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!
[Enter music here.]
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.
ACT 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.
Y: 谢谢大家收听美语咖啡屋。我们下次节目再见。