【英语趣味课堂】化妆-Make-up

Gareth: Are you happy about it? Now, like looking back are you glad she did?

 

Rebecca: It was tough love. At the time I hated her and I was getting picked on a lot at school about it, cause I just didn't realize that as a female¹ you have to do these certain things. It was like, this is what acceptable² in the community. You have to do this, so I was like I didn't realize it cause I always played with the boys, and none of them did this crap. I was like, why do we have to worry about that?

 

Gareth: It sounds really sort of old-fashioned³ doesn't it?

 

Rebecca: Yeah, but I was actually, you know now thinking about it, I'm happy that she did cause it brought it home to me that to a certain degree you do have to at least live with what your community accepts as standards, like if you what walk outside, you know the community accepts that you have to wear, you know, wear a shirt when you go outside. You can't go out topless. You probably should wear the shirt or you'll get looked at funny.

 

Gareth: So, if I don't want my daughter to wear make-up, I should actually buy her some make-up and force her to wear it, so she'll do the exact opposite.

 

Rebecca: I have heard that children do tend to do exactly their parents tell them not to do. I just -- I don't know. I didn't want to wear make-up, so my mom was concerned. I know a lot of people though who have had the opposite problem, like when they're younger, like they're maybe seven or eight and they want to wear make-up because mommy does, and you know, I had a lot of friends who would play dress up. They would sneak⁴ into mom's closet⁵ and steal all her dresses and her high heels⁶, and steal all her make-up and you know, play dress up. At a certain age it was cute, but my cousin actually was one of them, and she would wear make-up. She was --- to school. She was only in elementary school, so

 

Gareth: Wow, that's pretty young.

 

Rebecca: Yeah, there was a lot of anger about that from the teachers and it was not all acceptable so I don't really know when the correct age is to wear make-up but I think at least if they're more mature⁷ or more adult like, I guess maybe it's alright once they become -- no longer little girls anymore, then maybe you can let them wear make-up if they want.

 

Gareth: Well, cheers⁸! Thanks for the advice and I'll use it wisely.

 

Rebecca: You're welcome.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

tough love

 

It was tough love.

 

Tough love is when someone makes a person do something they do not want to do, but by doing it, it helps them. For example, making a child eat vegetables is tough love. The child does not want to do it, but the parent makes them because they love them and they want the child to be healthy. Notice the following:

 

As a teacher, I give lots of homework. It's tough love.

My dad was really strict but I suppose it was tough love.

pick on

 

 

I was getting picked on at school.

 

When you pick on someone, you make fun on them or tease⁹ them. You might joke about how they look or speak. You can pick on someone in a nice way, like with friends, or in a very cruel way, like with childhood bullies¹⁰. Notice the following:

 

He was overweight, so he got picked on.

My older brother used to always pick on me.

bring it home

 

 

It brought it home to me

 

When something is brought home to someone, that means¹¹ they finally realize the importance of something through an example. Often a story, an incident¹², or some experience can bring something home to someone. Notice the following:

 

My car crash brought it home to me how special life is.

Not seeing my children all summer brought it home how much I love them.

play dress up

 

 

I had friends who would play dress up.

 

When children play dress up, they often put on their parents clothes to look like adults. Girls tend to play dress up more than boys. Notice the following:

 

My sister never played dress up. She was a tomboy.

She used to play dress up in her big sister's clothes.

sneak into

 

They would sneak into my mother's closet.

 

When you sneak into something, you enter it without permission. We usually sneak into places when no one is looking. You can also sneak out of something, like sneak out of a meeting. Notice the following:

 

We sneaked¹³ into the movie theater without paying.

He sneaked back into his house after midnight.

1 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

2 acceptable   

adj.可接受的，合意的，受欢迎的

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• Air pollution in the city had reached four times the acceptable levels.这座城市的空气污染程度曾高达可接受标准的四倍。

3 old-fashioned   

adj.旧式的，保守的，挑剔的

参考例句：

• Why do you still dress in an old-fashioned mode?你为什么还穿款式陈旧的衣服？
• Here is an old-fashioned pump for drawing water from a well.这里有一个旧式水泵可从井里抽水。

4 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。

5 closet   

n.壁橱；储藏室

参考例句：

• I'll clear out that closet for you.我要替你把那个小衣橱清理出来。
• Hang your overcoat in the closet.把你的大衣挂在衣橱里。

6 heels   

n.高跟鞋；紧随某人；跟捬；飞奔逃跑；（袜子等的）后跟( heel的名词复数 )；足跟；有…后跟的；女高跟鞋

参考例句：

• Her heels clacked on the marble floor. 她的鞋后跟在大理石地面上发出咔嗒咔嗒的响声。
• The dogs yapped at his heels. 几只狗跟在他后面汪汪乱叫。

7 mature   

adj.成熟的，到期的，充分考虑的；vt.使成熟；vi.成熟，到期

参考例句：

• This is a dress shop for mature women.这是一家成年妇女服装店。
• It's a mature plan.这是个深思熟虑的计划。

8 Cheers   

int.干杯，(英口语)谢谢，再见

参考例句：

• The crowd burst into cheers.人群中爆发出一片欢呼声。
• To your health!Cheers!祝您健康！干杯！

9 tease   

vt.戏弄，取笑，挑逗，撩拨；n.戏弄人者

参考例句：

• The other boys tease him because he is fat.因为他很胖，所以其他男生都取笑他。
• His friends used to tease him about his tatty clothes.他的朋友过去常常笑话他破旧的衣服。

10 bullies   

n.欺凌弱小者, 开球 vt.恐吓, 威胁, 欺负

参考例句：

• Standing up to bullies takes plenty of backbone. 勇敢地对付暴徒需有大无畏精神。
• Bullies can make your life hell. 恃强欺弱者能让你的日子像活地狱。

11 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。

12 incident   

n.附带事件，小事件；事件，事变；adj.易发生的；附属的；入射的

参考例句：

• With the passage of time the incident was forgotten.随着时间的消逝，那个事件被忘却了。
• The incident had left him visibly angry and upset.那起事件显然让他既恼火又心烦。

13 sneaked   

v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状

参考例句：

• I sneaked up the stairs. 我蹑手蹑脚地上了楼。
• She sneaked a surreptitious glance at her watch. 她偷偷看了一眼手表。