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本课您将学到：For better or worse ，take off（不只是起飞） 这是一个激烈竞争的社会，这是一个讲求速度的时代，就连吃，也没有理由悠闲地浪费时间了。遍布大街小巷的快餐店（fast-food restaurant）、便利店（convenience stores）提供了各种各样的速食品（instant prepared food），而他们的先驱就是方便面（instant noodles）。 They have become a basic（基本的） part of many peoples lives. They are cheap and easy to prepare. What would we do without ramen（泡面）, or instant noodles? 尽管，面条的故乡是中国，可发明方便面的却是日本人： It was created in 1958 at a humble food stall in Japan. 许多人都不看好这种产品，认为根本没有前途（they have no future），因为市面上卖的面条比方便面的价钱便宜许多。可是他们错了。 The instant noodles were popular from the start, and then sales really took off in 1971 after the company decided to sell them in a cup. Along with instant coffee, ramen marked the beginning of the age of the instant food. 那位发明者现在已经90岁高龄，据他自己说，当年发明的目的是为了让人们有更多空闲的时间。可谁想到，人们把这些空闲时间都用在了工作上，不但没有清闲，反而更加忙碌了。 | 
