Professor: Will and Jane are on a date and talking about what kind of TV shows they like to watch, and it so happens that Will loves TV crime dramas.
Crime drama就是“侦破片”，Professor Bowman, 我听说最近几年，crime drama已经是美国最受欢迎的电视剧了。这是为什么呢？
Professor: Let’s see what Will and Jane have to say about it.
Jane: So Will, you really like crime dramas, huh? Why are you so into them?
Will: I really want to become a lawyer one day, so I think watching shows like “Law and Order” is pretty good preparation for my future career.
Jane: Oh come on …. that show is so boring. Each show has the same plot. The police arrest someone for a crime, and then he goes to trial.
Will: No way! It’s totally interesting the way it shows how the American justice system works. If it were so boring, why would there be so many spinoffs?
Jane: Well that’s one thing we can agree on. There are definitely a lot of cookie-cutter spinoffs.
“Law and Order”–“法律与秩序”， 讲的是警察侦破罪案，法庭审案的故事。Will喜欢看这个片子，因为他可以从中学到关于美国司法系统的一些知识。
Professor: That’s right. Will likes it, but what does Jane think about the show?
Jane觉得这片子没意思。不过，Will说，如果这片子不吸引人，就不会有那么多spinoffs – 仿照它所拍的同类型电视剧了。
Professor: Exactly. You know, you can call other things spinoffs too. For example, “The new Italian restaurant was so popular that there were soon three other spinoffs, all exactly the same, on the same block. “
对了，Jane还用到了cookie cutter这个词，cookie cutter就是做饼干时切面的模子。Professor, 在这里，cookie cutter 是不是指“千篇一律的东西”呢？
Professor: Yes! For example, I could say that I never believe my students when they give me cookie-cutter excuses for why they didn’t do their homework, like saying that their dog ate it.
Jane: Well what are some of the other crime dramas you like?
Will: Do you know the show Crime Scene Investigation? We usually call it CSI. It’s about a team of police investigators solving crimes in Las Vegas.
Jane: Sure, I’ve heard of CSI. What other shows do you like?
Will: There are lots of other great crime dramas. There is also CSI New York and CSI Miami.
Jane: Will … can’t you see that those are all the same show! They just happen in different cities!
Will: No way! They’re all totally different. And besides, they all get really good ratings and rave reviews.
CSI–“犯罪现场调查”，也是个非常红的电视剧！后来的CSI New York和CSI Miami就是最初那版CSI的spinoffs.
Professor: That’s right. But what does Will say?
他说，这些电视剧都得到了good ratings – 高收视率，还有rave reviews – 非常好的评论。
Professor: That’s right, Winnie. The word “rave” is often used as a verb, meaning to praise something highly. Rave通常是动词，意思是“极力赞扬”。您能举个例子吗？
Professor: Well, I decided to take my next vacation in Greece after my sister came back from her visit there raving about how great it was.
Will: You know, all this talk reminds me that CSI Miami is coming on pretty soon. Do you mind if I cut our date short so I can get home to watch it?
Jane: You want to end our date early just so you can go home and watch TV? Was the last episode a real cliffhanger, and you have to see tonight’s episode?
Will: Yeah! I can’t wait to get home so I can see the sequel.
Jane: Well I hope you enjoy it, Will, because there will definitely not be a sequel to this date!
Will居然要提前结束约会，赶回家看今晚播出的CSI Miami？我看这只是个借口吧! 不过，Professor, Jane提到一个词 – cliffhanger，这是什么意思？
Professor: A “cliffhanger” is a chapter of a book or an episode of a TV show that ends without resolving the plot.
哦，我明白了，cliffhanger这个词由两个部分组成：cliff–悬崖，hanger–悬挂物，所以，cliffhanger就好比是有人在悬崖边，命悬一线! 指的是书和电视中那种有悬念、令人紧张的情节!
这次的美语三级跳就播送到这里。