【英语趣味课堂】梳洗-Getting Groomed

Jess: OK, so Tom, I've told you all about my beauty regime¹. You look very well groomed². Could you tell me what do you do to keep yourself looking good?

Tom: Well, thank you Jess. I mean this look is the product of many stages of evolution. When I was a teenager, I had long hair pulled back in a pony-tail, but at that time I wasn't growing a beard yet so I did get mistaken for a girl, so since then I've had short hair. There have been some periods when I've been traveling and when I'm traveling I don't like to bother too much about grooming³, and my beard has started to grow, and it was a couple of years back that I went back to my job after traveling. I didn't have time to shave, and my colleagues and students saw me with a full beard, and to be honest they weren't as rude as I thought there were going to be, and I thought well maybe this looks good, so I thought I'd keep that. The beard lasted perhaps a year and then it began disappearing and appearing according to my whim⁴ and now I've settled on a goatee which is where I shave my cheeks and underneath⁵ my chin, but I keep the mustache and and beard around my mouth. I've never grown sideburns because I'm a little embarrassed to say, I've never managed to get the connection between my beard and my hair. There's a little gap just by my ears which never has quite grown hair, so that's where we got to where we are today.

 

Jess: And have you ever removed hair from, waxed or shaved or any other part method from any other part of your body?

 

Tom: Do you mean my legs? No, I have never shaved my legs. I'm not a very hairy guy, but I just don't feel comfortable with men shaving their legs. A friend at university was a cyclist and he always shaved his legs and I thought it was strange because ... I mean, seriously, is wind resistance that important that you need to shave you legs to get the extra bit of speed on a bicycle, but he explained to me, "No", it's to do with evening after cycling and you have to get a sports massage⁶ and a massage is much easier if you don't have hair on your legs. I always thought it was about wind resistance, but I was completely wrong.

 

Jess: So, it sounds like in comparison to mine your beauty regime is very simple.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

stages of evolution

 

There are many stages of evolution.

 

We use the phrase 'stages of evolution' to talk about something that has slowly changed over a long period of time. Notice the following:

 

From classical to jazz to rock etc., western music has gone through many stages of evolution.

Over the last 30 years the cell phone has undergone many stages of technological⁷ evolution.

to be honest

 

To be honest, I just don't know.

 

We use the phrase 'to be honest' when we want or need to be direct. Here are two samples:

 

It's too bad you and John broke up, but to be honest, I didn't like him very much anyway.

Everyone loved the Thai buffet⁸, but to be honest, the food was a little too spicy⁹ for me.

according to my whim

 

appearing according to my whim

 

When we do something according to our whim, we do it based on a feeling, not for any special reason. Notice the samples:

 

I never plan what I'm going to wear. I always dress according to my whim.

Suzanne styles her hair differently everyday. She changes according to her whim.

I've settled on

 

I've settled on a goatee.

 

To settle on something means to make a decision. Here are some samples:

 

I bought a pair of Levis today. I couldn't decide between black and blue, but I settled on the black ones.

Our daughter looked at many schools abroad, but settled on UCLA.

embarrassed to say

 

After years of study, I'm embarrassed to say I don't speak English well.

 

We feel embarrassed when other people learn something about us we don't want them to know. It's usually not a serious secret. Notice the sample sentences:

 

In high school I had a crush on Justin Bieber I'm a little embarrassed to say.

I know we've met, twice actually, but I'm a little embarrassed to say that I've forgotten your name.

wind resistance

 

Is wind resistance that important?

 

When an object; for example, an airplane, a formula one car  moves at high speed, air pushes back in the opposite direction causing wind resistance. Notice the following:

 

Modern F-1 racers are of very aerodynamic design to reduce wind resistance.

In this view, Tom's cyclist friend actually wasn't much concerned with wind resistance after all.

1 regime   

n.政体，政权，制度

参考例句：

• Under the new regime in our office,no one is allowed to leave early.在新的办公制度下，谁也不能早退。
• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime.人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。

2 groomed   

v.照料或梳洗（马等）( groom的过去式和过去分词 )；使做好准备；训练；（给动物）擦洗

参考例句：

• She is always perfectly groomed. 她总是打扮得干净利落。
• Duff is being groomed for the job of manager. 达夫正接受训练，准备当经理。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 grooming   

n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发

参考例句：

• You should always pay attention to personal grooming. 你应随时注意个人仪容。
• We watched two apes grooming each other. 我们看两只猩猩在互相理毛。

4 whim   

n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想

参考例句：

• I bought the encyclopedia on a whim.我凭一时的兴致买了这本百科全书。
• He had a sudden whim to go sailing today.今天他突然想要去航海。

5 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。

6 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。

7 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

8 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

9 spicy   

adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的

参考例句：

• The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
• Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。