【英语趣味课堂】足球妈妈-Soccer Moms

 Todd: So, Julia, now you are a parent.

Julia: That's right.

 

Todd: And have you heard of all these terms that we have in the US for different types of parents? I wonder if you have them in the UK?

 

Julia: You mean like soccer mum, stuff like that?

 

Todd: Exactly.

 

Julia: That's the only one I've heard of actually.

 

Todd: OK. So what do you think a soccer mom is? What have you heard?

 

Julia: My image is a mother who dedicates her time to running her kids to and from soccer practice. Is that right?

 

Todd: Right.

 

Julia: And also drives a big vehicle? My image is of a big SUV or a big four wheel drive.

 

Todd: Right. I think it's also, it's like a parent that has many scheduled events for their child.

 

Julia: Oh, OK.

 

Todd: So maybe they have swimming class or soccer practice, ballet and stuff like that.

 

Julia: Oh, maybe I'm a little bit of a soccer mum.

 

Todd: Yeah, I think now, yeah. I think it's actually a good term. It's like, I think a soccer mom usually is considered a caring parent.

 

Julia: OK.

 

Todd: And they try to have their child doing productive things.

 

Julia: It must be pretty, quite an affluent¹ perhaps middle class kind of parent.

 

Todd: Yeah, exactly, exactly. Now we have the equivalent, it's called a Nascar dad.

 

Julia: Is Nascar some kind of car racing²?

 

Todd: Yeah, basically it's just the, these cars they run around and ride around in a circle. It's kind of like horse racing for cars, you just go round and round. But, yeah, so I guess it's the same thing. It's just a dad who's really, you know, really into his kids, spends a lot of time with his kids.

 

Julia: Would this be a stay at home dad, like a...?

 

Todd: No, no. It's just kind of like a good old boy father, like a dad who's kind of blue collar, not rich, you know, maybe lower middle class maybe but just kind of like your typical sitcom³, TV sitcom dad I guess.

 

Julia: But that's nice. Takes his kids everywhere, that's nice.

 

Todd: Yeah, yeah.

 

Julia: Involved in the...

 

Todd: Yeah, like a Nascar dad would probably take his sons hunting and maybe take his daughter shopping and stuff like that.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

productive

 

Soccer moms try to have their children doing productive things.

 

Here, 'productive' activities refer to things that children can do that teach them and help with development. Notice the following:

 

You need to try to be more productive during your time at work.

I had a very productive day today.

affluent

 

 

A soccer mom is an affluent, middle class type of person.

 

In this case, 'affluent' means a person who has a lot of money. Notice the following:

 

He grew up in a very affluent family.

This is a very affluent area, so we don't have to worry much about crime.

equivalent

 

Now we have the equivalent to a soccer mom, which is a NASCAR dad.

 

When one thing is 'equivalent' to another, they are basically equal. Notice the following:

 

We are looking for someone to do about 300 hours of work, which is equivalent to almost 2 months of full-time⁴ work.

13 Mexican pesos is equivalent to 1 U.S. dollar.

good-old-boy

 

He's like a good-old-boy father.

 

The phrase 'good-old-boy' is used to refer to a man who is humble⁵ and generally well thought of in his area. Notice the following:

 

My grandfather is kind of a good-old-boy around here.

He's a good-old-boy father who teaches his kids to fish and play baseball.

blue-collar

 

A NASCAR dad is blue-collar.

 

A 'blue-collar' worker is someone who works in a factory job or one that requires a lot of physical labor⁶ and not much formal education. Notice the following:

 

Most of his family works in blue-collar jobs.

Almost all of the available jobs in this area are blue-collar.

TV sitcom dad

 

He's kind of like your typical TV sitcom dad, I guess.

 

A 'sitcom' is a type of television show that uses real life situations to create comedy. A 'TV sitcom dad' would act or look the same as a stereotypical⁷ dad on television. Notice the following:

 

Some of the TV sitcom dads are really dumb.

Her dad is basically like a TV sitcom dad.

1 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

2 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

3 sitcom   

n.情景喜剧，（广播、电视的）系列幽默剧

参考例句：

• This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
• I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。

4 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

5 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 stereotypical   

n.常规

参考例句：

• Personas should be typical and believable, but not stereotypical. 人物角色应该是典型和可信赖的，但不是一成不变的。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Anything could be stereotypical, so I guess it could be criticism. 任何东西都可以变的老套，所以我猜那就是一种批评。 来自互联网