生活英语对话 Episode 74: Alone at New Year

本单元是关于独自过新年的对话

Alice: Ah Kitty, there never was anything wrong with you, was there? I told Helen you were ok, but she wouldn't listen. She had to listen to the vet¹ though. He said you were the healthiest cat he'd ever seen.
Anyway Kitty, Happy New Year: it's just you and me tonight. I didn't plan it this way Kitty, do you remember? I made all those resolutions² last year: I was going to meet a gorgeous³ man. He was going to be funny, and rich too. And I did meet him, Kitty, we were going to get married and everything, ok, he hadn't asked me yet, but I had high hopes. But I didn't know he had a skeleton⁴ in his closet⁵: a wife and two children. Oh well Kitty, that's that eh?
Ooh Kitty, who could that be? It's very late?

Vocabulary: 词汇

resolutions: 决心
promises you make to yourself about how you are going to improve your life by changing your behaviour; people often make resolutions at New Year

to have high hopes: 对未来感到乐观
to feel very positive and optimistic⁶ about the future of something

he had a skeleton in his closet: 他有个不可告人之事(秘密)
he had a secret about something bad that happened in the past

that's that: 事情就这样了
the situation is completed and can not be changed

本单元语言点是用 going to 表示未来计划，请看下面的解释和例句

The future in the past

Going to: future plans 用Going to表示未来计划
Speakers of English use to be + 'going to' + base verb⁷ (without 'to') to talk about plans for the future.

I'm going to visit my uncle in Thailand next Spring.
I'm going to wash the dishes.
I'm going to Poland for Christmas.

Time expressions can be used if the speaker wants to say when the action will happen.

I'm going to visit my uncle in Thailand next Spring.

But it is not always necessary to use a time expression: 'going to' refers to an unspecified time in the future.

I'm going to wash the dishes.


'Going to go' can be shortened⁸ to 'going'.

I'm going to Poland for Christmas. = 'I'm going to go to Poland for Christmas.'


Was going to: the future in the past 过去未来式(用was going to表示过去未来发生的动作)
Sometimes we make plans for the future, but the plans don't actually happen. Speakers of English use was/were + 'going to' + base verb (without 'to') to look back at the plans we made but didn't do.

I was going to visit my uncle in Thailand last Spring, but I couldn't afford a ticket.
I was going to wash the dishes, but there wasn't enough time.
I was going to go to Poland for Christmas, but I stayed in France.

Time expressions can be used if the speaker wants to say when the action should have happened.

I was going to visit my uncle in Thailand last Spring.

But it is not always necessary to use a time expression.

I was going to wash the dishes.
I was going to meet a gorgeous man.
He was going to be funny, and rich too.

When the subject of the sentence is I/he/she/it, use 'was'.

I was going to meet a gorgeous man. He was going to be funny, and rich too.

When the subject of the sentence is you/we/they, use 'were'.

We were going to get married.


Was/were going to: pronunciation 注意was/were going to的发音

In spoken English, the phrase⁹ 'going to' can be pronounced word by word, especially when speaking slowly, or in formal situations.

 

1 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

2 resolutions   

n.决心( resolution的名词复数 )；解决；坚决；分解

参考例句：

• He's always making good resolutions but he never carries them out. 他决心经常下得很大，但从不实行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• If she did all these things, maybe-maybe-Elizabeth's resolutions merged into fantasies. 她如果真按照这些做了，也许--也许--伊丽莎白的决心都溶在幻想之中。 来自辞典例句

3 gorgeous   

adj.华丽的，灿烂的，美丽的，宜人的，棒的

参考例句：

• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。
• What a gorgeous day it is today!今天天气多好啊！

4 skeleton   

n.骨骼，框架，骨干，梗概，提要

参考例句：

• A long illness made a skeleton out of him.长期的卧病使他骨瘦如柴。
• Her notes gave us just the bare skeleton of her theory.她的笔记只给我们提供了她的理论的梗概。

5 closet   

n.壁橱；储藏室

参考例句：

• I'll clear out that closet for you.我要替你把那个小衣橱清理出来。
• Hang your overcoat in the closet.把你的大衣挂在衣橱里。

6 optimistic   

adj.乐观的，乐观主义的，乐天的

参考例句：

• She is not optimistic about the outcome.她对结果并不乐观。
• I have this image of you as always being cheerful and optimistic.你留给我的印象总是快活和乐观。

7 verb   

n.[语]动词

参考例句：

• The sentence is formed from a verb and two nouns.这句子由一个动词和两个名词构成。
• These are the finite forms of a verb.这些是一个动词的限定形式。

8 shortened   

v.弄短，缩短( shorten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shortened the skirt by an inch. 她把裙子缩短了一英寸。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Vacations have lengthened and the work week has shortened. 假期延长，工作周就缩短了。 来自辞典例句

9 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。