Jack arrived到达 /əˈraɪvd/ at the community社区 /kəˈmjuː.nɪ.ti/ centre中心 /ˈsen.tər/ feeling感觉 /ˈfiːl.ɪŋ/ a little nervous紧张的 /ˈnɜːr.vəs/. It was his first day天 /deɪ/ at the after-school English英语 /ˈɪŋ.ɡlɪʃ/ club俱乐部 /klʌb/, and he did not know anyone yet. The room房间 /ruːm/ was bright明亮的 /braɪt/ and friendly友好的 /ˈfrend.li/ looking, with round圆形的 /raʊnd/ tables桌子 /ˈteɪ.bəlz/ and colourful色彩鲜艳的 /ˈkʌl.ər.fəl/ posters海报 /ˈpoʊ.stərz/ on the walls墙 /wɔːlz/. A woman女士 /ˈwʊm.ən/ at the front前面 /frʌnt/ smiled微笑 /smaɪld/ at him. "Welcome! You must be Jack. I'm Ms Chen, the teacher老师 /ˈtiː.tʃər/ for this club. Please come in and introduce介绍 /ˌɪn.trəˈdjuːs/ yourself to the others."
Jack took a deep深深地 /diːp/ breath一口气 /breθ/ and walked走 /wɔːkt/ to one of the tables. Two students were already sitting坐着 /ˈsɪt.ɪŋ/ there. "Hi," he said. "My name名字 /neɪm/ is Jack. It's my first time here." The girl looked up and greeted打招呼 /ˈɡriː.tɪd/ him warmly热情地 /ˈwɔːrm.li/. "Nice to meet you, Jack! I'm Amy艾米（人名）. And this is Omar奥马尔（人名）." Omar reached伸出 /riːtʃt/ over and shook握手 /ʃʊk/ Jack's hand手 /hænd/. "Good to meet you. Don't worry — we were all new once." Jack relaxed放松了 /rɪˈlækst/ a little and sat down.
"Where do you come from来自 /kʌm frɒm/?" Amy asked. "I live住 /lɪv/ in the Westfield neighbourhood社区 /ˈneɪ.bər.hʊd/. My family moved here two months ago from the north." "Oh, which school学校 /skuːl/ do you go to?" Omar asked. "Greenhill Middle School. What about you two?" "We're both at St Mary's," Amy said. "But we come to this club because it's outside课外 /ˌaʊtˈsaɪd/ school hours, so people from different schools can join参加 /dʒɔɪn/." "That's really nice," Jack said. "What grade年级 /ɡreɪd/ are you in?" "Year ten," they both said, and they all laughed笑了 /læft/.
A confident自信的 /ˈkɒn.fɪ.dənt/ boy named Tom joined加入 /dʒɔɪnd/ their table a minute later. He introduced自我介绍 /ˌɪn.trəˈdjuːst/ himself quickly and made a joke笑话 /dʒoʊk/ about being five minutes late. Everyone laughed, and the atmosphere气氛 /ˈæt.mə.sfɪər/ felt even more comfortable舒适的 /ˈkʌm.fər.tə.bəl/. Jack noticed that his own shyness害羞 /ˈʃaɪ.nəs/ was fading消散 /ˈfeɪ.dɪŋ/ fast.
During the activity活动 /ækˈtɪv.ɪ.ti/, they played a word单词 /wɜːrd/ game and talked about their interests兴趣 /ˈɪn.trəsts/. Jack found that he and Amy both loved reading adventure冒险 /ədˈven.tʃər/ stories. "No way!" Amy said. "I'm reading one right now. Which author作家 /ˈɔː.θər/ do you prefer更喜欢 /prɪˈfɜːr/?" They discovered a similar相似的 /ˈsɪm.ɪ.lər/ list of favourite最喜爱的 /ˈfeɪ.vər.ɪt/ books and included包括 /ɪnˈkluː.dɪd/ Omar in the conversation对话 /ˌkɒn.vəˈseɪ.ʃən/ too. Omar said he preferred更喜欢 /prɪˈfɜːrd/ science fiction科幻 /ˈfɪk.ʃən/. "Maybe I'll try adventure next," he said.
At the end of the session课程 /ˈseʃ.ən/, Ms Chen asked everyone to stay留下 /steɪ/ and chat聊天 /tʃæt/ for a few more minutes. "It's important to stay in touch保持联系 with people you meet here," she said. Tom pulled out his phone. "Can I add添加 /æd/ you all? I'll message发信息 /ˈmes.ɪdʒ/ the group." They shared分享 /ʃeərd/ their contact联系 /ˈkɒn.tækt/ numbers号码 /ˈnʌm.bərz/ and Jack even followed关注 /ˈfɒl.oʊd/ Amy on a study学习 /ˈstʌd.i/ app应用 /æp/.
"See you next week周 /wiːk/?" Amy asked as they put on their coats外套 /koʊts/. "Definitely," Jack said. "Same time, same place," Omar added. Tom waved挥手 /weɪvd/ at the door门 /dɔːr/. "See you all next Thursday周四 /ˈθɜːrz.deɪ/!" Jack walked home家 /hoʊm/ feeling warm温暖 /wɔːrm/ and happy开心的 /ˈhæp.i/. Making friends朋友 /frendz/ was not as scary吓人的 /ˈskeər.i/ as he had thought. All it took was a smile微笑 /smaɪl/ and a little courage勇气 /ˈkɜːr.ɪdʒ/.