原版英文小故事 25. A Visit to Southern California

Erin and her best friend Amy flew into San Diego last week. They are both in their mid-20s, and both are nurses who live in Georgia. It was their first visit to California, and they were excited.

They visited San Diego’s world-famous zoo and fell in love with the giant pandas. “They are so cute,” Erin said. Then they drove north to La Jolla so that they could glide¹ off the cliffs 100 feet above the beach. That was scary, exciting, fun, and expensive. They drove to the beach to get a peek² at nudists, but no one was there. “That was a major disappointment,” Erin joked.

After visiting San Diego, they headed north to Los Angeles. They saw the Hollywood sign and visited many places in Hollywood and Beverly Hills. They hoped they would see lots of actors and actors’ homes. If they got lucky, they would get some autographs and maybe even some photographs of them standing³ next to a movie star.

But they were disappointed. A minivan took them on a tour past actors’ homes, but no actors were outside their homes. The homes themselves were barely⁴ visible. They were often hidden by tall gates, fences, walls, hedges, or trees. Later, however, Erin and Amy were able to put their hands and feet into the handprints and footprints of movie stars at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

They went to Venice boardwalk just south of the Santa Monica pier⁵, because the boardwalk is famous for its muscle beach, weird⁶ characters, and paddle tennis. The boardwalk is one of the best places in California for people-watching. The girls enjoyed talking to the colorful locals. They were also surprised at how many people they talked to were Europeans visiting California.

After Venice, they went sunbathing⁷ on the beach just north of the Venice pier. They even got to hang out with some real California surfers. The surfers tried to teach them how to ride a board in the water. That was difficult but fun. They took plenty of pictures to show their friends back home.

Erin and Amy drove to Burbank the next day to watch the taping of a Jay Leno show, but the line was so long that they decided⁸ to pass on it. Instead they went to a mall and had a great time shopping. They flew back to Georgia with souvenirs, photos, and wonderful memories. “But next time,” said Amy, “we’re not leaving until we see some real live actors!”

 

1 glide   

n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝

参考例句：

• We stood in silence watching the snake glide effortlessly.我们噤若寒蝉地站着，眼看那条蛇逍遥自在地游来游去。
• So graceful was the ballerina that she just seemed to glide.那芭蕾舞女演员翩跹起舞，宛如滑翔。

2 peek   

vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥

参考例句：

• Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
• Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 barely   

adv.仅仅，几乎没有，几乎不

参考例句：

• The male bird is barely distinguishable from the female.雄鸟和雌鸟几乎无法辨别。
• He took barely enough money to keep the children in bread.他赚很少的钱仅够孩子们勉强糊口。

5 pier   

n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱

参考例句：

• The pier of the bridge has been so badly damaged that experts worry it is unable to bear weight.这座桥的桥桩破损厉害，专家担心它已不能负重。
• The ship was making towards the pier.船正驶向码头。

6 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。

7 sunbathing   

n.日光浴

参考例句：

• tourists sunbathing on the beach 在海滩上沐浴着阳光的游客
• We've been sunbathing on the beach. 我们一直在海滩上晒日光浴。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。