英语博客(A cup of English):Oceans of beauty

Beginners.

During the summer, my family and I took a trip to a beautiful and fascinating place. It was a zoo and an aquarium¹ at a place called Point Defiance², near Seattle. A friend of mine had been there, and told me that it was worth a trip. We were staying close by, on the coast, in a friend's house. It took about an hour and a half to get there by car which was fine. When we got there, it was quite a shock. The huge parking area was completely full. Infact, cars were parked on the side of the road because there were no more parking spaces available. When we got inside, I understood why it was so full. It is an incredible place. The aquarium is very large and varied³. We saw penguins⁴, seals, otters⁵, walruses⁶, and a huge amount of smaller sea creatures. I loved the jelly fish. They were a small, see-through species. They were in a dark tank with lights shining up. They looked like pretty little ghosts as they moved through the light. We spent a lot of time looking at the walruses. Gosh they were enormous. One swam up to the window where we were and stayed there, yawning, snorting, and looking at us. It was quite a show.

Grammar notes.

Preterite and pluperfect of : to be, to tell, to swim, to take.

Exs:

He was a very handsome man; he had been a pilot in the war.

I told you we needed new batteries. Jim had told you too.

He was tired of swimming. He had swum a mile in total, so he swam to the beach, got out, and fell asleep on the sand.

I took the car to the service station to have the oil changed. I didn't realise that you had taken it in already.

 Advanced.

 Point Defiance is on the coast right near the city of Tacoma. As we walked down the hill towards the entrance, we could see the sea. It was quite spectacular. The children were dying to sea the tigers, so we walked through the 'Asian Forest' area, through paths of bamboo, and into a cave-like area where we could look through glass into the large living area of the tigers. The adults were napping, laying on grass, barely moving. The babies, though, were right up close the glass, just relaxing, not seeming to take much notice of any of us. It was a thrill to see them. It was after the tigers that we went into the aquarium. There was so much to see. Again, we walked through a cave-like area that was dark, past windows of different fish, until we came to a huge aquarium. In it were sharks! I'm not sure what kind they were, but they certainly were intimidating⁷. They circled around and came right up to the glass to check us out with their cold, black eyes. I wasn't sure who was observing who. I certainly wouldn't want to find myself swimming anywhere close to them.

Grammar notes.

Useful vocabulary: cave-like, to be dying to, barely.

I found the house cave-like; it was dark and had low ceilings.

I am dying to try that cheesecake; that bakery makes the best dairy treats.

As the child slept, he barely moved. You could just see his chest rising and falling as he breathed.

 

1 aquarium   

n.水族馆，养鱼池，玻璃缸

参考例句：

• The first time I saw seals was in an aquarium.我第一次看见海豹是在水族馆里。
• I'm going to the aquarium with my parents this Sunday.这个星期天，我要和父母一起到水族馆去。

2 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

3 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

4 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 otters   

n.（水）獭( otter的名词复数 )；獭皮

参考例句：

• An attempt is being made to entice otters back to the river. 人们正试图把水獭引诱回河里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Otters are believed to have been on Earth for 90 million years. 水獭被认为存活在地球上已经9千多万年。 来自互联网

6 walruses   

n.海象( walrus的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Walruses have enormous appetites and hunt for food almost constantly. 海象食欲极大，几乎一直在猎取食物。 来自互联网
• Two Atlantic walruses snuggle on an ice floe near Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada. 加拿大努勒维特伊格卢利克附近，两头大西洋海象在浮冰上相互偎依。 来自互联网

7 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。