一部戏的演出？

J: Eric performed in the Music Man.

Eric: My name is Eric. And... I was in a play called the Music Man. It's about this man named Harold Hill and he's a con artist. A con artist is someone who tricks people into giving them money. And so Harold is selling boys bands.

Y: Con artist, 就是诈骗犯的意思。

J: In the Music Man boys bands means a marching band with lots of instruments!

Y: Marching band，该怎么解释呢？

J: I've got an idea. Bring in the band!

Y: 哎，我想Eric一定演的是Music Man里面的男主角大骗子Harold Hill，对不对？

J: Well ... not exactly.

Eric: I was Man #2. I was a non-important character who said three lines and had one musical solo line.

Y: 不过不要紧，我相信Eric下次一定能演主角。

J: Oh, sure! He is very talented. And to a parent it doesn't matter if you're the lead role or Man #2.

Lara: It doesn't matter if they're in the big part or they're just Man #2; every parent who sees their child on stage feels enormously proud.

J: Lara does sound like a proud parent, doesn't she?

Y: 没错。

J: That's all for American Cafe. Thanks for joining us and see you next time.