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.
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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。