英语博客(A cup of English):Morning Glories

Beginners.

This time of year the summer flowers are fully¹ in bloom. In most gardens you can see different kinds of lillies, daisies, roses, and bulb plants. It's great! I am quite choosy about the kind of flowers I have in my garden. One which I have grown for many years is the Morning Glory. It is a climbing summer flower. It needs plenty of sun and growing space. It is perfect if you want to cover a fence, trellis, or an ugly wall. I grow them every year. Last year I grew some in a large pot that had a metal trellis in it. This year, I decided² to grow a variety of them up one of our fences, and it worked beautifully. You can get several different colors and sizes of Morning Glory. The most common kind are bright pink, but they also come in blues³. They are also quite strong, though they don't look like they are. They have curly, sticky stems that climb all over the place. When it is windy they manage to hang on and not break. The best thing about them, of course, is the flower. True to it's name, it gives new flowers each morning that only last for that morning. However, it gives many of them, and they are quite spectacular. Often people buy the shocking pink variety, but this year, I  have blue. If you check out the photo on my blog page, you will see just how blue. It is really quite a treat to see a new set of flowers each morning, especially if you are not quite sure exactly what you will get.

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: plenty, common, trelllis, sticky, a treat.

Exs:

Last year we didn't make enough money; this year we made plenty.

Those shoes are very common; you can find them in every store.

The climbing rose grew and became very heavy. Luckily it was supported by a strong, metal trellis.

Those candies are so sticky! After eating them, you have to wash your hands and your face.

I bought myself a piece of cheesecake. I deserved a treat.

Advanced.

Morning Glories, Morning Glories, ah, so beautiful. However, you have to be careful with them too. Early this summer, when I was planning on planting some, I bought several packets of seeds, and read the instructions. They recommended that seeds are soaked over night before planting. Why? Well, that helps the hard exterior⁴ to pop open and allow the seed to root. I followed the instructions, put them in a little tea cup half full of water, and put it on the kitchen window sill until the next morning. Sometime during the following day, I managed to plant them in two different places in the garden. I came in, washed my hands, and sat down and had a cookie. About an hour later, my throat started to feel very sore. About an hour after that, I found it difficult to swallow. I went to the bathroom and had a look at my tongue and throat in the mirror. To my horror, I saw that the inside of my mouth was covered in sore lumps. What on earth had I done? I tried to think back to the food I had eaten during the day, wondering if I had eaten anything unusual that perhaps had caused an allergic⁵ reaction. But, I hadn't eaten anything out of the normal. I suddenly remembered reading, however, that the seeds of Morning Glory have a toxic⁶ natural oil, and that you have to make sure that children don't swallow any. Well, that was it. After planting the seeds, I hadn't washed my hands properly before eating. It was a good reminder⁷ for me to be extra careful when dealing⁸ with seeds, no matter how beautiful the flowers are.

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: to swallow, sore, toxic, to soak, an allergic reaction.

Exs:

Jello⁹ is so easy to swallow.

Yesterday my throat and my eyes felt sore.

There is a toxic chemical spill in our town.

I will soak this blouse to see if the stain will come out.

She had an allergic reaction to the medicine.

 

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

4 exterior   

adj.外部的，外在的；表面的

参考例句：

• The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
• We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。

5 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

6 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

7 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 jello   

n.凝胶物，果冻

参考例句：

• We have ice cream,pie,cake or jello.我们要冰淇淋、馅饼、蛋糕或是果冻。
• She likes jello very much.她很喜欢吃果冻。