【英语趣味课堂】幸运-Lucky

 Todd: OK, Richard!

Richard: Hi, Todd. Good to see you.

 

Todd: Good to see you.

 

Richard: Long time no see.

 

Todd: Yeah, it's been awhile.

 

Richard: It's been awhile.

 

Todd: Richard, you helped me out when I first started the website.

 

Richard: My pleasure.

 

Todd: Yeah, you're very kind and you talked about your dog!

 

Richard: Lucky! Here he is! This is Lucky's picture.

 

Todd: Wow! That's big. So tell us about Lucky. How's lucky been the last two years?

 

Richard: Lucky, the last two year! Yeah! Lucky is almost two years old. His birthday is November the 11th! One-One-One-One, so he'll be 2 years old. He's doing well. He's developed some unique, sort of characteristics¹, personality² traits³. One is that late at night he doesn't like walking just with me, it has to be with me and my wife together. So he has two big bodyguards⁴. It's true. It's an unusual thing but he will not walk by the river where it's very dark with just one person. He needs two people to walk him. Which is unusual for a dog. He's a golden⁵ retriever so he's a big dog, but he's just, he needs two people and he gets very lonely, you know he likes to follow people around the house the whole time, you know he's a really, he's a very sort of sociable⁶ dog.

 

Todd: What a lovely dog?

 

Richard: Yes, lovely dog!

 

Todd: I want to meet him!

 

Richard: Yeah, well, anytime!

 

Todd: So, I think you were saying something earlier about how he gets cold.

 

Richard: Yeah, that's the other thing. One of the other unique things about Lucky is that I think he's a but spoiled. I mean, you know, a lot of dogs live outdoors but this dog lives indoors⁷, and you know the kotatsu, in the winter my obaachan, my wife's mother has the kotatsu.

 

Todd: Yeah, like the kotatsu is like a big blanket.

 

Richard: Ah, yeah, like a little low table.

 

Todd: Oh, the kotatsu, oh, yeah, yeah, sorry

 

Richard: An electric heater⁸ underneath⁹ it

 

Todd: Yeah, that's right, sorry!

 

Richard: And cat in Japan, cats are famous for going under the kotatsu in winter but my dog goes under the Kotatsu, so and he's quite big right, so you just see his legs poking¹⁰ out of the kotatsu. I mean that's a very unusual behavior for a golden retriever. Yeah, yeah, he's and unusual dog.

 

Todd: So how much does he eat?

 

Richard: I see, what about my son. I want to talk about my son.

 

Todd: Well, no but like, first I'm just curious, how much does you dog eat?

 

Richard: How much does he eat? Well, it's three times a day.

 

Todd: Yeah, I mean, how much does it cost?

 

Richard: Oh, the cost!

 

Todd: Yeah, to feed a dog in Japan!

 

Richard: Well, that's a good, that's a tough question. I buy a big bag of food. It costs me 18,000 yen¹¹ and that lasts about three months, so about 6,000 yen.

 

Todd: Man, that is expensive! So you're dog, that's at least 6,000 yen a month on food.

 

Richard: And then Vet's bills are pretty high.

 

Todd: Wow! But he's worth it! It seems like you love your dog.

 

Richard: I love my dog. I carry his picture everywhere.

 

Todd: That's my favorite dog too! Golden Retrievers. They're so kind.

 

Richard: I also love my son! Can I talk about my son!

 

Todd: OK, we'll do your son in the next interview.

学习内容：

 

a while

 

It's been a while since I last saw you.

 

You can use the phrase¹² 'a while' to mean a long amount of time. Notice the following:

 

He moved to Canada a while ago.

I haven't been to the cinema in a while.

spoiled

 

One of the other unique things about Lucky is that I think he's spoiled.

 

If a pet or a child is 'spoiled' it means¹³ that he gets everything that he wants. Notice the following:

 

He is spoiled by his wife who does almost everything for him.

She is an only child and her parents spoiled her.

famous for

 

In Japan, cats are famous for going under the kotatsu in winter.

 

If cats are 'famous for' something it means that it is their usually action and many people are aware of it. Notice the following:

 

He is famous for getting into trouble.

Japan is famous for excellent fish.

unusual behavior

 

That's a very unusual behavior for a golden retriever.

 

Something that is 'usual behavior' is not a normal action, it is something that doesn't happen every day. Notice the following:

 

It is very unusual behavior for him to arrive anywhere late.

I think my cat is sick because she has had unusual behavior recently.

last

 

Eighteen thousand yen-worth of dog food lasts about three months.

 

How long something 'lasts' is how long you can keep it or use it. We can also use 'last' when talking about humans to mean 'survive. Notice the following:

 

A kilo of sugar lasts me about 3 months because I almost never use it.

The hot water in the shower lasts for about fifteen minutes

1 characteristics   

n.特性，特征，特色，[数]（对数的）首数( characteristic的名词复数 )；独特性；性质

参考例句：

• the textural characteristics of the rocks 岩石的纹理特征
• Men have ascribed their own characteristics to their gods. 人们认为他们的特性属于诸神。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 personality   

n.个性，人格，名人

参考例句：

• Einstein was a great personality.爱因斯坦是个伟大的人物。
• She has a powerful personality.她有坚强的个性。

3 traits   

n.人的个性，显著的特点，特征( trait的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We do not know which behavioural traits are inherited and which acquired. 我们不知道哪些行为特征是遗传的，哪些是后天养成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His generosity is one of his good traits. 慷慨大方是他的好品质之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 bodyguards   

n.保镖，卫士，警卫员( bodyguard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks came to Jim's office accompanied—like always—by his two bodyguards. 和往常一样，在两名保镖的陪同下，布鲁克斯去吉姆的办公室。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Three of his bodyguards were injured in the attack. 在这次袭击事件中，他有3名保镖受了伤。 来自辞典例句

5 golden   

adj.金的，含金的，可贵的，金色的，贵重的，繁盛的

参考例句：

• My teacher is an Englishman with golden hair.我的老师是一个金黄色头发的英国人。
• It's a balmy evening,the golden time for lovers.这是一个暖和的夜晚，是恋人们的黄金时光。

6 sociable   

adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的

参考例句：

• Roger is a very sociable person.罗杰是个非常好交际的人。
• Some children have more sociable personalities than others.有些孩子比其他孩子更善于交际。

7 indoors   

adv.(在)室内，(在)户内

参考例句：

• Because of the coldness of the weather we stayed indoors.我们因天气寒冷呆在家里。
• It is very cold outside,you'd better come indoors across the board.外面很冷，你们所有人最好都进屋。

8 heater   

n.加热器，火炉，加热之人

参考例句：

• If you are hot you can turn the heater down.如果你觉得热，你可以把暖气拧小。
• The heater is on a timer switch.加热器连在一个定时开关上。

9 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

10 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

11 yen   

n. 日元；热望

参考例句：

• He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
• He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。

12 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。

13 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。