听播客学英语 192 沉迷

 　　Happy New Year to all of you. I have been making these podcasts now for exactly a year. It has been great fun and I am very grateful to all of you who listen to them.

　　At the beginning of January, many people make New Year resolutions. That means that they decide to change something about their lives. Here are some examples of New Year resolutions:

　　to lose weight

　　to start learning a foreign language

　　to phone my parents at least once a week

　　to cycle to work every day instead of using the car

　　Unfortunately, most people make the same resolutions every year. In other words, they do not succeed. They do not keep their resolutions.

　　Kevin and Joanne have both made New Year resolutions this year. Kevin has said that he is going to give up smoking. He does not smoke very much – only when he goes to the pub to have a drink with his friend George. In fact, he will have to keep his resolution to give up smoking, or he will have to stop going to the pub, because in July this year a new law will come into effect in England which bans smoking in pubs, cafes, restaurants and other public buildings.

　　Do you know the colloquial¹ English expression “to be hooked on something”? It means to be addicted² to something. A hook is a small piece of bent³ metal which we use to catch fish. Think of a fish, with a hook caught in its mouth. It wriggles⁴ and struggles, but it cannot get free. That is what “being hooked” means! So, smokers⁵ are hooked on cigarettes or tobacco. Some people are hooked on chocolate; other people are hooked on their favourite TV programme.

　　Our government is running an advertising⁶ campaign on television at present, to try to persuade people to stop smoking. It shows smokers with a hook in their mouths, like the hook in the mouth of a fish. The smokers are dragged along by a line attached to the hook. These advertisements make Kevin feel very uncomfortable. He is determined⁷ to give up smoking. Let’s hope he succeeds.

　　There is a grammar and vocabulary note for this podcast. If you are listening on iTunes or your iPod, you will need to go to the podcast website to see it.

1 colloquial   

adj.口语的，会话的

参考例句：

• It's hard to understand the colloquial idioms of a foreign language.外语里的口头习语很难懂。
• They have little acquaintance with colloquial English. 他们对英语会话几乎一窍不通。

2 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

3 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

4 wriggles   

n.蠕动，扭动( wriggle的名词复数 )v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的第三人称单数 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）

参考例句：

• Each tail piece wriggles to wholly confuse and distract an attacker. 但是与其他的蜥蜴不同，玻璃蜥蜴的尾巴会逐段的散成碎片，每段碎片都在扭动，以迷惑攻击者，分散其注意力。 来自互联网
• No turning back. He wriggles into the pipe and starts crawling, plastic bag dragging behind. 没有回头路，安迪钻进下水管开始爬行，塑料袋拖在后面。 来自互联网

5 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

6 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。