Ep.16 Ratatouille

英語 × 英文 × 樂詞不疲

Intro
Rémy wants to be a chef, and luckily, he lives in the best culinary city in the world, Paris, France.
But there’s one problem.
Rémy is a rat.
And rats can’t be chefs. They aren’t even allowed in kitchens! Listen to Mason tell Amanda about how Rémy the rat makes for his favorite movie of the summer, Ratatouille.
Dialogue
Mason: Have, uh, seen the best movie of the summer yet?
Amanda: Uh, Transformers, yes.
Mason: Well I was uh…I was talking about Ratatouille...
Amanda: No, but what a fun word to say!
Mason: It is a fun word. A friend actually pointed out to me…It’s funny, on the posters they spell if phonetically because there’s probably a fair portion of Middle America that’s never really seen that word before and wouldn’t know how to pronounce it.
Amanda: Nor would they know what it is, right?
Mason: To be honest, I know it’s food…
Amanda: Well, it’s a French dish, stewed vegetables, sometimes a side dish, sometimes served as a main course. I’ve never had it myself, but it sounds wonderful. Think about how many people probably ate it on opening night.
Mason: And of course, the name is funny for the movie because the main character is a rat...
Amanda: Oh, I hadn’t really thought of that…
Mason: ...who wants to be chef, in France, and then they bring the dish in the climactic scene. Oh it’s so good. Beautifully animated like all Pixar stuff is. The story’s fantastic.
Amanda: And isn’t it the first film since the Disney-Pixar merger? I think it’s the first one out of the gates.
Mason: Since the merger?
Amanda: Yeah, between Disney and Pixar.
Mason: They joined?
Amanda: Yes! I believe this is the first child since.
Mason: I don’t know…
Amanda: I thought. I could look it up on Wikipedia.
Mason: You know, you might be right, and if so, I would say that Pixar has survived the crushing hand of Disney that they escaped from.
Amanda: Fantastic.
Discussion
When Mason asks if Amanda has seen the best movie of the summer, she assumes he’s talking about Transformers.
But he means Ratatouille, a movie that Amanda informs him is named for a French dish of stewed vegetables. Mason points out that it’s the perfect name for the movie because it’s about a French rat who wants to be a chef.
Amanda asks if Ratatouille is the first Pixar film since the company merged with Disney. Mason says he doesn’t know, but that if it is, Pixar survived the merger.
Have you ever felt like a rat trying to become a chef? Have you ever wanted a job that seemed impossible to get?
Grammar Point
Every time you look up a word in the dictionary and it shows you how to pronounce it, you’re using a phonetic spelling. For example, the phonetic spelling of “ratatouille” is rat-a-TOO-ee. The syllable in all capital letters is the one you stress, or say the loudest.
Quiz
❶　Which is true?

• Amanda doesn’t know what ratatouille is.
• Amanda doesn’t know what Ratatouille is.
• Amanda has eaten ratatouille and liked it.
• Amanda hasn’t eaten ratatouille, but she thinks it sounds good.　✓

❷　Ratatouille is named…

• after the main character.
• after a dish served in the climactic scene.　✓
• for the French word for “rat.”

❸　Amanda says that Pixar and Disney are now…

• the same company.　✓
• mortal enemies.
• best friends forever.
• both good.
• both sucky.

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