英语博客(A cup of English):Back to School

Beginners.

It's great to be back podcasting for you, my listeners. And what an exciting time of year it is! Back to school. For some of us, it is back to work. It seems that for most of July and August, here in the States, there are advertisements everywhere for the children's clothes and supplies for school. Unlike in England, here each child has a long list of supplies that their parents must buy for them for the start of school in September. The list includes: pencils, paper, books, pens, kleenex, sanitary¹ wipes, coloring pens, paints, and the list goes on and on. My children were very excited when I came back from the store with lots of bags full of their stuff². They took them and ran up to their bedrooms to make piles of their new supplies under their desks, or in a special place. It is quite funny to see them on the first day of school, because their backpacks are crammed⁴ full. They can hardly zip them up! I think that it is exciting for them because it helps them feel prepared for a new school year with new friends, a new teacher, and a new schedule. They probably feel a little nervous about the newness of it all, and so, getting organised with their stuff makes them feel ready.

 Grammar notes.

Useful vocabulary: supplies, kleenex, sanitary wipes, piles, to cram³.

Exs:

Our most important emergency supply is bottles of water.

You must use a kleenex if you have a runny nose.

Instead of using bleach⁵ water to clean the countertops, I use sanitary wipes.

There were piles of dirty clothes all over the laundry room. Can't people just put them in the washer?

The little boy crammed the blueberries in his mouth.

Advanced.

So, I found myself a few weeks ago in Fred Meyer. It is a huge, general store in East Wenatchee where you can buy anything from milk to shoes, plastic bags to eye drops, or toys to trees. It's a great place if you want, what they call over here, 'a one stop shop' experience. They also have a wonderful place called 'Playland' where you can drop off your little children in a safe, supervised⁷, 'kids only' room, so they can play and have fun while you do all of the boring shopping. What a great idea. But I wasn't doing normal shopping that day. I was on a mission⁸. School supplies. To be honest, with four kids, it's all a bit of a headache. Thankfully though, these shops are not only ready to receive our money, but they are also ready to help us find what we need very easily. There were two very long aisles⁹ of school supplies, organised very clearly, to direct the grumpy, unwilling¹⁰ mothers, like myself, into the full shopping experience. I had sheet of paper in my hands with lists for each age group. Pencils first I think; okay, a pack of ten or a dozen. Is there an important difference. What's the big deal if I get the wrong one? Okay Anna, let's keep a good attitude. Next, paper. Young kids need wide ruled paper, not college ruled which is narrower. That makes sense. And so, I spent about an hour choosing, browsing¹¹, picking things up, putting them back, comparing, and selecting. And, finally it was done. Well, that wasn't too difficult after all.

Grammar notes.

 New expressions and vocabulary: 'a one stop shop', to drop off, to supervise⁶, grumpy, narrow/ narrower.

Exs:

It's so easy to shop in that store. It's my one stop shop.

I will drop the kids off at my mother's tomorrow.

Those rowdy boys really need to be supervised.

I wish he wasn't so grumpy. It's difficult to talk to him; he's so negative.

That road is narrow, but the other one is narrower.

 

1 sanitary   

adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的

参考例句：

• It's not sanitary to let flies come near food.让苍蝇接近食物是不卫生的。
• The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

2 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。

3 cram   

v.填塞，塞满，临时抱佛脚，为考试而学习

参考例句：

• There was such a cram in the church.教堂里拥挤得要命。
• The room's full,we can't cram any more people in.屋里满满的，再也挤不进去人了。

4 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

5 bleach   

vt.使漂白；vi.变白；n.漂白剂

参考例句：

• These products don't bleach the hair.这些产品不会使头发变白。
• Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把这块桌布漂白了吗？

6 supervise   

v.监督，管理，指导

参考例句：

• We must supervise and speed up the fulfilment of assigned tasks.已经布置了的工作，应当认真督促检查。
• Tomorrow he will supervise all the pupils taking the English examination.明天全体学生考英语，他将担任监考。

7 supervised   

v.监督，管理( supervise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The architect supervised the building of the house. 建筑工程师监督房子的施工。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He supervised and trained more than 400 volunteers. 他指导和培训了400多名志愿者。 来自辞典例句

8 mission   

n.使命，任务，天职；代表团，使团

参考例句：

• He was charged with an important mission.他受委托承担一项重要使命。
• I'll leave you to undertake an important mission.我要让你承担一项重要使命。

9 aisles   

n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊

参考例句：

• Aisles were added to the original Saxon building in the Norman period. 在诺曼时期，原来的萨克森风格的建筑物都增添了走廊。
• They walked about the Abbey aisles, and presently sat down. 他们走到大教堂的走廊附近，并且很快就坐了下来。

10 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

11 browsing   

v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• He sits browsing over[through] a book. 他坐着翻阅书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cattle is browsing in the field. 牛正在田里吃草。 来自《简明英汉词典》