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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Before I start this podcast, I'd like to let you know that I have corrected a mistake I made on yesterday's podcast about cherry blossoms in Japan. The photo I included was actually of dog wood blossoms. I didn't realise at the time, but I have corrected the photo and uploaded one of cherry blossoms.
Today's podcast is about a very special bird house that was presented to me the other day by my husband and son. The day that we came back from our recent trip to Seattle, I was busy unpacking1 and puttiing things away. The kids went off to their various bedrooms and started playing, and my husband disappeared for a while. I assumed that he was in the garage, tinkering with his bicycle. It's his hobby afterall, and he enjoys cleaning and preparing his bike for the next big ride. Some time had gone by when I realised (realized) that I hadn't seen my youngest son around the house. He is usually the loudest and busiest, so normally, I can tell exactly where he is. Suddenly, I hear him stomping3 through the garage with his cowboy boots on, running upstairs, rummaging4 noisily around in his room, and running back downstairs. I met him as he was zooming6 around the corner to head outside again, "What are you up to, monkey?" I asked. "I'm building a birds house with dad," he replied, showing me his armful of kids tools that he had gathered from his room. I only had time to say, "Oh," and he had already disappeared. About half an hour later, my husband walks in carrying a bird house made of thin branches. It was very well made. Most of the branches had been cut to the same size, so it looked very even and balanced. There was a little, square hole in the middle of the front, the entryway, and a perch7 just above it. "I can't believe you just whipped this thing up!" I said in amazement8. "It's lovely!" "Robert made most of it," said my husband. Robert gave me a big smile; he was very proud of himself. "So, where shall we put it?" asked my husband. "In the front yard," I replied, "far away from the house; the birds are already very noisy early in the morning." For now, the house is still in the kitchen. I'm not in a hurry to have birds move into it. I think I'll keep it around as a reminder9 of my kids' creative skills.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: to tinker, to stomp2 (stamp), to rummage10, to zoom5.
1. My father loves to tinker with old engines. You can always find him fiddling11 around with mechanical bits and pieces.
2. The child was really angry about having to share his toys, so he stomped12 (stamped) his feet and frowned.
3. When you go to a yard sale, you will have to rummage around in all the clothes to find something you like.
4. The motorbike zoomed13 right past the police car at ninety miles per hour.
1 unpacking | |
n.取出货物,拆包[箱]v.从(包裹等)中取出(所装的东西),打开行李取出( unpack的现在分词 );拆包;解除…的负担;吐露(心事等) | |
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2 stomp | |
v.跺(脚),重踩,重踏 | |
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3 stomping | |
v.跺脚,践踏,重踏( stomp的现在分词 ) | |
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4 rummaging | |
翻找,搜寻( rummage的现在分词 ); 海关检查 | |
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5 zoom | |
n.急速上升;v.突然扩大,急速上升 | |
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6 zooming | |
adj.快速上升的v.(飞机、汽车等)急速移动( zoom的过去分词 );(价格、费用等)急升,猛涨 | |
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7 perch | |
n.栖木,高位,杆;v.栖息,就位,位于 | |
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8 amazement | |
n.惊奇,惊讶 | |
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9 reminder | |
n.提醒物,纪念品;暗示,提示 | |
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10 rummage | |
v./n.翻寻,仔细检查 | |
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11 fiddling | |
微小的 | |
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12 stomped | |
v.跺脚,践踏,重踏( stomp的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13 zoomed | |
v.(飞机、汽车等)急速移动( zoom的过去式 );(价格、费用等)急升,猛涨 | |
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