【英语趣味课堂】挪威-Norway

 Todd: OK, Hello!

 

Christian¹: Hello!

 

Todd: What's your name?

 

Christian: I'm Christian.

 

Todd: Hey, Christian. And now Christian, where are you from?

 

Christian: I'm from Norway.

 

Todd: Norway!

 

Christian: Yeah!

 

Todd: Wow, what city in Norway?

 

Christian: It's called Proshkura.

 

Todd: Porshkura.

 

Christian: Yes, it's close to the capital city, Oslo. About 150 kilometers south of Oslo.

 

Todd: How many people live in this city?

 

Christian: In my city, 35,000 people.

 

Todd: Oh, really. (Yeah) Oh, wow. That's pretty small.

 

Christian: Pretty small. The biggest city in Norway is Oslo and it has 500,000 people.

 

Todd: That's the biggest!

 

Christian: That's the biggest. In total, we have 4 and half million people in Norway.

 

Todd: That must be nice being from a small country, I mean big in land but small in people.

 

Christian: It's nice. It's not as crowded as Tokyo to put it that way.

 

Todd: Yeah, so Tokyo's what, three times the people.

 

Christian: Three times the population of the country, yeah.

 

Todd: Wow. That's crazy. So what's the best thing about Norway?

 

Christian: The best thing about Norway, the clean air, the blond² girls, and the mountains.

 

Todd: Do you go in the mountains a lot? Do you mountain climb or hike³?

 

Christian: I ski⁴. I ski as often as I can. Probably once a year I go, try to go skiing⁵ when I home, and it's great, I enjoy it, I've been doing it all my life so, yeah.

 

Todd: So this is downhill⁶ skiing.

 

Christian: Downhill skiing, yeah.

 

Todd: Do you ever do cross-country skiing?

 

Christian: Sometimes, I used to do a lot of cross-country skiing when I was younger, but as I got older, it was more downhill skiing. It's a bit easier. Less physical.

 

Todd: OK, thanks Christian.

 

学习内容：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

to put it that way

 

Norway is not as crowded as Tokyo to put it that way.

 

We use 'put something that way' is to explain it in a way that they person you are talking to will understand better. In the case of the example the person you are speaking to is familiar with Tokyo, but not Norway. Notice the following:

 

Let me put it this way, it's easier than climbing a mountain.

Well, when you put it that way I can understand your point.

three times

 

Tokyo's three times the population of Norway.

 

If the population of one city is "three times" bigger than another city then it has 300% more people.  For example, if Norway had a population of 1 then Tokyo would have a population of 3 because 1 x 3 = 3.  Notice the following:

 

Today feels three times longer because I am sick.

His apartment is three times bigger than mine.

clean air

 

The best thing about Norway is the clean air.

 

"Clean air" is air that does not have contamination⁷.  Notice the following:

 

We prefer to do exercise in a place with clean air.

The leave the city every weekend to enjoy the clean air of the country.

cross-country skiing

 

I used to do a lot of cross country skiing.

 

"Cross-country skiing" is skiing on flat land instead of down a hill.  You use your body strength to push you forward.  Notice the following:

 

There is an excellent cross country skiing trail⁸ through the woods.

We went cross-country skiing after the first snowstorm⁹.

physical

 

Downhill skiing is a bit easier, less physical.

 

When an activity requires a lot of movement and strength it is a physical activity.  Downhill skiing is less physical because you don't have to move your body a lot.  Notice the following:

 

I didn't know that swimming was really physical.

He was very tired after a day of physical work around the house.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 blond   

adj.金发的；n.白肤碧眼金发的人

参考例句：

• Her long blond hair spilled down over her shoulders.她那淡黄色的长发披垂在双肩。
• This blond man delivers newspaper every morning.这个白肤金发碧眼的男人每天早晨送报纸。

3 hike   

n.徒步旅行，远足，涨价；v.健行，徒步旅行，使...高涨

参考例句：

• I don't care to go on a hike.我不喜欢徒步旅行。
• The children are choosing a hike in the country park.孩子们在选郊外公园的远足路线。

4 ski   

n.滑雪橇，滑雪板；vi.滑雪

参考例句：

• The ski is wooden.这滑雪板是木制的。
• Do you have the skill to ski such a difficult slope?你有沿着这样一个陡坡滑雪的本事吗？

5 skiing   

n.滑雪运动

参考例句：

• I'm a complete novice at skiing. 滑雪我完全是个新手。
• to go skiing 去滑雪

6 downhill   

adj.下坡的，倾斜的；adv.往下，每况愈下

参考例句：

• Is Western society going downhill?西方社会是在走下坡路吗？
• This restaurant has definitely gone downhill since I last came here.从我上次来过之后，这家餐馆越来越糟。

7 contamination   

n.污染

参考例句：

• We must ensure our children against contamination by bad ideas. 我们必须保护我们的儿童不受坏思想的侵蚀。
• There is a danger of serious contamination from radioactive waste. 放射性废弃物有严重污染的危险。

8 trail   

n.踪迹，痕迹，一串，尾部，小径，尾，持枪姿势；vt.拖，尾随，追踪，落后于

参考例句：

• The car raised a trail of dust.汽车掀起了一股尘土。
• The hound found the trail of the rabbit.猎狗发现了兔子的踪迹。

9 snowstorm   

n.雪暴，暴风雪

参考例句：

• After several weeks of travel,snowstorm hit us first.我们旅行了几个星期，初次碰上了暴风雪。
• A severe snowstorm blocked up railroads.一场暴风雪使铁路中断。