When people go out to a restaurant, some prefer a buffet-style eating place, where you can go back to the food serving tables many times and take lots to eat or drink with no restrictions. The problem, of course, is that diners in these places tend t...
Body language－how we physically move and gesture as we talk－is an important part of English communication. Two people can say exactly the same words, but if their body language is very different, the meaning may be different as well. 在我们谈话...
Dear Annie: 亲爱的安妮： Daniel, the guy I've been seeing for two years, is a married man. I didn't know it until we'd been seeing each other for eight months. We've been living together ever since. I love him with all my heart, but I'm getting...
Imagine a tribal leader in a desert area where sand is everywhere. There are no trees, rivers or mountains, nothing to look at and say, This is the border of our land, this is the place that we will fight to defend. Since there are no natural landmar...
Castles are usually enormous structures requiring strong foundations and the use of heavy construction materials such as stone. If the foundations are not strong enough, the castle could collapse. The idea of building a castle in the air－with no fo...
Dear Annie: 亲爱的安妮： My sister-in-law, Daisy, has discovered the world of blogging. While I enjoy seeing photos and reading news about my brother, his wife and their children, Daisy has recently been posting unkind remarks about myparents. 我...
Long ago, when kings, queens and emperors ruled many nations, they often had a system whereby others would announce their arrival in an impressive way. Especially when there was a large crowd of people talkingand making noise, one very effective way...
When we want to investigate why something has happened, it is not enough to just look at the superficial connections. Instead, we try to discover the underlying causes. For example, if the workers at a factory are on strike, we want to know what the...
Dear Annie: 亲爱的安妮： My son, Quentin, has always had a problem telling the truth. It started in kindergarten and became worse over time. He's a grown man now and will lie about anything from what he was doing an hour ago to whether he lost...
When we go shopping, it is often easy to decide what we'd like to buy and what we want to disregard or leave for another time. Other times there is added pressure from a salesperson who tries to convince us to purchase something. If we realize that t...
A gentle wind can cool a summer day, but a strong wind can become a powerful hurricane of terrifying force. This idiom refers to something that floats lightly in the wind like the smell of freshly baked bread. The reference, however, is not to a smel...
Imagine a situation where a person has needlesslybeen injured by another. The injured person isnaturally hoping for some help. Instead, the cruelone who injured that person starts shouting terrible, insulting words. Thus, the victim has now beeninjur...
Mike: Did you drop Angela and Simon a line to remind them about the barbeque tomorrow night? 迈克：你写信给安吉拉和西蒙了吗？提醒他们不要忘了明天晚上的烤肉计划。 Amanda: Sure. I also scribbled down some things we sho...
There are situations where a group of people are gathered together because they are all associated in some formal way－for example, they share a strong interest in some hobby or sport. Now, into this group may come an outsider－someone that the oth...
Mike: Wow! There's so much fresh produce here. Half of it looks like it was growing in the fields this morning. 迈克：哇！这里有这么多的新鲜农产品。有半数看起来就像是今早在地里刚生长出来的一样。 Amanda: Look a...
