英语博客-北美风情 218 A Canadian Childhood

 　　We were all kids once! But depending on where you live in the world, this can be quite a different experience. In this episode¹, Harp² and Maura talk about the stuff³ that Canadian kids have to do, like chores, and the stuff that kids mostly want do, like the activities their parents sign them up for. They also talk about their own Canadian childhoods⁴ and reminisce about Saturday morning cartoons and playing hide-and-go-seek on their neighbourhood⁵ streets.

　　Maura:There’s also a kind of kid that we call latchkey kids.

　　Harp:Yes. A latchkey kid is a kid who gets home earlier than his or her parents and they have to open the door themselves and usually make a snack for themselves and maybe start homework by themselves.

　　Maura:So it’s a kid who comes home to an empty house and they have to have their own key because no one is there to let them in.

　　Harp:Yeah, exactly. So that’s a latchkey kid.

　　Maura:Were you a latchkey kid?

　　Harp:No. When I was young, my grandparents lived with us, so they were always at home when we came home from school.

1 episode   

n.（作品的一段）情节，插曲，系列事件中之一

参考例句：

• The episode was a huge embarrassment for all concerned.这段小插曲令所有有关人员都感到非常尴尬。
• This episode remains sharply engraved on my mind.这段经历至今仍深深地铭刻在我的心中。

2 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

3 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

4 childhoods   

n.童年，儿童时代( childhood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Generally speaking, illegitimate children don't have happy childhoods. 婚外孕出生的孩子大多没有幸福的童年。 来自互联网
• Was it the book of this kind that they liked in their childhoods? 他们在孩提时代喜欢的是这种书吗？ 来自互联网

5 neighbourhood   

(美neighborhood) n.四邻；邻近地区

参考例句：

• Our neighbourhood police are very friendly.我们邻近的警察非常友善。
• She is a good aunt to all the children in the neighbourhood.她是街坊上所有孩子的好阿姨。