生活英语对话 Episode 60: Bad news

本单元是关于坏消息的对话

Michal: What if it's her?
Tim: You've got to talk to her.
Michal: Hello?
Dad: Michal? It's dad.
Michal: Oh dzien dobry tatus.
Dad: No, no, no you're in England, let's talk English. It's good for both of us to practise.
Michal: OK. So, how are you?
Dad: Not great.
Michal: What's wrong?
Dad: Oh, it's, it's my heart, nothing serious. Just a little heart attack. But you know ...
Michal: A little heart attack? There's no such thing!
Dad: Calm down! The doctor said it's time for me to look after myself more, time to stop working so hard, time to get some help around here. Em, em Michal I hate to ask you but ...
Michal: Dad, you know you can count on me.


Vocabulary (词汇):

a heart attack (心脏病发作):
a sudden¹ serious medical condition when someone's heart stops working in its usual way

to count on someone (指望;依赖):
to be able to rely² on someone or expect someone to behave in a particular way

本单元的语言点是短语动词，请看下面的与家庭关系有关的短语动词。

Phrasal verbs³ 4

Phrasal verbs or multi-word verbs are verbs that are combined with one or two particles⁴ (a preposition⁵ or adverb) like 'after', to make verbs with new meanings. For example, look means⁶ to use your eyes to see something (She looked at the photograph and smiled) but look after means to care for someone (The doctor said that Michal's dad had to look after himself more).

Here are some phrasal verbs you can use when talking about family relationships:

Phrasal verbs - family relationships (与家庭关系有关的短语动词)

bring someone up: take care of a child
She was brought up by her grandparents after her parents died.
They brought their children up to be polite and to respect older people.

take after someone: to look like someone in your family
Her dad's really short but her mum's really tall. With those long legs, she certainly takes after her mother.
All the children take after their dad, he's really musical and all of them can play an instrument.

look up to someone: to respect or admire someone
When she was young she looked up to her parents. They were very good role models for her.
Footballers have a lot of responsibility⁷ because so many children look up to them.

grow up: to become more adult, the process of changing from a child to an adult
I grew up in Glasgow but moved to London after I graduated from University.
He grew up on a farm but always wanted to live in a big city.

get on with someone: be friends with someone
When I was young I didn't get on with my sister but now we're very good friends.
I tried to get on with him but he was rude I found it impossible to be friends with him.

fall out with someone: have an argument or disagreement⁸ with someone and stop being friends with him or her
She fell out with me after all these years over an invite to a party!
They were best friends for years but they fell out and now they don't even talk to each other.

live up to: reach an expected standard
His mother was a famous politician⁹ so he had a lot to live up to. Everyone expected that he would have a successful career in politics¹⁰ too.
Because all my sisters did so well at high school, I had a lot to live up to from the first day I went there.

stand up to someone: refuse to accept unfair treatment or behaviour:
After years of being treated badly by her husband, she finally stood up to him and made him change his ways.
If you don't stand up to her, she'll just treat you like dirt.

look back on something: remember something that happened in the past :
When I look back on my childhood, I remember lots of laughter¹¹ and a few tears too.
When you look back on your life, what is your happiest memory?

tell someone off: talk to someone severely¹² for doing something wrong:
The boss really told me off for being late for the second time this week. Her parents told her off for doing so badly in her exams this year.

1 sudden   

n.突然，忽然；adj.突然的，意外的，快速的

参考例句：

• All of a sudden he turned about and saw me.他突然转过身来看见了我。
• The horse was badly frightened by the sudden noise.那匹马被突然而来的嘈杂声吓坏了。

2 rely   

vi.依赖，依靠；信赖，信任

参考例句：

• I rely upon you to finish the work on time.我相信你会准时完成这项工作的。
• You should rely on your own efforts.你应该靠自己的努力。

3 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。

4 particles   

微粒( particle的名词复数 )； 颗粒； 极少量； 小品词

参考例句：

• These small particles agglomerate together to form larger clusters. 这些颗粒聚结形成较大的团。
• The nucleus of an atom consists of neutrons, protons and other particles. 原子核由中子、质子和其他粒子构成。

5 preposition   

n.介词

参考例句：

• You should cancel this preposition in the sentence.你应该删去句子中的这个介词。
• We use different preposition to talk about time,days,months and seasons.我们用不动的介词来谈论时间，日，月和季节等。

6 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

7 responsibility   

n.责任，职责

参考例句：

• The safety of the ship is the captain's responsibility.确保船的安全是船长的责任。
• The matter is outside my area of the responsibility.此事超出我的责任范围。

8 disagreement   

n.不一致；分歧；意见不合

参考例句：

• They were in disagreement about the move to Cambridge.他们在是否迁居剑桥方面有争议。
• I hope this disagreement does not divide us.我希望意见不同不至于使我们分道扬镳。

9 politician   

n.政客，政治人物，政治家

参考例句：

• The job of a politician is to serve the whole community.政治家的职责是为全体大众服务。
• You need to be a bit of a politician to succeed.你要获得成功，就需要有一点政客的手腕。

10 politics   

n.政治，政治学；政纲，政见，策略

参考例句：

• They seldom talk on politics in those days.那时人们很少谈论政治。
• The two brothers differed about politics.这兄弟俩政见不同。

11 laughter   

n.笑，笑声

参考例句：

• I don't know how my story caused so much laughter.我不知我的故事怎么引起如此大笑。
• The audience gave way to uncontrollable bursts of laughter.听众忍不住发出一阵阵笑声。

12 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。