【英语趣味课堂】蝙蝠-Bats

 Todd: I usually get home from work at about 6:30 and when I get home the first thing I like to do is go jogging. Fortunately, my apartment is near a river and I go jogging on the river at night. It's really beautiful. It's really green. There's lots of trees and fields along the river and it's quite beautiful. The worst thing about my jog¹ though are the dogs. There are river dogs that live along the river and they don't have a home and they're a little bit dangerous. Sometimes they threaten to chase² you or bite you and when you jog by they often growl³. Sometimes I have to keep a bottle of water to throw on them or maybe a stick so they don't attack, but so far nothing's happened. The best thing about the jog are the bats. When you jog at night there are bats that fly and they eat insects. This is right at sunset⁴, as the sun goes down, and it's really, really beautiful to see them, and when you jog amazingly they'll fly at the same pace as you, I think because the insects maybe are attracted to the joggers body heat, but the bats will not get too close to the jogger, to me, they will only get about 4 or 5 feet from me, but they fly at the same pace. As I jog I can see them and it's really, really beautiful to see them when I run. 

学习内容：

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

fortunately

 

Fortunately, my apartment is near a river.

 

We use 'fortunately' to describe something that is lucky or a good thing. Notice the following:

 

Fortunately, we didn't arrive too late for the party.

Fortunately, we have made a lot of great friends since we moved here.

river dogs

 

The worst thing about my jogs⁵, though, are the river dogs.

 

'River dogs' are homeless street dogs that live near the river. Notice the following:

 

It feels like every year there are more river dogs.

He gives the river dogs food, so they love him.

threaten

 

Sometimes, the dogs threaten to chase you or bite you.

 

If something or someone 'threatens' you he acts in a way that shows he will hurt you.  Notice the following:

 

He threatened to stop coaching if we lose this game.

Her competitive⁶ attitude is very threatening.

body heat

 

I think the insects are attracted to the joggers' body heat.

 

Your 'body heat' is warmth⁷ of your body compared to the air around you. Notice the following:

 

There are special cameras that can sense body heat.

When it's cold outside you need to cover yourself to save your body heat.

pace

 

The bats will not get close to me, but they fly at the same pace.

 

In this case 'pace' is a speed that you maintain⁸ consistently⁹ for a long time. Notice the following:

 

All of the bikers on our team go about the same pace.

I can't run with him because his pace is too fast for me.

1 jog   

n. 轻推,轻撞,漫步; v. 轻推,蹒跚行进,慢跑

参考例句：

• I go for a jog in the park every morning.每天早晨我在公园里慢跑。
• I gave him a jog to wake him up.我轻轻推了他一下,叫醒他。

2 chase   

vt.追逐，追赶，追求；n.追赶

参考例句：

• The police grabbed the robbers after a long chase.警察经过长距离追赶后逮住了抢劫犯。
• Would you chase me if I did?如果我逃开了，你会来追吗？

3 growl   

v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣

参考例句：

• The dog was biting,growling and wagging its tail.那条狗在一边撕咬一边低声吼叫，尾巴也跟着摇摆。
• The car growls along rutted streets.汽车在车辙纵横的街上一路轰鸣。

4 sunset   

n.日落；衰落时期(尤指人的晚年)

参考例句：

• They'll work on till sunset.他们将继续工作，直到日落。
• The sunset was a very beautiful sight.那落日真是一幅美景。

5 jogs   

v.（使）慢走，慢跑( jog的第三人称单数 )；轻敲，轻推

参考例句：

• She jogs every morning to get rid of her excess weight. 为了减肥，她每天早晨慢跑。 来自辞典例句
• Turn left where the road jogs. 到这条路急转弯处向左拐。 来自辞典例句

6 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

7 warmth   

n.温暖，温情，暖和，激动，生气

参考例句：

• He answered with warmth.他热情地回答。
• We felt the warmth of the sun.我们感受到太阳的温暖。

8 maintain   

vt.支撑；赡养，抚养；维持，保有

参考例句：

• He has to maintain a large family on a small salary.他不得不依靠很少的工资养活一家人。
• We must do our best to maintain sales at their usual rate.我们要尽力使销售额保持在平日的水平上。

9 consistently   

ad.一贯地，一直

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。
• The minister has consistently opposed any relaxation in the law. 部长一向反对法律上的任何放宽。