今天Michael和李华二人到了纽约一个公园去看烟火。李华学到了两个新词：packed和 hype。

L:我老天，这个公园可真挤，但愿我们能够找到个地方坐下。

M:Yeah, it's really packed today. I've never seen this many people here.

L: Michael,你刚刚说什么？你是说人好多吗？

M:Yes, I said the park is packed. That means it is crowded, there are a lot of people here.

L: 噢，我懂了。你说的packed，就是通常你说打包的pack那个字吧？

M:That's right. Here we say "be packed" to show that a place is full of people, just like a box packed full of stuff.

L: 我想我懂了。那中国人口很多，我是不是可以说China is packed？

M:No, that's not really right: China has a lot of people, but China is also a very big place. We usually use 'packed' to describe a small place full of people.

L: 嗯，原来是这样一来。那就好像在中国春节期间，每班火车都挤的满满的，那我就可以说：在春节前那个星期the trains are packed，对不对？

M:That's right. Around Spring Festival, the buses are packed as well. Right?

L: 没错。事实上，中国的公共汽车永远都是挤得满满的，很难找到个座位，至少在各个大都市都是这样。

M:So, in China what other kinds of places might be packed with people?

L:Well，我记得我去看《泰坦尼克号》那部电影时，电影院是挤的好满，好像每个人都要看哪部电影似的。

M: Ewww. I don't really understand why people liked that movie so much. I thought it was boring.

L:管它是啥原因，Michael，反正中国各地的电影院总是很挤就是了。

M:Hey, the show is starting.

******

L:哎，Michael，你觉得今天的烟火如何？

M:Well I guess they were OK, but I was hoping they would be better.

L:你觉得还可以更好一些？可是我觉得已经很好了。

M:But there was so much hype about this show! Every newspaper said it was going to be the greatest fireworks display in New York history!

L:你说太多什么？你说这次烟火怎么了？

M:I said there was a lot of hype, Hype means a lot of excitement or praise about something that you might hear about before you see it.

L:Oh，所以hype就是指大家总是把一件事说的比实际情况还要好。对不对？

M:Yeah, that's right. For instance, there was a lot of hype about Titanic, but I didn't think it was as good as the hype said it would be.

L:Hmm，你说the hype about Titanic，所以我们就应该说there is hype about something，对不对?

M:That's right. For example, I remember hearing a lot of hype about the Forbidden City in Beijing, but I didn't think it was very interesting.

L:你说什么？你居然说北京故宫不好，那可是中国保存历史古迹的一颗明珠哎。

M:I didn't say it wasn't important to Chinese history. I just didn't think it was very fun to visit, at least not as fun as all the hype said it would be.

L: 我才不管你怎么想呢。你说报上对今天的烟火作了很多宣传，到底是怎么说的呢？

M:Well, the newspapers said it was going to be larger and more exciting than anything ever shown in the city before. But really I think that was just hype. This year wasn't much different from last year.

L:Michael，要是你总是听人宣传的话，你一定会失望的。

M:I guess you are right.

今天Michael和李华到纽约一个公园去看烟火。Michael说这个公园是packed，也就是十分拥挤的意思。另外Michael也不是太喜欢这次的烟火表演，因为他说报纸作了过多的渲染。也就是hype这个词的含义。

• excitement [ik´saitmənt]   n.兴奋；骚动；煽动   (初中英语单词)
• instance [´instəns]   n.例子，实例，例证   (初中英语单词)
• crowded [´kraudid]   a.充(拥)满了的   (高中英语单词)
• festival [´festivəl]   n.节日；庆祝；欢庆   (高中英语单词)
• hearing [´hiəriŋ]   n.听力；听证会；审讯   (高中英语单词)
• forbidden [fə´bidn]   forbid的过去分词   (高中英语单词)
• fireworks [´faiəwə:ks]   n.爆竹，焰火   (英语六级单词)