英语博客(A cup of English):019 Dark nights

　　Dark nights, twinkling lights.
Beginners.
It gets dark here in Wenatchee at about four thirty in the afternoon now. My children often ask me what the time is, or whether they need to get ready for bed, when it is still early. It can be a little confusing. One thing that I like to do quite soon in the Winter, is to put Christmas lights up on the trees outside the house. They are so pretty. Also, the children play outside longer when there are different lights outside. Some of the businesses in town have already decorated their buildings and landscaping. It encourages people to keep shopping. We have lights of many different colors. My favorites are green and blue. Some people in our neighborhood really go to town with the lights. Infact, there is a competition held every year for the best decorated house. People drive around the town to 'Christmas light spot'. They drive up to and admire the prettiest houses.
Grammar notes.
Related expressions: to get light/ dark; to get ready for bed; outside/ inside; buildings; landscaping; to decorate; favorite; to drive around.
Advanced
I must be a big kid at heart, because this time of year is special for me. Obviously, with Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner, there is a lot of preparation and decorating. The dark nights and lack of sky light are compensated² for by all the twinkly lights in town. Some neighborhoods look like Las Vegas. It can become a real show piece, and, at the very least, a cheery sight to view from a car. We usually start the festivities early, by decorating the trees outside. You can hear the "Oooh", and "aaah", from adults and children alike when they see the lights. When a pine tree is decorated with green, it glows magically. And when it is covered with blue lights, it has a cool, mysterious shine. I think that most people appreciate the beauty of the lights. There is work involved in putting the lights up, though. It can be a tricky³ job. In fact, many people end up in the emergency room because of falls from ladders or electrocution. Well, I hope that won't be my fate this year; I will be extra careful. Just you wait until my trees are decorated. There will certainly be pictures on this web site of all the colors and twinkling lights.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: around the corner = coming soon; a lack of....; to compensate¹; a show piece; at the very least; cheery; a tricky job; emergency room; ladder; electrocution; fate.

1 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

2 compensated   

补偿，报酬( compensate的过去式和过去分词 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款）

参考例句：

• The marvelous acting compensated for the play's weak script. 本剧的精彩表演弥补了剧本的不足。
• I compensated his loss with money. 我赔偿他经济损失。

3 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。