英语博客(A cup of English):016 A gargantuan doll.

　　A gargantuan¹ doll.
Beginners.
The other day, my mother came to visit with a special present. It was something that she had bought at an auction². She often buys presents for my children; she's their grandmother, so she spoils them. It was a special gift for my daughter. I had no idea what it could be. When she showed it to me, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was the biggest doll that I have ever seen. It is bigger than my daughter. It's hair is long and curly, and it wears a frilly, pink dress. The dress will probably fit my daughter in two years! Well, she loves the present. However, my boys told me that it frightens them. What scares them about a doll? It's size.
Grammar notes.
Verbs: come (past = came); to be (past = was/ were); to buy (past = bought); to tell ( past = told).
Related vocabulary: present, gift, auction, to spoil, curly, frilly, frighten= scare.
Advanced.
When my mother told me that she had a surprize for my daughter, I thought, " Oh, the ususal cute little dolly or some art supplies". Well, I was wrong. Very wrong. This gift has stretched the boundaries of what I thought my mother was capable of. Apparently³, she had been to an auction and bid on an expensive doll. Nobody else bid for it, so the starting price went lower and lower until it was very affordable⁴. She was very excited to tell me about her acquisition, but she had a glint in her eye that made me wonder if martinis had been served at this auction. The cute, little, delicate doll is, in reality, a five foot, heavy giant of a doll. Should we even call it a doll? My daughter loves it. However, my three sons, even my ten year old, are scared of it. Since it has been in the house, they have all insisted on sleeping in the same bedroom. They expect it to come to life in the middle of the night to terrorize us all. The huge, frilly dress makes her even more terrifying. What was my mother thinking? It's not a toy I can accidentally on purpose drop into the dumpster; her limbs are so big, they would stick out, to the horror of the neighbors. Perhaps I could leave her on a park bench. Any suggestions?
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: cute doll, art supplies, acquisition, glint/ sparkle, to insist, frilly, dumpster, horror, park bench.
Verbs: to stretch the boundaries of belief; to bid; to be scared/ frightened of; to terrorize; to do something on purpose.
Should we? Could we? = similar to can we but conditional and hypothetical

1 gargantuan   

adj.巨大的，庞大的

参考例句：

• My gargantuan,pristine machine was good for writing papers and playing solitaire,and that was all.我那庞大的、早期的计算机只适合写文章和玩纸牌游戏，就这些。
• Right away,I realized this was a mistake of gargantuan proportions.我立刻意识到这是一个巨大的错误。

2 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。