英语博客(A cup of English):Crystaline

Beginners.

The other day, my friend Nataliya invited me to go cross country skiing with her. We don't see eachother very much, so I was happy to go. "Julia can babysit your two youngest, if you like, and we can leave at about ten o'clock." Julia is her eighteen year old daughter who often babysits my children. "It's okay, Nataliya," I said, "I think I'll take the kids with me." There was a pause on the phone, "Okay," she replied, "if you're sure, it's up to you." Nataliya also has a ten year old boy, so her plan was for the boys to play. Bringing all the kids changed the plans a bit. I packed our sled in the car, extra gloves, hats, and even slippers¹ to warm up cold feet after the fun. The seven of us squeezed into the car and made our way to Leavenworth. The journey takes about half an hour, and before we knew it, we were at the cross country and skate skiing area. We got out of the car and looked around. The place was empty. It was cold, crisp, and sunny, the perfect conditions to ski a little, and to pull the kids on the sled. There was just one problem, Nataliya had brought the wrong skis, so we could only use my rentals². Oops. "No problem," I said, "we can take turns, and the kids can pull eachother on the sled." So that is exactly what we did. Everyone had a good workout, and a good slippery time.

Grammar notes.

 Related vocabulary: to pack, to take turns, slippery, crisp.

Exs:

To pack: You need to pack plenty of clothes for the journey.

              We were packed into the car like sardines³.

To take turns: We took turns throwing the ball.

Slippery: The icy pavement was too slippery to walk on.

Crisp: The autumn mornings are lovely and crisp.

          The apple was perfect: juicy, firm, and crisp.

Advanced.

After we had walked a short way through the forest, along the ski tracks, Nataliya took her turn with the skis and disappeared further into the forest. I stayed behind with the children who found a large snow hill to play on. They marched to the top of it, and threw snow balls down at whoever was unlucky enough to be at the bottom. They played and played until they were tired. I had to supervise a little so they wouldn't do anything dangerous, but they couldn't get up to much trouble, so I relaxed and wandered around the area, enjoying the scenery. It was a clear day; the sun was quite intense, and because there hadn't been any fresh snow for a few days, there were ice crystals all over the place. Every step made a loud crunch⁴, and every limb of tree or branch of bush reflected the light. Even though I only have a wimpy⁵ camera, I took it out to capture some of the beauty around me. I kept trying to zoom⁶ in closely to some of the ice covered plants, but the photos would always get blurry⁷. "I need to get myself a decent camera for close-ups," I thought to myself while I snapped away. After a while, Nataliya came back, and it was my turn to cross country ski. I'm just a beginner, so I slipped and slid all over the place. Back at the car, we had hot chocolate and something to eat. We warmed up as we drove home; the children were quiet while my friend and I chatted. After reviewing the photos at home, I realised that some of them had turned out well, showing the ice crystals of that wintry forest.

Grammar notes.

 Multiple meaning verbs: to snap, lucky/unlucky enough, to wander/wonder, to capture.

Exs:

To snap: Snap the celery in half and share it with your brother.

             The photographer snapped away while the models posed.

Lucky/unlucky enough: I was lucky enough to get the job immediately.

                                  He was unlucky enough to lose his wallet and his keys in the same day.

To wander/wonder: We wandered through the rose garden for an hour.

                              I wonder why he didn't call me!

To capture: The rare monkey was captured and taken to the zoo.

                  The photographer really captured the mood of the demonstration⁸.

 

1 slippers   

n. 拖鞋

参考例句：

• a pair of slippers 一双拖鞋
• He kicked his slippers off and dropped on to the bed. 他踢掉了拖鞋，倒在床上。

2 rentals   

n.租费，租金额( rental的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In some large hotels, the income derived from this source actually exceeds income from room rentals. 有些大旅馆中，这方面的盈利实际上要超过出租客房的盈利。 来自辞典例句
• Clerk: Well, Canadian Gifts is on the lower level. It's across from Prime Time Video Rentals. 噢，礼品店在楼下，在黄金时刻录像出租屋的对面。 来自口语例句

3 sardines   

n. 沙丁鱼

参考例句：

• The young of some kinds of herring are canned as sardines. 有些种类的鲱鱼幼鱼可制成罐头。
• Sardines can be eaten fresh but are often preserved in tins. 沙丁鱼可以吃新鲜的，但常常是装听的。

4 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

5 wimpy   

adj.懦弱的，无用的，哭哭啼啼的

参考例句：

• I'd rather have a wimpy kid than a dead one, you know? 你知道么？我宁可要一个懦弱的孩子，也不想要一个死的。 来自互联网
• I hate wimpy drinker. 我讨厌酒量差的人。 来自互联网

6 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

7 blurry   

adj.模糊的；污脏的，污斑的

参考例句：

• My blurry vision makes it hard to drive. 我的视力有点模糊，使得开起车来相当吃力。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The lines are pretty blurry at this point. 界线在这个时候是很模糊的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。