英语博客：What a slacker!

　　What a slacker!
Hello there podlisteners. I hope your Summer is going really well so far. I realise that I have 'slacked off' this week when it comes to podcasting. The Summer bug¹ has bitten me, and I have been having too much fun to sit down at work at a computer. To slack off means to become lazy, or to not do your job properly. And, we talk about being 'bitten' by a certain bug, when we mean that we become enthused by an activity. For example: The baking bug has bitten me; I bake every day. OR The tennis bug has bitten me; all I want to do is watch the matches on television. So it is with me. There's the good weather, the baseball, the gardening etc etc, so I have officially 'slacked off' this week. However, I'm back in gear again (that's another expression which means to be ready and prepared) to give you all some more podcasts. The thing about slacking off is that it is not satisfying in the end. When you know that you should do something, but don't do it, it's hard to enjoy everything else. My children were watching an episode of Spongebob Squarepants the other day that showed him 'slacking off' and being miserable² because of it. He had to write an essay for his boating class. He procrastinated³ and procrastinated so much, that his time ran out, and he got into a big panic. For some reason, he occupied himself at home with all sorts of activities and chores, even things that he normally wouldn't do, instead of writing his essay. He exercised, cleaned the house until every square inch shone, and did all kinds of unnecessary, silly things, just to avoid his essay. Well, I remember those days in college when I would have an essay to write, and for some reason it would become a painful process of procrastinating⁵. Finally, I would get on with it, and feel much better about myself once it was finished. Podcasting, though, is much more satisfying than writing an essay because I know that my international friends will be listening.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: to slack off, to be in gear, to procrastinate⁴, a chore.
1. I'm not surprised that he didn't do well in his exam; he slacked off and didn't study.
2. We are prepared and in gear to take part in the sailing race.
3. You must get on with the job and stop procrastinating!
4. I have lots of chores to do. The laundry needs to be done, and then I must mop the floors.

1 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

2 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

3 procrastinated   

拖延，耽搁( procrastinate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She procrastinated her return. 她拖延了归期。
• He procrastinated until it was too late to do anything at all. 他因循坐误，一事无成。

4 procrastinate   

v.耽搁，拖延

参考例句：

• Most often we procrastinate when faced with something we do not want to do.面对不想做的事情，我们经常拖延。
• It's easy to procrastinate when the deadline seems infinitely far away.当最终期限总是遥遥无期时是很容易延期的。

5 procrastinating   

拖延，耽搁( procrastinate的现在分词 )； 拖拉

参考例句：

• Begin while others are procrastinating. Save while others are wasting. 当别人拖延时你开始。当别人浪费时你节约。
• Before adjourning, councillors must stop procrastinating and revisit this controversial issue. 在休会之前，参议员必须停止拖延，重新讨论这个引起争议的问题。