【英语趣味课堂】读-Reading

 Todd: Hey, Mark I saw that you're reading a book out there.

 

Mark: Yeah, that's right.

 

Todd: So, do you read a lot?

 

Mark: Yeah, I read a lot. In fact I don't have a television.

 

Todd: Ah, you're the man.

 

Mark: Seriously, I only read.

 

Todd: Wow, how many books do you get through a week?

 

Mark: A week! Ah, at least one a week, because I work all the time.

 

Todd: Oh, that's pretty good.

 

Mark: Yeah, but I enjoy reading because television doesn't give you imagination, yeah I prefer reading.

 

Todd: Yeah, I hear you. It rots¹ your mind, I think. Ah, also, what kind of books you like to read? What kind of genres³?

 

Mark: Well, let's see, I've got a lot of nonfiction, a lot of comedy.

 

Todd: Cool, so actually, when you read, like where do you normally⁴ read?

 

Mark: Where do I normally read? On the trains, actually. I'm always reading on the trains. I read because I'm always traveling to work. A lot of pleasure. And it's funny because I meet people on the trains when I'm reading, they look over at my book.

 

Todd: That's cool. I love to read on the trains.

 

学习内容：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

seriously

 

Seriously, I only read.

 

"Seriously" can be replaced with "to be honest."  Usually we use the word "seriously" with a sentence that we don't think people will believe.  Notice the following:

 

There were seriously 15 people in one room.

Seriously, I fell asleep at 8:30 last night.

get through

 

How many books do you get through a week?

 

To "get through" something is to finish it.  We usually use this phrase⁵ for something that takes a lot of effort.  Notice the following:

 

How many reports did you get through today?

I only got through half of the laundry⁶ yesterday.

imagination

 

Television doesn't give you imagination.

 

An "imagination" is the ability to form mental images or pictures of what you see or hear in words.  People use their imaginations to invent new things or ideas.  Notice the following:

 

You will have to use your imagination to picture the house with furniture.

When we were young we used our imagination to invent other worlds.

genre²

 

What kind of books do you read? What kind of genres?

 

The "genre" of a book is its type or topic.  For example, romance⁷, mystery, suspense⁸, etc.  Notice the following:

 

What is your favorite genre of movie?

I like almost all genres of literature except romance novels.

it's funny

 

It's funny because people on the train look over at my book. 

 

In the example, "it's funny" can be replaced by "it's humorous⁹" or "it's interesting."  We can use the phrase "it's funny" to talk about things that make us laugh or that we find surprising and unusual.  Notice the following:

 

It's funny that you want to see that movie again.  I thought you hated it.

It was funny that you called yesterday because I was thinking about you.

 

1 rots   

n.腐烂，腐朽( rot的名词复数 )v.（使）腐烂， （使）腐朽( rot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It rots out your nuts. 它会消尽你的意志。 来自辞典例句
• A fallen tree soon rots. 倒在地上的树不久就朽了。 来自辞典例句

2 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

3 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

4 normally   

adv.正常地，通常地

参考例句：

• I normally do all my shopping on Saturdays.我通常在星期六买东西。
• My pulse beats normally.我脉搏正常。

5 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。

6 laundry   

n.洗衣店，洗衣房；已洗好的衣物，待洗衣物

参考例句：

• Please send clothes to the laundry.请把这些衣物送往洗衣店。
• There's a lot of laundry in the basket.筐子里有许多要洗的衣物。

7 romance   

n.恋爱关系，浪漫气氛，爱情小说，传奇

参考例句：

• She wrote a romance about an artist's life in Tokyo.她写了一个关于一位艺术家在东京生活的浪漫故事。
• They tried to rekindle the flames of romance.他们试图重燃爱火。

8 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

9 humorous   

adj.富幽默感的，滑稽的，诙谐的

参考例句：

• He is quite humorous.他很幽默。
• The book takes a humorous look at parenthood.这本书以幽默的笔触论述了父母的身份。