2012年ESL之日常生活 21 Having a Frightening Experience

 

Having a Frightening Experience 

Oliver: I had the most hair-raising experience of my life this past weekend. 

Alena: What happened? 

Oliver: You know that George bought an old house, right? Well, he’s been telling us that it’s haunted, so for a lark¹, a few of us decided² to spend the weekend there to see if we would have any supernatural experiences. 

Alena: Are you telling me that you saw ghosts? 

Oliver: I’m not sure what we saw, heard, or felt. Everything was fine when we got there, but then we started hearing strange noises and I started to get goosebumps. The other guys tried to play it off, but I know they were scared, too. 

Alena: What did George say about the noises? 

Oliver: He laughed when he saw us jump out of our skins, and told us we were wusses. He said he heard those noises every night and they didn’t have him quaking in his boots. 

Alena: Did anything else happen? 

Oliver: Well, when we went to bed, the house got very cold and drafty, like there was something passing by me very closely, but I couldn’t see it. That sent me over the edge. 

Alena: Has it ever occurred to you that George was playing a prank³ on you guys? 

Oliver: A prank? It was no prank. In the middle of the night when we saw the strange faces in the windows, even George was scared stiff. By that time, all of us were petrified⁴. It was no prank. That house is haunted. 

Alena: Ooh, a real haunted house. I’d love to spend the night there, too. Do you think George would let you stay there again and let me come, too? 

Oliver: You want me to go back to that house? Forget it! Wild horses couldn’t drag me within 50 miles of that place again! 

 

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse 

1 lark   

n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏

参考例句：

• He thinks it cruel to confine a lark in a cage.他认为把云雀关在笼子里太残忍了。
• She lived in the village with her grandparents as cheerful as a lark.她同祖父母一起住在乡间非常快活。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 prank   

n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己

参考例句：

• It was thought that the fire alarm had been set off as a prank.人们认为火警报警器响是个恶作剧。
• The dean was ranking the boys for pulling the prank.系主任正在惩罚那些恶作剧的男学生。

4 petrified   

adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• I'm petrified of snakes. 我特别怕蛇。
• The poor child was petrified with fear. 这可怜的孩子被吓呆了。 来自《简明英汉词典》