常春藤生活英语【101】Not Quite the Same

One afternoon while I was in the middle of my favorite TV show, I heard my mother calling me in the kitchen. I got up from the sofa reluctantly¹ and went to see what was going on. She was baking a cake and had just run out of sugar, so she wanted me to go buy her some.

　　In order not to miss too much of the show, I quickly ran to the nearby grocery store, picked up a bag of sugar, paid for it, and rushed back home. Luckily, it only took me 10 minutes to do everything.

　　Two hours later, my mom finished baking the cake. As soon as we took a bite, we both spat² it out. It turned out that in a hurry, I bought a bag of salt by mistake.

某天下午，我最爱的电视节目正看到一半时，却听到我妈在厨房里叫我。我很不情愿地从沙发上爬起来，然后去看发生了什么事。原来她正在烤蛋糕，但糖却刚好用光了，所以她想叫我去帮她买点回来。

为了不要错过太多的节目内容，我很快地跑到附近的杂货店，拿了一包糖，付了钱，然后就冲回家。还好我只花了十分钟就把所有事情搞定。

两个小时后，我妈把蛋糕烤好了。我们俩才吃一口，就马上把它吐出来。原来我在仓促之间，误买了一包盐巴。

Building Your Vocabulary

1. reluctantly　adv. 不愿地，勉强地
Tommy reluctantly put down his toys and went to bed.
汤米心不甘情不愿地放下了他的玩具，然后上床睡觉。
2. spit　vt. & vi. 吐；吐口水（三态为：spit, spat, spat。）
You will get fined if you spit on the street.
如果你在街上乱吐口水，你会被罚钱。

Phrases for Learning³

1. be in the middle of + 名词∕动名词　　……做到一半；正忙着……
Ray was in the middle of doing the dishes when the phone rang.
电话响时，阿雷正忙着洗碗盘。
2. take/have a bite (of...)　　咬一口（……）
Can I have a bite of your lemon pie?
我能不能吃一口你的柠檬派？
3. in a hurry　　匆匆忙忙；赶时间
Joe left in a hurry and forgot his wallet.
阿乔匆匆忙忙地离开，结果忘了把皮夹带走。
4. by mistake　　错误地
Kelly deleted⁴ an important file by mistake.
凯莉误删了一个重要的档案。

Tips In Use

...so she wanted me to go buy her some.
（……所以她想叫我去帮她买点回来。）
本句的"go buy"系由"go and buy"省略而来。在英文中，"go + 原形动词"本为"go and + 原形动词"，表『去做某事』，不过在使用时，常会将 and 省略。例：
Please wait just a second. Let me go get my car keys.
（请等一下下。我去拿车钥匙。）
I need to take the afternoon off and go see the doctor.
（我下午得请假去看医生。）

1 reluctantly   

ad.不情愿地，勉强地

参考例句：

• He finally agreed, albeit reluctantly, to help us. 尽管勉强，他最后还是同意帮助我们。
• She reluctantly communicated the facts. 她不愿把真实情况讲出来。

2 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

3 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

4 deleted   

v.删除( delete的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Your name has been deleted from the list. 你的名字已从名单上删掉。
• The offending paragraph was deleted. 令某些人不悦的那段话已经删除。