臀英语阅读新视野第12课

2021年1月16日发(作者：申军谊)

Speed Dating 快速约会
Before You Read 阅前思考
Answer the following questions.
1. What are the most common ways to meet someone in your country?
2. What do people usually do on a first date?
3. Look at the title of this reading. What do you think it menas?
Target Vocabulary目标词汇

Match each word with the best meaning.
1. community a. stress; a feeling of being pushed to do something.
2. conventional b. a group of people who live in the same people.
3. episode c. move smoothly, like water
4. exchange d. important factor
5. flow e. one in a series of events
6. impression f. take part in an activity
7. key g. usual; normal; in use for a long time.
8. participate h. swap
9. pressure i. look through something quickly to find important or
interesting information
10. scan j. one’s thoughts or feelings towards someone or something
after having met him, her, or it.
Reading Passage 阅读文章

You are the first to arrive at the table in the back corner of the restaurant. As you sit down, a
handsome stranger comes to table and takes the seat across from you. You read his name on his
nametag, “Jason.” Once is seated, a bell rings and your date begins!
As you scan your list of conversation topics, the man across the table asks about your hobbies.
From there, the conversation naturally flows back and forth from your interests to his interests to
your job to his job. You are both careful not to ask questions that are too personal, such as “Where
do you live?” or “What’s your last name?” Then the bell rings again. It’s time to move on. As you
make your way to the next table, you quickly mark your date card. You write the man’s name on the
card. Under the question “Would you like to meet again for a real date?”, you mark “yes.” Then you
take a seat for your next date.
Welcome to the world of speed dating! This is the latest way for single people to meet other
people they might like to date without the pressure associated with the conventional dating scene.
Many businesses offering speed dating services have become especially popular in the United States,
England, and Canada. These businesses organize events where participants can have dozens and
some services limit each date to only three minutes. This gives people just enough time to make an
impression, so that each person in the “date” can decide if they want to meet the other again. If both
people mark “yes” on the date card, the service will arrange for the people to contact one another to
arrange a real date.
The idea for speed dating came from Yaacov Deyo of Los Angeles. In 1999, he wanted to

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provide an alternative way for his students to get together other than using blind dates arranged
through family or friends. His speed dating idea was so successful, that if quickly spread to other
communities across the United States. Deyo and his wife also wrote a book, SpeedDating: A
Timesaving Guide to Finding Your Lifelong Love, to teach other people the keys to successful
speed dating. Then businesses were set up to try to cash in on the popularity of speed dating. And
after a popular television sit-com did an episode on speed dating, dating services across the United
States really took off.
Like any date, speed dating does not always work out. But most services claim to have at least
a 50 percent success rate for daters. And in the case of Erik and Denise from Milwaukee, their night
of speed dating eventually led to marriage. But the funny thing is they never actually had a speed
date together. They just saw each other at a speed dating event and decided to exchange phone
numbers at the end of the evening.
Reading Comprehension 阅读理解

Circle the letter of the best answer.
1. How is speed dating different from conventional dating?
a. The dates are very short.
b. It usually isn’t possible to meet the person again.
c. The couples do many activities on one date.
d. The people usually know each other quite well.
2. What would be a suitable question for speed dating?
a. Where do you live? b. What’s your last name?
c. What sports do you like? d. What’s your phone number?
3. How long might it take person to complete ten speed dates?
a. ten minutes b. one evening c. one week d. ten days
4. Who is Deyo?
a. a man who has had many speed dates
b. the inventor of speed dating
c. man who got married after speed dating
d. the president of a speed dating company
5. Which event led to a rapid rise in speed dating in the United States?
a. a national speed dating event b. a television broadcast
c. the marriage of Erik and Denise d. the publication of a book in Milwaukee
Idioms 习语
Find each idiom in the story.
1. each in on-earn money from some idea or trend; take advantage of something to make money
from it
Most entertainers try to cash in on their fame while they are popular.
The local people where able to cash in on the tourists who flooded the island every summer.
2. move on-finish one thing and start something new; continue to the next thing
All right, if everyone has finished reading the passage, let’s move on to the questions.
After all the plants on the farm were eaten, the locusts moved on to the next field.

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