英语博客(A cup of English):006 Spiderman tonight.

　　One of the ways in which my family and I relax during the evening is watching movies. It is more an occasional treat than a daily activity. Life in a big family is very busy, and often there is very little time to sit down, let alone to watch a film. But when we do, we love to snuggle up together after a good meal and watch something exciting or inspiring. Spiderman is one of our favorites. Of course it's fantasy, but why not? My second oldest boy used to be a fanatic¹. He had the costumes, the legos, and, of course, the comics. For Halloween he was Spiderman; for one of his birthdays the theme was, well, you guessed it, that same hero. He even practiced the Spiderman 'moves'. It is incredibly cute to see a little boy of six or seven years try to whip around the house like the man in red. We recently watched the latest addition to the Spiderman saga²; the mind boggles at the new 'bad guys' with all their different physical characteristics, powers, and reasons for being evil. At the conclusion of the movie, the children will jump around, happy and relieved that the 'baddies' got what they deserved, and that justice triumphs. Even for adults, it's an easy way to feel empowered to improve the state of the world.
Grammar notes.
Useful expressions: let alone, you guessed it, cute, recently, the latest addition/ the latest edition, to whip around, the mind boggles, 'bad guys'.
Verbs: used to + infinitive³ = had a habit of/ did something for a while.  To get what you deserve.
Favorite (american spelling) = favourite.
Beginners.
Do you enjoy watching movies? We do in our family. My children like adventure movies, while my husband and I prefer drama or historical movies. As Winter gets nearer and the days get shorter, we enjoy watching films together. There is a growing collection of DVDs in a cupboard in the lounge. Some of our favorite ones are Star Wars, Ace⁴ Ventura, and Spiderman. "Spiderman is sooo cool, mom," says one of my boys. And, yes, I agree. He really is cool. He is very powerful, and can do many things that we can't. It is not surprizing that lots of children want to be him. Now that we are preparing for Halloween, you can see in the shops many, many costumes for being Spiderman on that special night.
Grammar notes.
Do and does for questions and answers.
I agree/ I disagree.
It is not surprizing *(American spelling) - surprising (English spelling).

1 fanatic   

n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a football fanatic.亚历山大是个足球迷。
• I am not a religious fanatic but I am a Christian.我不是宗教狂热分子，但我是基督徒。

2 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

3 infinitive   

n.不定词；adj.不定词的

参考例句：

• The use of the split infinitive is now generally acceptable.分裂不定式的用法现在已被广泛接受。
• Modal verbs generally take the bare infinitive.情态动词通常用不带to的不定式。

4 ace   

n.A牌；发球得分；佼佼者；adj.杰出的

参考例句：

• A good negotiator always has more than one ace in the hole.谈判高手总有数张王牌在手。
• He is an ace mechanic.He can repair any cars.他是一流的机械师,什么车都会修。