【英语趣味课堂】几个坏习惯-A Few Bad Habits

Erina: So Mike, do you have any bad habits?

Mike: Of course not. I'm perfect, I've no habits that are bad. Yes, I do have some bad habits. One of my bad habits is fidgeting and I think I'm a very high energy person so, especially when I'm on the phone, mixed with my slightly obsessive¹ compulsive tendencies, I tend to arrange all the things on a desk so if there are pens and books and different things on the desk, I would be turning them and arranging them in order and pretty much always using my hands and keeping them busy and although this might not be such a bad habit, perhaps for people who are with me or next to me they might be a little bit uncomfortable because it seems like, you know, I'm a bit nervous or, you know, have something on my mind so...

 

Erina: Not in confidence for your speech, yeah.

 

Mike: Right, in fact that's not the case but what happens is I start playing with things.

 

Erina: I've seen you do that before.

 

Mike: Oh have you?

 

Erina: Yeah.

 

Mike: Well then I guess that really shows it is one of my bad habits. You know, I think that I do that to focus because, you know, while I'm speaking to somebody or while I'm on the phone, I arrange things on the desk and that is kind of metaphorically³ me arranging my thoughts in my head which is probably where this habit has come from.

 

Erina: I see. Yeah, do you have any other bad habits other than fidgeting?

 

Mike: Well maybe a bad habit is driving quickly and I'm not sure if that's considered a bad habit but I guess when I get behind the wheel of a car I sometimes get impatient and that impatience⁴ drives me to put more weight on the gas pedal⁵ and in turn I go faster and of course speeding is not a good thing especially when you get pulled over by the police. So that's a bad habit that I might have to work on.

 

Erina: Yeah, definitely. You don't want to lose your licence.

 

Mike: No.

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

obsessive compulsive

 

I have slightly obsessive compulsive tendencies.

 

'Obsessive compulsive' tendencies are things you do very frequently without even thinking about it. For example, some people are obsessive compulsive about moisturizing their hands. Notice the following:

 

I am very obsessive compulsive about my morning routine.

She is very obsessive compulsive about the cleanliness of her house.

metaphorical²

 

I metaphorically arrange things in my head.

 

You do something 'metaphorically' when one action is symbolic⁶ of another action. Here, it is impossible for Nathan to physically⁷ arrange thoughts in his head, but by organizing physical things, he feels more organized mentally. Notice the following:

 

Watching stupid television shows like this is like metaphorical junk food for my brain.

This week has been like running a metaphorical marathon.

impatient

 

 

When I get behind the wheel of a car I sometimes get impatient.

 

When you are 'impatient' about something, you don't want to wait or have patience about it. If you are impatient, you want things to happen faster. Notice the following:

 

Stop being so impatient about this situation. There is nothing you can do besides wait.

I am very impatient about waiting for people to return my calls.

in turn

 

I put more weight on the gas pedal and in turn I go faster.

 

'In turn' is similar in meaning to 'as a result.' Notice the following:

 

He is usually happy, and in turn makes the people around him happy too.

I had a late start to the day, and in turn I felt like I was rushing to try to catch up all day.

lose your license⁸

 

You don't want to lose your license.

 

You 'lose your license' when you do something terrible and irresponsible when you are driving and the police officer tells you that you have lost your driving privileges. Notice the following:

 

His eyesight got so bad when he got old that he lost his license.

He lost his license the third time he got caught driving drunk.

1 obsessive   

adj. 着迷的, 强迫性的, 分神的

参考例句：

• Some people are obsessive about cleanliness.有些人有洁癖。
• He's becoming more and more obsessive about punctuality.他对守时要求越来越过分了。

2 metaphorical   

a.隐喻的，比喻的

参考例句：

• Here, then, we have a metaphorical substitution on a metonymic axis. 这样，我们在换喻（者翻译为转喻，一种以部分代替整体的修辞方法）上就有了一个隐喻的替代。
• So, in a metaphorical sense, entropy is arrow of time. 所以说，我们可以这样作个比喻：熵像是时间之矢。

3 metaphorically   

adv. 用比喻地

参考例句：

• It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically. 对一个词的理解是按字面意思还是隐喻的意思要视乎上下文和习惯。
• Metaphorically it implied a sort of admirable energy. 从比喻来讲，它含有一种令人赞许的能量的意思。

4 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

5 pedal   

n.踏板；adj.脚的，踏脚的；v.用脚踏动，踩踏板

参考例句：

• He pressed down the accelerator pedal of his car.他踩下汽车的加速器踏板。
• I saw him pedal to school every morning.我看到他每天早晨骑自行车上学。

6 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

7 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

8 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。