【一起闲话英语】周末—The weekend

 Transcript: 

Girl: So, have you got any plans for the weekend?

Boy: Yeah, me and my mates¹ are going to this activity centre in the mountains.

Girl: Oh, yeah?

Boy: You can do all kinds of things. It’s a new centre; it sounds great. We’re going to go dirtboarding …

Girl: What’s that?

Boy: It’s like skateboarding or snowboarding. You have a board, or deck², to stand on and wheels. They’re pretty strong because you go down rough mountain tracks on them. Steep, rough mountain tracks.

Girl: Sounds a bit risky³. Have you done it before?

Boy: No, but I’ve done similar things. Anyway, we’re also going to go canyoning. Before you ask, that’s when you jump and swim down a river canyon⁴. You have to use ropes and special equipment. And maybe we’ll go white water rafting too.

Girl: Phew. It sounds far too difficult to me.

Boy: They have lots of things that you could do too. Like zip-wiring, you know when you go along a wire through the trees or down a mountain.

Girl: Go down a mountain on a wire!

Boy: It’s really easy, and exciting too. You just have to hold on and enjoy the ride. Or there’s bungee jumping.

Girl: Jump off a bridge on a long elastic⁵ band! Me? You’ve got to be joking! Anyway, I’m going away this weekend too, thank you for asking.

Boy: I was going to ask. So where are you going?

Girl: Paris! I’m so excited!

Boy: Paris, wow!

Girl: Yeah, it’ll be brilliant! We’re going to do all the sights, like go up the Eiffel Tower and take a boat along the River Seine and see the old parts of the city. It looks so beautiful in the photos. And then there are all the art galleries. You know how much I like art. I can’t wait to go round the Louvre and see all those famous paintings.

Boy: I think the famous Impressionist paintings are somewhere else.

Girl: Yeah, I know, they’re in the Musée d’Orsay. We’re going there too. And then I want to go to the Rodin Museum and see that famous statue, you know, The Thinker. And of course, if we’re in Paris, we’ll have to go shopping. Or look at the shops, at least. And then there’s the restaurants. Just think, French food!

Boy: You’ve got a lot planned for one weekend.

Girl: Oh, we’re going for four days, actually.

Boy: Oh, four days, very nice. And who are you going with?

Girl: Oh, just a friend.

1 mates   

[英]伙伴( mate的名词复数 )； 同伴； （非正式）配偶； （熟练工人的）助手

参考例句：

• He's out boozing with his mates. 他和他的朋友们喝酒去了。
• They've been best mates since school. 他们从上学时期以来就是最要好的朋友。

2 deck   

n.甲板；公共汽车一层的车厢；纸牌；vt.装饰

参考例句：

• Let's have a walk round the deck.我们去甲板上散步吧。
• The sea wind swept over the deck.海风席卷过甲板。

3 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

4 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

5 elastic   

n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的

参考例句：

• Rubber is an elastic material.橡胶是一种弹性材料。
• These regulations are elastic.这些规定是有弹性的。