新视野大学英语视听说教程 3 Unit 9-5

 IV. Speaking Out
MODEL 1 Eat, drink and be merry on Christmas.
Nora: My mother bought an enormous twenty-five pound turkey for Christmas dinner. I'm so excited!
Susan: We have geese and ham for Christmas dinner on both Christmas Eve and Christmas night.
Nora: Our traditional Christmas dinner is a turkey, so gigantic that we eat leftovers¹ for days.
Susan: Chris swears he'll refuse a huge dinner and stick to a healthy meal of tofu and salad.
Nora: No way. He's kidding! Wait till he sees what his mother cooks: roast turkey with stuffing, gravy², mashed³ potatoes, peas and plum pudding for dessert!                                                
Susan: We heap up our presents under the tree and open them on Christmas morning.    
Nora: We open one Christmas Eve, more Christmas morning, and the rest the next day.
Susan: Wow! Your family prolongs the celebration for three days!
Nora: We start by decorating the tree on Christmas Eve, putting ornaments⁴, lights and artificial snow flakes⁵ on it.
Susan: Do you hang stockings by the fireplace and have a star on top of the tree?
Nora: Yes. And we have another activity. We also "give not expecting to get".
Susan: That's a peculiar⁶ expression. What do you mean by that?
Nora: It's secret giving. We sneak⁷ up to the door of somebody we want to give a gift to, ring the doorbell, and run.
Susan: So, you're not expecting anything; you're just being generous. That's a kind-hearted gesture.
Nora: Isn't that what the true spirit of Christmas is supposed to be?

1 leftovers   

n.剩余物，残留物，剩菜

参考例句：

• He can do miracles with a few kitchen leftovers.他能用厨房里几样剩饭做出一顿美餐。
• She made supper from leftovers she had thrown together.她用吃剩的食物拼凑成一顿晚饭。

2 gravy   

n.肉汁；轻易得来的钱，外快

参考例句：

• You have spilled gravy on the tablecloth.你把肉汁泼到台布上了。
• The meat was swimming in gravy.肉泡在浓汁之中。

3 mashed   

a.捣烂的

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。

4 ornaments   

n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The shelves were chock-a-block with ornaments. 架子上堆满了装饰品。
• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments. 一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 flakes   

小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人

参考例句：

• It's snowing in great flakes. 天下着鹅毛大雪。
• It is snowing in great flakes. 正值大雪纷飞。

6 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

7 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。