英语博客:Goodwill snowmen

Beginners.

This morning, I went into the kitchen and checked the outside thermometer; it was two degrees. Two degrees! Now that is cold! I made my coffee and looked out of the window. It was still dark, dark and freezing. It's a good job I have my coffee; otherwise I would stay in bed. But there are bright and pretty parts to Winter, even on a dark morning. As I walked around our quiet house, I saw our Christmas lights outside that twinkled all different colours/colors. I went into the lounge and plugged in the Christmas tree. I smiled to see all of its pretty details. As I walked past the stairs I looked up at the wreath that I put up yesterday. It is a length of artificial greenery, that goes all the way up the stairs. Every three feet or so, there is a red bow. Then, I realized that there were faces smiling at me. Lots of them. All up the stairs, in between the wood of the banister, are snowmen and Christmas bears, all looking out with big smiles. I collect them. Some of them are a few years old, and some are quite new. They are all different sizes and shapes, colors/colours and textures¹, but they are all cuddly² and cute. I tell people that I decorate the house for the children because they love it, but of course, I do it for myself as well. I'm a child at heart.

Grammar notes.

Vocabulary: wreath, banister, to twinkle, otherwise.

Exs:

That lady makes wreaths for every season, but her Christmas wreaths are quite spectacular.

Hold onto the banister; the stairs are slippery.

We looked out over the cityscape and watched the lights twinkle.

Use an oven mitt³, otherwise you might burn yourself.

Advanced.

My yearly tradition of buying Christmas soft toys leads me to a place called Goodwill⁴. It is a second hand shop that sells everything from clothes to televisions, furniture to ornaments⁵. It has a large stock of the toys I look for. There is usuallly a huge wire box full of snowmen and bears, so you have to dig in and rummage⁶ through them until you find what you want. Each year, I buy two or three because, invariably, a snowman will get lost, and a couple will break. That is usually the result of my kids using them as footballs... It's a great place to shop if you want to save money. I have often bought Winter snow clothes for my children, such as boots, hats, gloves, and even snow pants in Goodwill, as well as other items during the year. Instead of spending two to three hundred dollars on their clothes for the season, I will spend only about fifty. Now that is a good deal! And, believe me, I don't buy the rubbish either. If you are willing to spend some time looking and searching, you can find clothes that are 'next to new' which means barely used. But yesterday when I went there, I wasn't looking for clothes; I was on a mission to find Christmas bears. After rummaging⁷ around for a few minutes in this huge box, I found four perfect individuals: two lady bears with pretty dresses, one tiny snowman, and a little, brown bear with a sweater and a hat who looked like he needed a good home. So, I brought them home, cleaned them, and put them up on the stairs where they will be for many Chrismases to come.

Grammar notes.

Vocabulary: to rummage (around), rubbish/ garbage, next to new.

Exs:

At these sales, you really have to rummage around to find anything good.

I thought the film was rubbish; really, I was very disappointed.

The car isn't brand new, but it is next to new.

 

1 textures   

n.手感( texture的名词复数 )；质感；口感；（音乐或文学的）谐和统一感

参考例句：

• I'm crazy about fabrics textures and colors and designs. 我喜欢各式各样的纺织物--对它的质地，色彩到花纹图案--简直是入了迷。 来自辞典例句
• Let me clear up the point about the textures. 让我明确了一点有关的纹理。 来自互联网

2 cuddly   

adj.抱着很舒服的，可爱的

参考例句：

• The beautiful crib from Mom and Dad is so cuddly.爸爸妈妈送的漂亮婴儿床真舒服。
• You can't call a hedgehog cuddly.你不能说刺猬逗人喜爱。

3 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

4 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

5 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》

6 rummage   

v./n.翻寻，仔细检查

参考例句：

• He had a good rummage inside the sofa.他把沙发内部彻底搜寻了一翻。
• The old lady began to rummage in her pocket for her spectacles.老太太开始在口袋里摸索，找她的眼镜。

7 rummaging   

翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查

参考例句：

• She was rummaging around in her bag for her keys. 她在自己的包里翻来翻去找钥匙。
• Who's been rummaging through my papers? 谁乱翻我的文件来着？