【英语趣味课堂】在另一个地方的生活-Life in Another Land

Adelina: We are sitting here together in Spain but you are far away from your home country. Are you often abroad?

 

Chris: I'm actually all the time abroad, I'm living abroad.

 

Adelina: Oh, so you live in Spain for how long?

 

Chris: Yes, now I'm living in Spain. As I said before, I'm 31 and when I was 18 I finished school and I didn't know exactly which direction to go, what to study, so my mom said as well, "Go to Spain, be there for two/three months, do a summer season and when you're back you will know what to do."

 

Adelina: And what happened?

 

Chris: Well, I guess the typical story. No, I liked the country and I liked the job that I was doing, I wasn't that bad at it so they offered me an extension¹ and in the end I did the whole season.

 

Adelina: Oh, nice. But what this experience make you feel if you go back in time, tell us like a resume² about how you feel.

 

Chris: Well, it's the whole learning³ experience, I mean I was a teen, I mean, I was an adult but still, you come from your mom who does everything for you, does your washing, your everyday life and all of a sudden⁴ you have to do that yourself. But on the one hand you like it, but on the other hand the responsibilities⁵ all come to you and you might not be all that prepared for it. But then I was in Spain, decided⁶ to finish the season. Then they offered me a replacement⁷ on another island to do winter season as well so in the end I stayed and stayed and stayed and had to learn myself, to do everything myself, cooking, washing, paperwork, actually everything.

 

Adelina: Well, that's nice. No, that means⁸ become an adult.

 

Chris: Yes, it's true but maybe that's not the time that you want to become an adult. I mean, when you're 18 it's the time maybe to enjoy life, to do things you wouldn't do as an adult, but I came to that age quite early and took all the responsibilities so maybe, I'm not going to say I miss that step but I was responsible⁹ on an early age, let's say.

 

Adelina: Oh, okay. Well, I don't know, how will you see your life if you will have stayed in Belgium instead?

 

Chris: It probably would have been totally different. I mean, I can't see myself now living in Belgium. I do go once or twice a year to see family and friends but life is different there. I mean, all my friends of my age, they're married, they have their children and going back is still neat and you go out and have a drink but that's it, maybe you see them once or twice a month because they all have their lives so I feel that now my life is going to be here, it'll probably be here for the future.

 

Adelina: Well, that's not bad either, right?

 

Chris: No, no, it's not too bad. So, that's why I'm saying, I mean, if you ask me for a learning experience, this was all complete learning experience from now the last 13 years from when I was 18 and of course there are ups and downs, you fall, you get up. But the good thing is you make your own decisions so whatever happens it's because of you. You fall because it's your fault and you get up because it's your merit¹⁰. So in the end it's good that you experience this for yourself.

 

Adelina: So with luck, good luck.

 

Chris: Thank you.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

as I said before

 

notesAs I said before, I'm 31.

 

We use this phrase¹¹ when we repeat information. Notice the following:

 

As I said before, you are very talented.

As I said before, I cannot attend work tomorrow.

the typical story

 

notesMy life is the typical story.

 

A typical story is a common story or experience many people have. Notice the following:

 

Her success is the typical story. She came to Hollywood¹², struggled and then got a lucky break.

How my wife and I met is the typical story. We met in college, fell in love, and then got married.

in the end

 

notesIn the end, I did the whole season.

 

This phrase means 'eventually' and refers to an unplanned conclusion. Notice the following:

 

In the end, we decided not to go to the movies.

I was planning on going to France, but in the end, I went to Spain instead.

go back in time

 

notesYou go back in time.

 

When you go back in time, you imagine or feel like you are living in a previous era¹³. Notice the following:

 

When I hear 80's pop music, I always go back in time.

We often wish we could go back in time and fix our mistakes.

neat

 

notesGoing back is still neat.

 

Here, 'neat' means to be cool, fun, or interesting. Notice the following:

 

That's a neat story.

We went to this neat little cafe yesterday.

1 extension   

n.伸长，扩大，伸展；延长，延期；延长部分，扩大部分；电话分机

参考例句：

• The pupils disliked the extension of the term.小学生们不愿延长学期。
• Our extension is nearly finished.我们的扩建部分已接近完工。

2 resume   

v.（中断后）继续，恢复；n.摘要，简历

参考例句：

• We'll stop now and resume at two o 'clock.我们现在停下来，到两点再干。
• My resume shows that I have the right qualifications for the job.我的简历表明我正符合这项工作的条件。

3 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

4 sudden   

n.突然，忽然；adj.突然的，意外的，快速的

参考例句：

• All of a sudden he turned about and saw me.他突然转过身来看见了我。
• The horse was badly frightened by the sudden noise.那匹马被突然而来的嘈杂声吓坏了。

5 responsibilities   

责任( responsibility的名词复数 )； 职责； 责任感； 责任心

参考例句：

• the disproportion between the extra responsibilities and the small salary increase 额外的责任与小幅增加的薪金之间的不相称
• The job encompasses a wide range of responsibilities. 这项工作涉及的职责范围很广。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

8 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。

9 responsible   

adj.有责任的，应负责的；可靠的，可信赖的；责任重大的；vi.休息，睡；静止，停止

参考例句：

• He must be responsible to me for this matter.这件事他必须对我负责。
• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。

10 merit   

n.优点，价值，功绩，成绩；vt.值得

参考例句：

• There is great merit in dealing fairly with your employees.公正地对待你的雇员有极大好处。
• History affords us lessons that merit attention.历史给我们提供了值得注意的借鉴。

11 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。

12 Hollywood   

n.好莱坞；美国电影业

参考例句：

• She dreamed of becoming a Hollywood screen goddess.她梦想成为好莱坞的银幕女神。
• The film has a Hollywood happy ending.那部电影有一个好莱坞式的美满结局。

13 era   

n.时代，年代，纪元，阶段

参考例句：

• We are living in the information era.我们生活在信息时代。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。