英语博客(A cup of English):014 The mouse hole

　　The mouse hole on the stairs.
Beginners.
Our house has one flight of stairs that goes up to the bedrooms. There is a small landing half way up. This area is in the middle of being decorated. I have taken down some wall paper, and soon the walls will be painted. As I was looking at the torn wall paper, I found a hole in the wall. And, do you know what was next to the hole? Two pieces of cheese. I didn't put them there. So who did? I think I have the answer. My children have great imaginations and they love animals. We read them stories about animals and animal adventures all the time. They also have videos that show animals who are almost human. My suspicion is that someone is hoping that a mouse family is living in our walls. I'm not sure if I would like that! But what stories we could tell!
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: A flight of stairs = a staircase¹; a landing; animal adventures; imagination; stories.
Verbs: to take down/ put up wall paper. To have a good imagination.
Someone is hoping that/ I am hoping that ....
Advanced.
Recently I have found cheese missing from the fridge. It is not that unusual, of course, having four children who are growing fast and able to help themselves to food in the kitchen. But, what is unusual is where I have found the missing cheese. On the landing, half-way up the stairs, next to a hole that sits right above the carpet is where the cheese has been moved to. Hmmm. Why there? It is imagination that has driven the kids, which one in particular I'm not sure, to coax² out Beatrix Potter mice from the walls. Wouldn't it be fascinating to see a family of mice run out and grab³ the cheese, leave a thankyou note, and pop back into their safe hole! These mice are inteligent, of course. They can not only write, but they also know how to sew, play instruments, and have parties. Didn't you know that? At least, that is what the stories that we read to our children say. Perhaps it would be not only a cute experience for my children, but a useful one for me. If these creatures are so inteligent, we could make friends, and then they could help me with the laundry or do some ironing. Wait a minute, let me get some more cheese.....
Related vocabulary: half-way up/ half-way down; the landing; in particular;
Verbs: to coax = to encourage; to pop in/ back/ out/ by etc = colloquial⁴ english for to come / to return / to leave / to visit.
* Inteligent = american spelling of intelligent.

1 staircase   

n.楼梯，楼梯间

参考例句：

• Footsteps on the staircase interrupted his train of thought.楼梯上传来脚步声，打断了他的思路。
• I crossed the staircase landing,and entered the room she indicated.我经过一个楼梯平台，走进她说的那个房间。

2 coax   

v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取

参考例句：

• I had to coax the information out of him.我得用好话套出他掌握的情况。
• He tried to coax the secret from me.他试图哄骗我说出秘方。

3 grab   

vt./n.攫取，抓取；vi.攫取，抓住(at)

参考例句：

• It is rude to grab a seat.抢占座位是不礼貌的。
• The thief made a grab at my bag but I pushed him away.贼想抢我的手提包，但被我推开了。

4 colloquial   

adj.口语的，会话的

参考例句：

• It's hard to understand the colloquial idioms of a foreign language.外语里的口头习语很难懂。
• They have little acquaintance with colloquial English. 他们对英语会话几乎一窍不通。