【英语趣味课堂】火车旅行-The Train Trip

 Todd: Devon, I hear that you took the train across Russia.

Devon: Yes. I started in Moscow travelled through Russia, Mongolia and ended up in China.

 

Todd: Wow! That's a long way.

 

Devon: Yes, it was. It took three weeks. I did it as part of a tour with 10 other people.

 

Todd: Man, that's a cool trip. That must of cost a lot of money.

 

Devon: It did cost a lot of money but not a lot of people can say they have done that. I looked in, I researched the trip several months before I actually took it. A friend and I did it together and there was one other American and the rest of the people were from Switzerland.

 

Todd: OK. Cool! What was the landscape like?

 

Devon: A lot of it was flat and for miles around you could see absolutely nothing and as you got into Siberia there was scattered¹ trees. When we got into Mongolia you could see some Camels every once in awhile but besides that there was a whole lot of nothing.

 

Todd: Wow! Just wild camels.

 

Devon: Wild Camels around the drinking hole. Yes, saw that more than once.

 

Todd: So how did you eat on this train?

 

Devon: We stopped several times along the way and upon every platform you could buy food that local people were selling. A lot of it consisted of dried fish and other types of Russian delicacies² and a lot of noodles that you heat it up with hot water. Every train had hot water on it on every carriage so you were always able to make noodles if you were desperate³.

 

Todd: So was this a luxurious⁴ train or was it a pretty basic...?

 

Devon: It was pretty much the most basic you could get. There were no animals on board but sometimes they were coal-heated so it was very basic.

 

Todd: Wow! Would you do it agian?

 

Devon: Great question. Would I do it again? Yes, I would do it again but I would wait several years to do it. One because it does cost a lot of money and two because there are many other things to do, to see.

 

Todd: OK. Thanks a lot Devon.

 

Devon: You're very welcome.

 

学习内容：

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

end up

I started in Moscow, traveled through Russia, Mongolia and ended up in China.

If you 'end up' in a place it is your final destination.  It is where you stop traveling. Notice the following:

How did you end up back at your house?

We ended up eating at the McDonald's down the street.

looked in

I looked in, I researched the trip for several months before I actually took it.

When you 'look into' something you find out information about it, ask questions and do research.  Notice the following:

When we looked into his background we discovered that he was a criminal⁵.

I need you to look into a solution for this problem.

drinking hole

Wild camels around a drinking hole.

A 'drinking hole' is literally⁶ a hole in the ground that has water in it.  Notice the following:

There are very few drinking holes in the desert.

Every day the women walk to the drinking hole to get water.

coal-heated

Sometimes they were coal-heated which is the most basic you can get.

When the black rocks, 'coal', are burned to make heat, whatever they are heating⁷ is 'coal-heated.' Notice the following:

The cabin⁸ was coal-heated so the air was very smoky.

Very few houses are coal-heated anymore.

see nothing

For miles around you could see absolutely nothing.

When you 'see nothing' it means⁹ that there is absolutely nothing to look at. Notice the following:

It can be scary¹⁰ when you are in a boat and see nothing around you, only water.

I was looking in the sky, but I could see nothing like he was describing.

1 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

2 delicacies   

n.棘手( delicacy的名词复数 )；精致；精美的食物；周到

参考例句：

• Its flesh has exceptional delicacies. 它的肉异常鲜美。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• After these delicacies, the trappers were ready for their feast. 在享用了这些美食之后，狩猎者开始其大餐。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗

3 desperate   

adj.不顾死活的，危急的，令人绝望的，极渴望的

参考例句：

• They made a desperate attempt to save the company.他们为挽救公司作孤注一掷的努力。
• The city is suffering a desperate shortage of water.这个城市严重缺水。

4 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

5 criminal   

n.罪犯，犯人，刑事；adj.犯了罪的，罪的，有罪的

参考例句：

• He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
• We captured the criminal.我们捕获了那个犯人。

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 heating   

n.加热，供暖，暖气装置；adj.加热的，供暖的

参考例句：

• They will install a heating and lighting system in our house.他们将在我们家装上供热供电系统。
• If the pressure is too low,the heating system will act up.如果压力太低，供暖系统就会出毛病。

8 cabin   

n.(结构简单的)小木屋；船舱，机舱

参考例句：

• They threw up a new cabin in a couple of hours.在几小时之内他们就建起了一座新的小屋。
• It's very hot in the cabin;let's go on deck.舱室内很热，我们到甲板上去吧。

9 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

10 scary   

a.引起惊慌的；害怕的

参考例句：

• What animal do you think is the most scary?你认为什么动物最可怕？
• Are you afraid of scary movies?你害怕恐怖电影吗？