【英语趣味课堂】不同凡响-Shockingly Different

Jeremy: So you were 12 when you came to Canada.

 

Abidemi: That’s right.

 

Jeremy: Do you remember anything that was either really similar or really different from how teachers taught or from the classroom experience? Were they more or less the same or were they shockingly¹ different?

 

Abidemi: Actually, I think they were different in a lot of ways. For some reason, I had finished my grade 6, which is like primary 6; they called it in Nigeria, which is the end of high school—no, sorry. The end of elementary school in Nigeria. 

So when I came to Canada, they put me into grade 7 thinking it’s the next level. But my level was higher so they put me into grade 8 after that. So I got to skip a grade, which was really great. But I remember in terms of the way of thinking; in my English literature class, we had a conversation and we had to finish a story. And it was like, “Suddenly, something appeared in the sky. What is it?”

 

And all my classmates were, “It’s a UFO.” For me, I’d never heard of a UFO. So they were like it’s a UFO. It makes somebody disappear, it picks up somebody, and one of their classmate and another person disappears.

 

But in my essay, I’m like—it was just weird². I had a totally different way of thinking and processing things. And that really surprised my teachers because when they wrote my composition, they compared it to the rest of the class, to my classmates and they were like, “Wow, this is interesting that you’re the same age and we’re all speaking the same language, but the way we view things is very different.”

 

And I guess, to me as well, it was my first exposure³ to cultural differences. And then after that, many years later, coming to Japan and being different again, in a different setting⁴, it made me think back to that time thinking, wow, you can’t always expect the same things. Differences come in weird places sometimes.

 

Jeremy: I see.

 

Abidemi: So yeah, that’s one thing I remember. But a lot of things were the same. We are the same, and yeah, different.

 

Jeremy: So Abidemi, just in terms of sort of the simple things in life, when you came to Canada, were there any foods or drinks that you were particularly fond of right away or thought were particularly strange?

 

Abidemi: Hmm, very good question. Food, a lot of food was all right, right off the bat, like we didn’t have any difficulties⁵ with that. But one thing I do remember was nacho chips. We were not used to cheese, the taste of cheese. So my sisters and I, what we would do is we would buy nacho chips, like, Doritos—I don’t know if everyone knows that—and we would wash it because the cheesy taste was strange. So we would wash it before eating it and then we would eat it. And I have some friends who will just stare at us, like, “What’s the point? Why would you buy that flavor⁶ of chips? That’s the whole point, to taste that.” But we were like, “No, we can’t eat this.” 

But eventually now, I love Doritos. I have grown accustomed⁷ to the taste.

 

Jeremy: You probably made it healthier though.

 

Abidemi: That’s true.

 

End of Transcript⁸

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson!

shockingly

 

Were they shockingly different?

 

Something shockingly different surprises you greatly. It shocks you. Notice the following:

 

London can be shockingly expensive.

Shockingly, the pub⁹ was closed on Friday night.

weird

 

 

Differences come in weird places sometimes.

 

Here, weird means¹⁰ unexpected¹¹ and different. Notice the following:

 

The Internet has lots of weird information.

The downtown area can be a weird place.

simple things in life

 

 

In terms of the simple things in life, what was different?

 

The simple things in life are things people do every day like eating, getting around, etc. Notice the following:

 

Food is one of the simple things in life.

We often overlook¹² the simple things in life.

right off the bat

 

Right off the bat, we didn’t have any difficulties.

 

Right off the bat means at the beginning. Notice the following:

 

At work, right off the bat, we had troubles.

Yesterday, right off the bat I was in a bad mood.

grow accustomed to

 

I have grown accustomed to the taste.

 

To grown accustomed to means to get used to. Notice the following:

 

I have grown accustomed to eating raw fish.

She is now accustomed to using chopsticks.

 

1 shockingly   

adv.骇人地，很坏地

参考例句：

• Then the young mother mentioned some shockingly modern succedaneum. 接下去，那位年轻的母亲提到一种挺新的代用品。 来自辞典例句
• A shockingly ugly old person, almost as black as coal. 是个很丑的老太婆，黑得简直象煤炭一样。 来自互联网

2 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

3 exposure   

n.暴露，面临；揭露，揭发；曝光

参考例句：

• After only a short exposure to sunlight he began to turn red.他在阳光下只晒了一会儿，皮肤就开始变红了。
• I threatened them with public exposure.我扬言要公开揭发他们。

4 setting   

n.背景

参考例句：

• The play has its setting in Vienna.该剧以维也纳为背景。
• Where and when a story takes place is called the setting.故事发生的地点和时间称为故事背景。

5 difficulties   

n.困难( difficulty的名词复数 )；难度；难事；麻烦

参考例句：

• I am acutely aware of the difficulties we face. 我十分清楚我们面临的困难。
• the difficulties of English syntax 英语句法的难点

6 flavor   

n.味，滋味，味道；风味；vt.调味，加味于

参考例句：

• I like the flavor of chocolate.我喜欢巧克力的味道。
• Each flavor was totally unique.每一种味道都是独一无二的。

7 accustomed   

adj.习惯的，惯常的(to)

参考例句：

• This is his accustomed hour to go to bed.这是他就寝的惯常时间。
• They are accustomed to this sort of work.他们惯于干这种工作。

8 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

9 pub   

n.[英]旅馆，小店，酒馆

参考例句：

• He is the landlord of this pub.他是这家酒店的店主。
• They saw that four large men marched into the pub.他们看到四个彪形大汉走进了酒吧。

10 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。

11 unexpected   

adj.想不到的，意外的

参考例句：

• I always keep some good wine in for unexpected guests.我总保存些好酒，用来招待不速之客。
• His promotion was unexpected.他的升迁出人意料。

12 overlook   

v.忽视，忽略，俯瞰，眺望，宽容，宽恕

参考例句：

• How could you overlook paying the rent?你怎么会忘了付房租？
• It was a slight overlook on my part.这是我的一个小疏忽。