英语博客：Little dragons.

　　My energetic daughter has been begging me to take her to karate¹ classes. She had already enrolled² in gymnastics, and our rule is to do only one after-school activity each season, so I decided³ to only look into it, and not agree or commit myself to taking her. The other day, however, we were in the neighborhood, so we popped into the karate school, just to have a look. It is situated⁴ in one of the older brick buildings, near the railroad tracks. It has been nicely converted, preserving the brick and old wood feel, but updating it at the same time. There are three rooms in the school. One long exercise room with a big mirror which is used for lots of running and jumping exercises, a room with lots of punching and kicking bags, and then the entryway with a large wooden floor space for further exercises. Domini had a twinkle in her eye when she saw the children exercising in their black suits. They all looked so cute! "Mum, can I quit gymnastics and do this instead?" Domini asked me. She was extra excited because there was a little boy there who she recognized from preschool. She had always played and got along well with him, so she felt at home. Well, I agreed. Domini will finish this month of gymnastics, and in the meantime, she will try a few classes of karate, and see how she gets on. So, today was her first time. Let's just say that it wouldn't surprize me to see my daughter with a black belt on in a few years. She loved it. There was a warm up, a break, more exercise, and then learning some forms. She was in a beginners' group with children her age. At one point they all had to do 10 push-ups because one of the boys wasn't listening. It was serious business, and you know, I think most kids enjoy that side of it too. It makes the whole event seem important. So, to conclude, she will get her black suit and join the rest of the little dragons, that's the name of her class. My only advice to her is not to practice on her brothers, at least, not yet.
Grammar notes.
Related vocabulary: energetic, to update, instead of, to conclude.
1. The old lady was feeling energetic, so she went for a long walk.
2. I updated my address book; I added many more names and addresses.
3. I don't feel like cooking tonight; let's get chinese food instead.
4. To conclude the concert, the trio played a piece by Bach.

1 karate   

n.空手道(日本的一种徒手武术)

参考例句：

• Alice's boyfriend knew a little karate.艾丽斯的男朋友懂一点儿空手道。
• The black belt is the highest level in karate.黑腰带级是空手道的最高级别。

2 enrolled   

adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起，他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。