Fill in the gaps with a word or expression.
1. The scene of the 4 people at the diner expressed a particular kind of__________.
2. The painting is entitled _____________.
3. When Hopper __________capture the American loneliness, he chose a diner.
4. Quentin Tarantino set great epiphanies within the _______________of a diner in his American masterpiece Pulp Fiction.
5. In Westerns there is always a frontier saloon, __________ doors, some old cowboy ___________four fingers of ____________
6. I’m going in search of the beating heart of American culture. Or do I mean a __________ heart? Either way, on my travels, I intend to eat nothing but honest-to God home-cooked diner __________.
7. Providence, Rhode Island, is the perhaps ____________ birthplace of America’s best-loved kitchen. . It was here in 1872 that the first ever all-night mobile food carts served dinner on the_____________.
8. The Haven Brothers’ ________-on-wheels still parks up alongside City Hall every night.
9. After dark the diner really comes______________.
10. The diner began trading to ___________in the market, catering to people who worked at night, government employees, reporters, __________ like that. And Haven Brothers is still a kind of _____________ in the lonely American night.
11. The diners developed into static models produced in factories and _________ to permanent roadside destinations.
12. The diner’s ________________and not-so-fine dining ensured their survival throughout world wars, prohibition, even the Depression.
KEY
1. Alienation
Alienation: /ˌeɪliəˈneɪʃn/ The feeling that you do not belong in a particular group. E.g. Many immigrants suffer from a sense of alienation.
2. Nighthawks
Nighthawk: a person who likes to be active late at night. Night owl.
3. set out to
Set out: to begin a job, task, etc. with a particular aim or goal. Sp. Proponerse. E.g. She set out to break the world record. They succeeded in what they set out to do.
4. leatherette booths
Leatherette: /ˌleðəˈret/ an artificial material that looks and feels like leather. Sp. Cuero.
5. batwing
Batwing doors: swinging doors (as at the entrance to a western saloon)( shaped like the wings of a bat)
sinking
Sink something (British English, informal) to drink something quickly, especially a large amount of alcohol. E.g. They sank three pints each in 10 minutes.
redeye
Redeye: Inferior whiskey.
6. fat-clogged
Clog: to block something or to become blocked. E.g. The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. Tears clogged her throat.
chow
Chow: /tʃaʊ/ food (slang)
7. unlikely
Unlikely: not the person, thing or place that you would normally think of or expect. Sp. Insólito. E.g. He seems a most unlikely candidate for the job. They have built hotels in the most unlikely places.
kerbside
Kerbside: the side of the street or path near the kerb. E.g. to stand at the kerbside
8. griddle
Griddle: a flat round iron plate that is heated on a stove or over a fire and used for cooking. Sp. Plancha (un filete a la plancha: a grilled steak).
9. into its own
Come into your/its own: to have the opportunity to show how good or useful you are or something is. E.g. When the traffic's this bad, a bicycle really comes into its own.(Sp. se puede lucir).
10. plug a gap
Plug something: to provide something that has been missing from a particular situation and is needed in order to improve it. Sp. Tapar. E.g. A cheaper range of products was introduced to plug the gap at the lower end of the market.
lowlifes
A low-life or lowlife (pl. lowlifes) is a term for a person who is considered morally unacceptable by their community. Examples of people who are often called "lowlifes" are thieves, drug dealers, drug users, alcoholics, thugs, prostitutes and pimps.
beacon
Beacon: a light that is placed somewhere to guide vehicles and warn them of danger. Sp. Almenara, faro. E.g. A navigation beacon. (Figurative) He was a beacon of hope for the younger generation.
11. hauled
Haul: to pull something/somebody with a lot of effort. Haul something/somebody: e.g. The wagons were hauled by horses.
Overheads: regular
costs that you have when you are running a business or an organization,
such as rent, electricity, wages, etc. Sp.Gastos.
Transcript:
On a cold December night in 1941 an artist stood on the sidewalk in Manhattan gazing through the plate glass window of an all-night diner. He saw a couple at the counter, a man on the other side, someone else serving coffee. What could be more commonplace? But something struck him as exceptional about this scene. It expressed a particular kind of alienation.
His name was Edward Hopper. And his defining painting, Nighthawks, one of the most admired images of the 20th century. When Hopper set out to capture a very American loneliness, he chose to do so in a diner.
Edward Hopper was not alone in seeing the potential in the diner. Writers, musicians, photographers, all the greatest American artists have been drawn to it at some point.
Quentin Tarantino was just one film-maker to set great epiphanies within its leatherette booths in his American masterpiece Pulp Fiction.
“Everybody be cool! This is a robbery!”
I’m heading across the States to find out what it is about the diner.
You know in Westerns there is always a frontier saloon, batwing doors, some old cowboy sinking four fingers of redeye? Well, I have a theory that this place, the American diner, is a bit like that Dodge city saloon. It preserves a vital fragment of the American spirit.
I’m going in search of the beating heart of American culture. Or do I mean a fat-clogged heart? Either way, on my travels, I intend to eat nothing but honest-to God home-cooked diner chow.
“Your blueberry pancakes, sir.”
“Thanks.”
# Hey nonny ding dong, alang alang alang. Boom ba-doh, ba-doo ba-doodley-ay. Oh, life could be a dream…#
My journey begins on the East Coast. Providence, Rhode Island, is the perhaps unlikely birthplace of America’s best-loved kitchen. It was here in 1872 that the first ever all-night mobile food carts served dinner on the kerbside.
