英语博客：Oh my Cannon!

 　　Those of you who have been listening to my podcast for the past three years, will know that I have complained about my camera on quite a few occasions. Though it has been both useful and practical for my podcasts, and small enough to fit in my handbag, I have been frustrated¹ with it most of the time. I've described it as a 'dinosaur²' more than once. This is a term we often use for an out-of-date piece of technology, such as a computer, or an old cell phone. Well, my little camera is going to be handed down to one of my kids, recycled you could say, because I've got a new one. It's a Cannon³, a birthday present from my husband. And, let me tell you, it was love at first sight!*I actually hadn't spent any time researching the best buy*, nor had I asked anyone for advice on the matter. However, I did have a mental list* of prerequisites⁵*: 1. It should be compact enough to fit in my handbag (I'm more likely# to lose it if I have to carry it in a second bag), 2. It needs to take good quality video so I can get action shots of my children playing sports, and also be able to upload video easily to my app., 3. It needs a powerful focus to pick up small detail very clearly. I'm really into# detail when it comes to photos. You know the kind of photos that show the middle of a tiny flower, with pollen⁶ on the stamen, and by comparison the petals⁷ look huge; that's the kind that I would like to take. I'm going to experiment with my cannon, and find out just how much detail is possible. Perhaps I can focus in enough on a small flower, to be able to get a tiny bug⁸ sitting on a stamen. Or even better: I could shoot the hair on the back of the tiny bug that is sitting on the stamen! Wow, that would almost be ridiculous. Seriously, I would be quite happy with clear, close-up detail. I tried out# my camera the other day when we went for a walk up one of the local hills: Saddlerock. Most of it was a steep climb, but it was a perfect day, and everyone was enthusiastic about the exercise. Though the path was really muddy all the way up, the views of the town and surrounding hills were impressive. We reached the top, and sat down at a rocky outcrop. As the children played with the dogs, and my husband tried to spot deer, I took lots of photos. The ones that I like most from that trip, were those of the rock formations and the lichen⁹. If you see the picture on the blog or the app, you'll be able to make out the cubic, stair-step pattern of the rock, and the different colors of lichen growing on it. Marvelous. I'm hoping to upload some impressive photos from now on. I'm so excited about the camera that I bought another, bigger handbag to make sure that all of my stuff plus my camera, can go everywhere I do. Well, that's my excuse.

　　Related vocabulary: Love at first sight, the best buy, mental list, prerequisites, (to be likely to, to be into, to try out).

　　1. Cinderella and the Prince looked at eachother, and it was love at first sight.

　　2. I got the best buy on this oven; three magazines say it's the best, plus it was on sale.

　　3. I've a good memory; I can make a mental list of what I need in the supermarket, and I remember everything!

　　4. The most important prerequisite⁴ we are looking for in a store manager is to be personable.

　　**If you join me on Facebook, at Anna Fromacupofenglish, you can read the last 3 items of related vocabulary.

1 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

3 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

4 prerequisite   

n.先决条件；adj.作为前提的，必备的

参考例句：

• Stability and unity are a prerequisite to the four modernizations.安定团结是实现四个现代化的前提。
• It is a prerequisite of entry to the profession that you pass the exams.做这一行的先决条件是要通过了有关的考试。

5 prerequisites   

先决条件，前提( prerequisite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Good muscles are one of the prerequisites of physical fitness. 肌肉发达是身体健康的一个必备条件。
• One of the outstanding prerequisites of any city is a local transportation system. 本地运输系统是任何城市的突出前提条件之一。

6 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

7 petals   

n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣
• The petals of many flowers expand in the sunshine. 许多花瓣在阳光下开放。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 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。

9 lichen   

n.地衣, 青苔

参考例句：

• The stone stairway was covered with lichen.那石级长满了地衣。
• There is carpet-like lichen all over the moist corner of the wall.潮湿的墙角上布满了地毯般的绿色苔藓。