【英语趣味课堂】葡萄牙-Portugal

Ah, last year, I went to Portugal just after Christmas. And I stayed there until… well, just after new years this year.Ah in Portugal, I met up with one of my friends from Toronto. He had family that lived in Portugal, because his family was originally from Portugal. So, they were kind enough to let me stay with them. I didn’t know any Portuguese¹, except for some simple words like “hello”, and “thank you”. I learned some simple words through an audio CD, before I went there. And the people that I stayed with didn’t know very much English either. However, we got along surprisingly well. They were surprised that I was able to eat some of their exotic foods. They made some delicious meals every single day, like octopus², tripe³ and rabbit. It is quite exotic, but I thought it was quite good. They also made some excellent desserts, like crème caramel, and a rich sponge cake that they call Paon d’lo.

 

学习内容：

kind enough

 

My friend had family that lived in Portugal, and they were kind enough to let me stay with them. 

 

You can say that someone is 'kind enough' to do something when they do a favor or do something nice for you. Notice the following:

 

Would you be kind enough to open the door for me?

He was kind enough to wake me up so I wouldn't be late for work.

audio CD

 

I learned some simple words through an audio CD before I went there. 

 

An 'audio CD' is one that contains music or words that you can listen to. Notice the following:

 

My car only plays audio CDs.

Some people listen to books on audio CDs.

got along

 

The people I stayed with didn't know much English, but we got along surprisingly well. 

 

Used like this 'got along' having a good relationship and communication. If you get along with someone, you have compatible personalities⁴. Notice the following:

 

Sample

Sample

every single day

 

They made some delicious meals every single day, like octopus, tripe, and rabbit. 

 

When something happens 'every single day,' it happens consecutively⁵ and doesn't miss any days.  It is the same as 'every day,' but we add the word 'single for emphasis. Notice the following:

 

I think you get taller every single day.

When I lived near the beach, I went swimming every single day.

exotic

 

The meals were quite exotic, but I thought it was quite good. 

 

If something is 'exotic,' it is different from what you are used to.  Notice the following:

 

Everything on the menu looks a little too exotic for me right now.  I need something normal.

We tried many new exotic fruits when we were on vacation.

1 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

2 octopus   

n.章鱼

参考例句：

• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。
• One octopus has eight tentacles.一条章鱼有八根触角。

3 tripe   

n.废话，肚子, 内脏

参考例句：

• I can't eat either tripe or liver.我不吃肚也不吃肝。
• I don't read that tripe.我才不看那种无聊的东西呢。

4 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

5 consecutively   

adv.连续地

参考例句：

• He was actually too depleted to think consecutively about anything. 他已经打不起一点精神，根本谈不上好好思考一下。 来自辞典例句
• In any game, the right to serve shall pass consecutively. 在一局中，不错的发球挨次应该是。 来自互联网