Those first wagons dished up a diet of pies, coffee and cigars. They lined America’s stomach for a drive-by blow-out that has seen off a girth-troubling 22 billion meals to date.
#Oh, life could be a dream if only all my precious plans…#
Providence is also where you’ll find the oldest continuously running diner in history. The Haven Brothers’ griddle-on-wheels still parks up alongside City Hall every night.
Since the 19th century, Haven Brothers Diner here has been selling these hot dogs. Well, not these hot dogs obviously. But you know, what it reminds me of, chow on wheels, is the covered wagon that brought food to the men and women who made the American frontier. I’ll eat to that.
But it’s after dark that the kerbside kitchen really comes into its own.
The diner began trading here initially to plug a gap in the market, catering to people who worked at night, government employees, reporters, lowlifes like that. And Haven Brothers is still a kind of beacon in the lonely American night.
“I’ve been coming here since at least 30 years.”
“Really?”
“Yep, coming here, you know, late at night-time.”
“Do you tend to have the same thing when you come here?”
“Yeah, I usually have a chicken sandwich or a hamburger or a hotdog. That’s all.”
“Is it going to be a quiet night, Officer O’Rourke?”
“I hope so, because I am going home.”
“Who’s out there to protect us, then?”
“Well, the night crew’s on.”
“Ok. That’s reassuring. Nice to meet you.”
“Ok, buddy.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you.”
Though the diner began as a restaurant on the move, it wasn’t long before it lost its wheels and was grounded.
By the beginning of the 20th century, diners were no longer small mobile wagons. They were now static models produced in factories and hauled to permanent roadside destinations.
# 16 times, what do you get? Another day older…#
The diner’s low-overheads and not-so-fine dining ensured their survival throughout world wars, prohibition, even the Depression.
Not far from Providence is one of the best-preserved examples of this generation of stationary diner. The Modern in Pawtucket is a 1941 Sterling Streamliner.
Vocabulary
Plate glass: very clear glass of good quality, made in thick sheets, used for doors, windows of shops/stores, etc.
Commonplace: done very often, or existing in many places, and therefore not unusual. E.g. Computers are now commonplace in primary classrooms.
Strike, struck, struck: to give somebody a particular impression. E.g. strike somebody (as something) His reaction struck me as odd. How does the idea strike you? She strikes me as a very efficient person. It strikes somebody that… It strikes me that nobody is really in favour of the changes.
Alienation: /ˌeɪliəˈneɪʃn/ The feeling that you do not belong in a particular group. E.g. Many immigrants suffer from a sense of alienation.
Nighthawk: a person who likes to be active late at night. Night owl.
Set out: to begin a job, task, etc. with a particular aim or goal. Sp. Proponerse. E.g. She set out to break the world record. They succeeded in what they set out to do.
Epiphany: A sudden manifestation of the essence or meaning of something.
Leatherette: /ˌleðəˈret/ an artificial material that looks and feels like leather. Sp. Cuero.
Batwing doors: swinging doors (as at the entrance to a western saloon)( shaped like the wings of a bat)
Sink something (British English, informal) to drink something quickly, especially a large amount of alcohol. E.g. They sank three pints each in 10 minutes.
Redeye: Inferior whiskey.
Dodge City: a city in the US state of Kansas. Originally called Buffalo City, it was important in the 19th century as a centre for cattle at the end of the Santa Fe Trail. At that time it had a reputation for violence.
Clog: to block something or to become blocked. E.g. The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. Tears clogged her throat.
Chow: /tʃaʊ/ food (slang)
Unlikely: not the person, thing or place that you would normally think of or expect. Sp. Insólito. E.g. He seems a most unlikely candidate for the job. They have built hotels in the most unlikely places.
Kerbside: the side of the street or path near the kerb. E.g. to stand at the kerbside
Dish something up: to serve food onto plates for a meal.
Line: to cover the inside of something with a layer of another material to keep it clean, make it stronger, etc. Sp. Forrar. E.g. Line the pan with greaseproof paper.
Drive-by: done from a moving car
Blow-out: Slang A large party or other social affair: "Lunch was a billion-calorie blowout beside the pool" (Vanity Fair).
Girth: A person's middle or stomach, esp. when large.
Griddle: a flat round iron plate that is heated on a stove or over a fire and used for cooking. Sp. Plancha (un filete a la plancha: a grilled steak).
Come into your/its own: to have the opportunity to show how good or useful you are or something is. E.g. When the traffic's this bad, a bicycle really comes into its own.(Sp. se puede lucir).
Plug something: to provide something that has been missing from a particular situation and is needed in order to improve it. Sp. Tapar. E.g. A cheaper range of products was introduced to plug the gap at the lower end of the market.
A low-life or lowlife (pl. lowlifes) is a term for a person who is considered morally unacceptable by their community. Examples of people who are often called "lowlifes" are thieves, drug dealers, drug users, alcoholics, thugs, prostitutes and pimps.
Beacon: a light that is placed somewhere to guide vehicles and warn them of danger. Sp. Almenara, faro. E.g. A navigation beacon. (Figurative) He was a beacon of hope for the younger generation.
Haul: to pull something/somebody with a lot of effort. Haul something/somebody: e.g. The wagons were hauled by horses.
Overheads: regular costs that you have when you are running a business or an organization, such as rent, electricity, wages, etc. Sp.Gastos.
Streamline: streamline something to give something a smooth even shape so that it can move quickly and easily through air or water. Sp. Hacer más aerodinámico. E.g. The cars all have a new streamlined design.
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