【英语趣味课堂】印度尼西亚-Indonesia

 Todd: So, Phil, what country would you like to talk about now?

 

Phil: I am going to talk about Indonesia. And specific, I am going to talk about Mt. Bromo. It's the highest point in Java. One of the biggest island, well the most highly¹ populated island in Indonesia. Ah, last fall, around November, I made it to Bromo and, there's a very high mountain there, over 3,000 meters tall, called Mt. Semaru and I decided² to hike this with my girlfriend, Sara. Let me tell you, it's quite a hike, 17 kilometers from the base camp, through a park, very beautiful park, lots of trees, good swimming hole really really nice area, especially in Indonesia, it's so developed, there's a lot of pollution there.

 

It was really nice to see some nature there, but when you get to the park, we started out around 2 o'clock in the morning, camped for the afternoon, because the best time to go to Semaru is at sunrise. So we started off around 2 o'clock with a few Indonesian fellows and about an hour into the trip one of those boys hurt their ankle so our friends were stopped but we didn't want to end our hike so we continued up the mountain, it's still pitch black, we have one flash light between the two of us, and the path starts to get very narrow, and as you approach the actual volcano³, you start to see all these markers of where people have fallen off and died, so it's a little unnerving and you make sure you stay on the path and then you hit the volcano, and it's all primus stone, all ash, and you're walking at about a 45 degree incline⁴.

 

It took us about 4, 3 to 4, hours to walk all the way up this mountain, and our oxygen was getting short. It's hard to get your footing because it's all ash, so you fall down, you're gasping⁵ for breath, you walk another 20 meters, you fall down, you gasp⁶ for breath more and more. Finally, we got to the top, and as it turned out, it was a really cloudy day and we couldn't see anything.

 

Phil: Ooh! That's too bad. Sounds like a good trip though.

 

Todd: Yeah, it was an experience.

 

学习内容：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

fall

 

Last fall, around November, I made it to Bromo.

 

'Fall' is the season between summer and winter.  It is when all of the leaves on the trees turn color and fall off.  In the Northern Hemisphere⁷ fall is from September until November.  Notice the following:

 

They are returning to school in the fall.

Is fall your favorite season.

between

 

We have one flashlight between the two of us

 

To have one flashlight 'between' two people, means to have one flashlight for two people to share or use together.  Notice the following:

 

Between all of us, we had made a little over $100.

You can have one cookie to share between the two of you.

unnerving

 

It's a little unnerving.

 

If a situation is 'unnerving' you don't have confidence in it and it makes you feel uncomfortable or irritated⁸.  Notice the following:

 

I haven't heard from him in a few days, which is unnerving.

It was a little unnerving that the door was unlocked⁹ when I arrived home.

gasp

 

Gasping for breath.

 

To 'gasp' is to breathe really deeply.  You can gasp because you have done a lot of physical exercise and you are breathing quickly or because something surprised you.  Notice the following:

 

She gasped¹⁰ when he told her had bought her a new car.

When he arrived at the police station, he was gasping so hard he couldn't speak.

as it turned out

 

As it turned out, it was a really cloudy day.

 

We use 'as it turned out' to describe how a situation ended, what the end result was.  Notice the following:

 

As it turned out, we didn't even go to the party because my wife got sick.

I studied all night, but as it turned out, my exam was delayed until next week.

 

 

 

1 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

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 volcano   

n.火山

参考例句：

• The volcano unexpectedly blew up early in the morning.火山一早突然爆发了。
• It is most risky to go and examine an active volcano.去探察活火山是非常危险的。

4 incline   

v.(使)倾斜；倾向于，赞同；n.斜坡，斜面

参考例句：

• I incline to his opinion on this matter.对这件事我倾向于他的观点。
• The coach breast ed a slight incline.马车上了一个慢坡。

5 gasping   

adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
• "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗？”“我巴不得能喝点！”

6 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。

7 hemisphere   

n.半球，半球地图

参考例句：

• This animal is to be found only in the Southern Hemisphere.这种动物只有在南半球才能找到。
• In most people,the left hemisphere is bigger than the right.多数人的左脑比右脑大。

8 irritated   

a.恼怒的

参考例句：

• His little affectations irritated her. 他的装腔作势令她不快。
• Her genteel accent irritated me. 她那矫揉造作的腔调使我感到难受。

9 unlocked   

v.开锁( unlock的过去式和过去分词 )；开启；揭开；开着，解开

参考例句：

• Don't leave your desk unlocked. 请不要忘记锁好办公桌。
• On no account should you leave the door unlocked. 你无论如何也不应该不锁门。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》