英语博客：Designing a special photo for the app.

　　I love to use my laptop, to play around with different programs, to surf the web, and to edit photos. Today I have been doing that for hours. Now that my app has come out in iTunes, I have been trying to design a really good photo for it. The existing photo of a red cup with flags on it is fine, but I wanted something a little more elegant. So, I have been playing around with a little tea set that I inherited from my grandmother on my father's side. It is a 'tea for two' set which is extra small. It is what we call 'fine bone china', and hand painted. It has a lot of sentimental¹ value for me, as it is my only connection to a grandmother who died when I was just a baby. The idea of a cup of tea is a theme for my work for several reasons. First, I come from a tea drinking nation, England. Secondly², I love the stuff, and even though I try to avoid the stereotype³ of drinking tea in the afternoon, it is exactly what I do! Thirdly, I love the idea of filling up a cup with knowledge until it overflows⁴. So, the tea cup image will always be in my work. To make just the right photo, I bought a large sheet of red paper, placed the cup and saucer on it, arranged some extra lighting⁵, and held the tea pot over the cup. It would have been perfect if I had had an extra hand, but I just about managed with two. After taking the photo, I then had to edit it. I started by sharpening the picture. That means that I selected a button which adds strength to the edges in a picture. There is a feature in the program that I use which allows you to add text (or writing). What I hadn't realised before is that after writing the words, you can turn them to point in different directions. Perfect! I wrote and arranged lots of words on the photo. The 'look' that I was after was that of English pouring out of the tea pot into the cup. It took me ages to finish. I couldn't bend the words, so I had to reposition the words part by part. When I finished, I was relieved. It had taken a long time. You must check out the new photo and tell me what you think. It should replace the old one on the app in a couple of weeks.
Grammar notes.
Practicing the past participle with related verbs: to edit, to design, to arrange, to select.
1. The photographer edited the wedding photos and made everybody look much younger.
2. The architect designed a beautiful park for the center of the city.
3. The florist⁶ arranged the flowers carefully in the vase.
4. Select the undo⁷ button in the program if you want to erase⁸ what you just did.

1 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

2 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

3 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。

4 overflows   

v.溢出，淹没( overflow的第三人称单数 )；充满；挤满了人；扩展出界，过度延伸

参考例句：

• He always fills his glass till it overflows. 他总是把杯子斟得很满。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A distributary overflows its banks. 分流水溢出河岸。 来自辞典例句

5 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

6 florist   

n.花商；种花者

参考例句：

• The florist bunched the flowers up.花匠把花捆成花束。
• Could you stop at that florist shop over there?劳驾在那边花店停一下好不好？

7 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

8 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。