英语博客(A cup of English):056 Leave your mother alone!

　　Beginners.
My mother told me that when she was a young mother, my older brother would never leave her alone. He always wanted to be held. She would hold him even when she vacuumed¹. Clingy is the word. I was different. I always wanted to do my own thing and be independent. It is funny how different two children from the same family can be. I am preparing to go on a trip soon to New Zealand, so when I am gone, my parents-in-law will look after my kids and take them to school. My mother tells me how different things are now for mothers. In her day women just stayed with the children all the time. The expectation was that you didn't go off by yourself. Gosh, I'm glad things have changed. Now it is normal to "have a break" from the kids. It is normal practice to get a babysitter² so you can go out and do something fun without worrying about the children. We fortunately have a wonderful babysitter. She lives opposite us; she could easily walk from her house to ours in her slippers³ in one minute. She is sixteen and happens to be a good friend of our children anyway. What a bonus⁴! When it is time for my husband and I to go out on a Saturday or Friday night, we never have any trouble leaving. Even my youngest is so happy that 'Sammy' has come over to play, that she doesn't even tell me goodbye.
Grammar notes.
Related⁵ vocabulary: clingy, vacuum/ hoover, parents-in-law, to go off, babysitter, bonus, slippers, expectation, gosh.
Advanced.
"Mum, where are my shoes?" "Mum, can you play checkers with me?" "Mum, why aren't we having homemade macaroni and cheese instead of from a packet?" "Mum, what did you do with my Pokemon cards?" Guess what this podcast is about....How many questions like these could you hear everyday without going crazy? I tell my children sometimes, "It's just as well that I love you, otherwise I would throw you out of the window." I picked that one up from my mother; she used to say the same thing to me. Kids are amazing, wonderful blessings⁶. And they are our future, of course. Though it sounds like a cliche⁷, it is true. But, my kids, in particular, seem to have a talent for wearing their mother out. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining; I can't imagine life without my children. At the moment, I have enough energy to keep up with them, but sometimes I wonder. Today, I was on the phone to my credit⁸ card company. I will be taking a trip to New Zealand this Saturday to visit my brother, so I had to inform them of this. Anyway, the lady on the other end was asking me for some important information when, suddenly, my two youngest ran into the room and let off several blown up balloons. You can imagine the noise. I was immediately cross and impatient⁹, so I barked at them to go away, "For goodness¹⁰ sake¹¹ you two, I'm on the phone!" I appologized to the lady who chuckled¹³ and said that she has three kids, so she understands. Well, they did it two more times, and laughed their heads off loudly. I gave up and started chuckling¹⁴ aswell. It must have sounded like a circus over the phone. I actually managed to finish the call. At least the customer service lady had a good laugh.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: homemade, guess, cliche, to chuckle¹², to inform, to take/make a trip, a circus, talent, to complain.
Verbs¹⁵ using 'would'.
Exs: What would you do if he complained all the time?
If she would just appologize, then everyone would feel better.
Wouldn't it be nice if it was quiet?
If money grew on trees, I wouldn't have to go to work, would I?

1 vacuumed   

vt.用真空吸尘器清扫（vacuum的过去式形式）

参考例句：

• I vacuumed and dusted the living room. 我用吸尘器打扫了客厅，擦了擦灰尘。 来自辞典例句
• It doesn't look like you've vacuumed the living room. 看起来你并没有清扫起居室。 来自互联网

2 babysitter   

n.临时照顾幼儿者

参考例句：

• I can't find a babysitter for tonight. 我找不到人今天晚上帮我看小孩。
• The babysitter was in charge of the kids while the parents were out. 保姆在父母不在家的时候，负责照顾孩子们。 来自辞典例句

3 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

4 bonus   

n.奖金，红利

参考例句：

• The workers expected to share out a year-end bonus.工人们期望年终分红。
• The staff got a a special bonus payment.员工得到一笔特别发放的奖金。

5 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

6 blessings   

n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福

参考例句：

• Afflictions are sometimes blessings in disguise. 塞翁失马，焉知非福。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We don't rely on blessings from Heaven. 我们不靠老天保佑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 cliche   

n./a.陈词滥调(的)；老生常谈(的)；陈腐的

参考例句：

• You should always try to avoid the use of cliche. 你应该尽量避免使用陈词滥调。
• The old cliche is certainly true:the bigger car do mean bigger profits.有句老话倒的确说得不假:车大利大。

8 credit   

n.信用，荣誉，贷款，学分；v.归功于，赞颂，信任

参考例句：

• I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
• He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。

9 impatient   

adj.不耐烦的，急躁的；热切的，急切的

参考例句：

• He was so impatient that I could hardly hold him back.他是那样急躁，我简直拉不住他。
• With an impatient gesture he thrust the food away from him.他不耐烦地把吃的东西猛地推开。

10 goodness   

n.善良，善行，美德

参考例句：

• Would you have the goodness to turn off the radio?劳驾，请你把收音机关上好不好？
• Thank goodness,we've found a cure for the disease.好了，这病有救了！

11 sake   

n.缘故，理由

参考例句：

• He loves poetry for beauty's sake.他因为爱美而喜欢诗歌。
• We can't risk big things for the sake of small ones.我们不能因小失大。

12 chuckle   

vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑

参考例句：

• He shook his head with a soft chuckle.他轻轻地笑着摇了摇头。
• I couldn't suppress a soft chuckle at the thought of it.想到这个，我忍不住轻轻地笑起来。

13 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

14 chuckling   

轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I could hear him chuckling to himself as he read his book. 他看书时，我能听见他的轻声发笑。
• He couldn't help chuckling aloud. 他忍不住的笑了出来。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

15 verbs   

动词

参考例句：

• I have to swot up on phrasal verbs for a test tomorrow. 我不得不为明天的测验努力温习短语动词。
• Verbs that do not take object are called intransitive verbs. 不带宾语的动词称为不及物动词。