英语博客：Where, oh where can they be?

 

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　　Have you ever lost something, and looked and looked for it? I've been doing that lately. My oldest son had a PSP and an iPod touch. I say had, because he doesn't have them anymore. They have disappeared, vanished¹, evaporated². I have looked everywhere. We have all wracked our brains. That means to think and think hard to try and reach a conclusion. Sometimes the grey matter just doesn't work well. The grey matter is, of course, the brain. I tend to get forgetful when I am busy, and when there is a lot on my mind. I often forget something at the supermarket even if I take a list with me. Have you ever walked into a room to get something, and forgotten why you went there? Or perhaps you've met someone on the street who you know, but if you need to introduce them to someone, you forget their name. That too has happened to me. We call these incidences⁴ 'senior moments'. It is as if we are very old already. Mind you, a lot of elderly people I know have great memories. Apparently⁵, your memory is like a muscle: the more you use it, the better it works⁶. My mother does sudoku and crosswords⁷ to keep her memory sharp; perhaps I should do something like that. Exercise is great for the memory aswell. It forces oxygen rich blood into the brain, and helps you focus, and feel more 'in the moment'. We all laugh about the times we have looked for our sun glasses, and realized that they are on our heads. The other day, I was talking on my cell phone and tidying up in the kitchen at the same time. I wanted to charge my phone, but for the life of me, I couldn't find it. It was only when I finished my conversation and hung up, that I realized that I had been talking on the cell phone, so, of course, I hadn't been able to find it. It's just like the funny story of the busy thief, who went into a bank at lunch time to rob it. His head was covered, but unfortunately for him, he had forgotten to take off his name tag⁸ from his place of work. So he was instantly⁹ recognized. Oops! I think he needs to do some sudoku too.
Grammar notes.
Useful expressions: to wrack³ my brains, for the life of me, mind you, unfortunately for ( a person).
1. I wracked my brains to figure out where I had left my keys.
2. For the life of me, I don't know where I put my wallet.
3. London is such a thrilling place to be; mind you, it is very expensive.
4. The student studied for the exam. Unfortunately for him, he had forgotten to memorize the vocabulary.

1 vanished   

adj.消失了的v.消失( vanish的过去式和过去分词 )；突然不见；不复存在；绝迹

参考例句：

• He walked through—and vanished. Poof! Like that. 他走了过去，然后就嗖的一下子不见了。
• The magician vanished in a puff of smoke. 魔术师在一股烟雾中突然不见了。

2 evaporated   

adj. 浓缩的，脱水的，蒸发干燥的 动词evaporate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• Heat until all the water has evaporated. 加热直至水全部蒸发。
• The water soon evaporated in the sunshine. 水在阳光下不久就蒸发了。

3 wrack   

v.折磨；n.海草

参考例句：

• Periodic crises wrack the capitalist system,and they grow in size and duration.周期性的危机破坏着资本主义制度，这种危机的规模在扩大，时间在延长。
• The wrack had begun to stink as it rotted in the sun.海草残骸在阳光下腐烂，开始变臭了。

4 incidences   

发生率( incidence的名词复数 )； 影响范围； 发生范围； 影响程度

参考例句：

• Secondly, the law consideration that brought about by Argos incidences. 本文就Argos所提出的法律辩护中提炼出其理论观点，并一一分析其正确与否。
• Use corporate hot lines or some mechanism for reporting and investigating incidences. 使用公司热线或其他设备举报或检查小事。

5 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。

6 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

7 crosswords   

纵横填字谜( crossword的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Doing crosswords gives the mind some exercise. 做纵横字谜游戏能锻炼脑筋。
• He spends all his time on crosswords and other trifles. 他把所有的时间都用在做纵横填字游戏和其他无聊的活动上。

8 tag   

n.标签，附属物，名称，谚语；vt.附以签条，尾随，添饰，指责，连接；vi.紧随，尾随

参考例句：

• Please tag your baggage.请在你的行李上贴上标签了。
• The clerk attached a price tag to each article.店员给每一件商品系上标价签。

9 instantly   

adv.立即，立刻

参考例句：

• She was used to having her orders instantly obeyed.她习惯了让人即刻服从她的命令。
• Though he slept soundly,he awoke instantly.他虽然睡得很香，但是马上就醒了。