【英语趣味课堂】关岛

 Nick: So, I don’t know much about Guam. I’d barely¹ heard of Guam until last year so please, tell me something about it. What’s life like?

Cheryl: Well, most people have never heard about Guam. Most people who do hear about it are mostly Americans and even then most of these Americans that do hear about it, they have family in the military or they know a friend in the military and that’s because Guam is a big US base, a military base.

 

Guam is a little island in the middle of the Pacific. It’s actually five hours from where you’re from, Nick, five hours from Australia. And it’s about four hours from Hong Kong and three and a half from Japan. So you can kind of gauge² based on those numbers just how much in the middle of the Pacific Ocean Guam is. It’s about eighteen miles wide and thirty-two miles long so it’s pretty, pretty small.

 

Nick: So it’s a part of America?

 

Cheryl: Yeah, it’s a part of America. The US military base there is actually the biggest in Asia besides the one in Okinawa which is the islands south of Japan.

 

But it is supposedly the closest US soil...not supposedly, it is the closest US soil to Asia.

 

Nick: Oh really? And it look like a tropical paradise³.

 

Cheryl: Yeah, it is very much like Hawaii which is an island of the coast of the mainland US. It’s got lots and lots of palm trees, blue waters, and white sand. Lots and lots and lots of water sports are available...scuba⁴ diving spots, it’s actually a paradise, I think.

 

Nick: I definitely want to go.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

military

 

They have family in the military.

 

Military is another word for the army, or the armed forces. The word military includes other branches of the armed forces such as the navy, air force, and the marines. See the examples below:

 

Recruiters from the military were at our school today to try to get students to join.

I think I would like being in the military if I got to travel a lot.

military base

 

Guam is a big US base, a military base.

 

A military base is a place with military equipment and housing where the armed forces do training and operations. Read the following examples:

 

The is a military base in Okinawa, Japan.

There are schools for children of people in the military on many army bases.

gauge

 

So you can kind of gauge just how much in the middle of the Pacific Ocean Guam is.

 

Gauge, sometimes also spelled “gage”, means to estimate the size or amount of something. A gauge is also a tool such as a speedometer inside a car to see how fast the car is going. See the additional examples below:

 

I wasn’t able to gauge how tall he was from the pictures.

The gauge was broken so I didn't know the temperature was so high.

soil

 

Guam is the closest US soil to Asia.

 

Soil, when used in the example above, means land or territory. Literally⁵, soil means dirt. Look at the 2 examples below:

 

I was so happy to be back on French soil after living in a different country for so long.

Worms are actually very good for the soil because they make it softer.

tropical paradise

 

It looks like a tropical paradise.

 

Paradise is a place that is perfect. A tropical paradise is a beautiful place that is sunny, close to the ocean, warm, full of flowers, birds, and fruit. See the examples below:

 

Adam and Eve lived in the paradise of the Garden of Eden.

I’m sure everyone has dreamed of living in a tropical paradise before.

1 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。

2 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

3 paradise   

n.伊甸乐园，天堂

参考例句：

• My house had a small backyard,the paradise of children.我那幢房子有一个小后院，那是孩子们玩耍的乐园。
• On a hot day a dip in the sea is sheer paradise.热天洗个海水澡是十分令人惬意的事。

4 scuba   

n.水中呼吸器

参考例句：

• I first got hooked on scuba diving when I was twelve.12岁时我开始迷上了带水中呼吸器潜水。
• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。