听播客学英语 60 我不能忍受

 　　This podcast is about “bear”. You all know what a bear is. It is a big, furry¹ animal that likes eating honey. There is a picture of a bear on the website. He is from a zoo in northern Spain, where there are still some bears in the wild. However, that is not the sort of “bear” I want to tell you about today. If you are really interested in the big, furry sorts of bear, you may enjoy listening to Natasha telling you a story about bears – three bears actually – in another posting on Listen to English.

　　“To bear” is a verb². Its past tense is “bore”. Originally³, “to bear” meant “to carry”. We still use it to mean “to carry” in some set expressions, but it sounds a bit old-fashioned⁴. However, you will often hear people saying things like :

　　I cannot bear the noise which the children are making.

　　I cannot bear the hot weather in summer.

　　If I say that “I cannot bear” something, I mean that I cannot tolerate⁵ it, it is awful, it is too much, it makes me very unhappy, it makes me want to scream and run away and hide! Here are some more examples :

　　I cannot bear travelling by air, because you have to wait so long at the airport.

　　George cannot bear getting up early in the morning.

　　I cannot bear it when you are angry.

　　Kevin cannot bear it when Joanne’s mother says that there are more important things in life than football.

　　There are some other expressions which mean almost the same as “I cannot bear..”. Here are some of them:

　　I like classical⁶ music, but my children cannot stand it.

　　I cannot put up with the pop music which my children like.

　　Now suppose you want to say the opposite of “I cannot bear..”. Suppose you wanted to say that you are OK with your children’s pop music. It is not a problem for you. How would you say that? You could say :

　　I don’t mind my children’s pop music.

　　My children’s pop music does not bother me.

　　So, now you know all about the word “bear”. And some of you will remember that there is another word “bare” in English, spelled B-A-R-E. The B-A-R-E sort of bare is an adjective⁷, and it means⁸ uncovered⁹, not covered with anything. So, you can say that someone has bare arms, which means that they are wearing a short-sleeved shirt or blouse which leaves their arms uncovered. Or you can say that someone has a bare head, which means that they are not wearing a hat. You can talk about the bare earth, which means ground where there is nothing growing; or about a bare mountainside, where there are no trees, just rocks.

　　Near where I live, there is a man who never wears any shoes. He says that his feet smell if he wears shoes, so for the last 30 years he has walked the streets of the city with no shoes. People call him Pete the Feet, and there is an interview with him on YouTube. Pete the Feet has bare feet; he goes bare-footed.

　　Now you are all experts on “bear” (the animal), and “to bear” (the verb) and “bare” (the adjective). So you can try the quiz¹⁰ on the website and see how good you are!

1 furry   

adj.毛皮的；似毛皮的；毛皮制的

参考例句：

• This furry material will make a warm coat for the winter.这件毛皮料在冬天会是一件保暖的大衣。
• Mugsy is a big furry brown dog,who wiggles when she is happy.马格斯是一只棕色大长毛狗，当她高兴得时候她会摇尾巴。

2 verb   

n.[语]动词

参考例句：

• The sentence is formed from a verb and two nouns.这句子由一个动词和两个名词构成。
• These are the finite forms of a verb.这些是一个动词的限定形式。

3 originally   

adv.本来，原来，最初，就起源而论，独创地

参考例句：

• Originally I didn't want to go.我本意不想去。
• After much discussion they settled on the plan originally proposed.他们讨论了很久，然后确定了原来提出的那个计划。

4 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。

5 tolerate   

v.忍受，容忍，容许，宽恕；vt.容忍，忍受，容许

参考例句：

• She can tolerate that rude fellow.她能容忍那个粗鲁的家伙。
• The teacher cannot tolerate eating on the class.老师不容许在课堂上吃东西。

6 classical   

adj.古典的；古典文学的；正统派的；古典主义的

参考例句：

• This classical poem is hard to understand.这首古诗很费解。
• She listens to classical music for relaxation.她听古典音乐放松。

7 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。

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 uncovered   

adj.无盖的，未保险的v.揭开…的盖子( uncover的过去式和过去分词 )；揭露，发现

参考例句：

• His head was uncovered. 他光着头。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police. 暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 quiz   

n.智力竞赛；测验，小型考试

参考例句：

• They are having a quiz now.他们正进行小测验。
• He took part in a television quiz and won a prize.他参加了一个电视知识竞赛并得了奖。