听播客学英语 210 牙齿

 　　How are your teeth? How often do you go to the dentist?

　　Here is part of a poem by Pam Ayres.

　　Oh, I wish I’d looked after my teeth,

　　And spotted¹ the perils² beneath,

　　All the toffees I chewed³,

　　And the sweet sticky⁴ food,

　　Oh, I wish I’d looked after my teeth.

　　Look at the first line of the poem. “Oh, I wish I had looked after my teeth.” It is a wish about the past. When she was younger, Pam Ayres says, she did not look after her teeth. She ate too many sweets and did not brush her teeth properly. Now her dentist says she has to have 3 fillings.She wishes that she had looked after her teeth.

　　Here are some more wishes about the past.

　　When I was at school, I didn’t work very hard. Now I wish that I had worked harder.

　　The train is an hour late. I wish I had brought a book to read.

　　George was at a really good party last night. I wish I had gone with him

　　George has a headache this morning. He wishes that he had not drunk⁵ so much at the party.

　　And here are two more examples using a different expression “if only…”

　　Joanne’s Mum refuses to speak to Kevin. If only he had remembered her birthday.

　　My brother crashed his new car into a tree. If only he had not been driving so fast.

　　There is a grammar and vocabulary note with this podcast. If you are listening using iTunes or an iPod, you will need to go to the podcast website to read it.

1 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

2 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

3 chewed   

v.咀嚼，咬( chew的过去式和过去分词 )；（因为紧张等）咬住，不停地啃，（为尝味道）不停地咀嚼

参考例句：

• The rats have chewed away some of the woodwork. 老鼠啃坏了一些木制品。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The policeman chewed out the driver for reckless driving. 那位司机因为开车莽撞，被警察狠狠批评了一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 sticky   

adj.粘的，闷热的，困难的，令人不满意的

参考例句：

• This paste is not sticky enough.这糨糊不黏。
• Here is a sticky business!这事真难办！

5 drunk   

adj.醉酒的；(喻)陶醉的；n.酗酒者，醉汉

参考例句：

• People who drives when they are drunk should be heavily penalised.醉酒驾车的人应受重罚。
• She found him drunk when she came home at night.她晚上回家时，经常发现他醉醺醺的。