听播客学英语 252 习惯

 　　Last time, June told us about what she used to do when she was young. You remember that we say “used to” about things which happened in the past, not once but many times, or which happened continuously¹. But you know that English is not simple! We can use the words “used to” in other ways as well.

　　For example, we can say “I am used to something”, or “I have become/got/grown used to something”. Here are some examples to explain what this means².

　　When she was a child, Joanne lived in a small village in the country. But now she lives and works³ in a big city. At first, she found the noise and the traffic, and the journey to work in a crowded train, very stressful. But after a few months, she GOT USED TO it. She became accustomed⁴ to it, so that the traffic and the train journey did not bother her any more.

　　Joanne has told Kevin that he needs to loose some weight. Unfortunately, Kevin likes to eat chocolate bars at work. He has a chocolate bar with his morning coffee, and another one at lunch time. But he really likes Joanne, so he stops eating chocolate. At first it is terrible – he really, really wants to eat chocolate with his coffee. But after about two weeks, he GETS USED TO it. He finds that, actually, he prefers coffee without chocolate. (Also, he puts an extra spoonful⁵ of sugar in his coffee, but he doesn’t tell Joanne that!)

　　And how about you? At first, listening to a foreign language is really difficult. There are so many words that you do not understand, and people talk really fast. But if you practice listening, you BECOME USED TO it. You find it is easier to understand what people say.

　　I have used the word “really” several times in this podcast. It is a common word in colloquial⁶ English. I will talk about it next time.

1 continuously   

adv.不断地；持续地

参考例句：

• They are repairing this road continuously.他们一直在修这条路。
• Our foreign trade is continuously expanding.我们的对外贸易不断发展。

2 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。

3 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

4 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。

5 spoonful   

n.一匙（的量）

参考例句：

• She put a spoonful of milk in each of the two cups.她在两个杯子里各加了一匙牛奶。
• Tom added a spoonful of sugar to the coffee.汤姆在咖啡里加了一勺糖。

6 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。