【英语趣味课堂】坚果园-Nut Farm

 Marion: While I traveling in Australia I went to visit my friend Nicola, um, she's teaching¹ in a school on the East Coast of Australia, so I went to visit her about a month ago and she's staying on a farm, she lives on a macadamia farm, so my friend and I went to visit her and stay at her place, so as part of the deal we had to go out and pick macadamia nuts for two hours every day, so usually we'd get up quite early in the morning and we'd go out and pick macadamia nuts for about an hour, and then just before it got dark in the afternoon or the evening we'd go out and pick nuts again for another hour. It was a lot of fun I think mainly because, you know, it wasn't a proper job. We could take our time and we always had a laugh and a joke while we were there. Um, it was really nice to work outside, for awhile, you know, to work in the sunshine and also I'd never worked with macadamia trees before. Before I'd left Ireland² I don't think I'd even heard of macadamia trees, cause I think they're a nut that's native to Australia. I know they're very popular in Hawaii as well. I think they were first cultivated³ for, for profit reasons in Hawaii. Yeah, so macadamia nuts are really, really tasty, so they're very popular as souvenirs⁴ from Australia, so you often get chocolate covered macadamia nuts, or macadamia cookies to bring to your friends when you come home from Australia. What else can you get with Macadamia nuts? You can just eat them on their own as well, they're very, very tasty. When we came back for breakfast, we used to bring a handful⁵ of macadamia nuts with us and use the nut cracker⁶ to open them up cause they've got a very very hard shell⁷, so even if you throw them on the ground, it's very difficult to open them up, so you have to have a nutcracker, to really crush⁸ the shell, and once you open them up inside, they're very white, very pale in color and they almost look like nuggets of white chocolate. It's quite strange and they have a real creamy taste to them, so they're, yeah, probably one of my favorite things to eat in Australia. 

学习内容：

part of the deal

 

As part of the deal, we had to go out and pick nuts every day.

 

When something comes as 'part of the deal' it means⁹ that it is included in the arrangement or contract¹⁰. Notice the following:

 

As part of the deal my family gets to travel for free.

They have to fix the kitchen and this bathroom as part of the deal.

proper job

 

For me, it was fun because it wasn't a proper job.

 

A 'proper job' is a serious or professional¹¹ job that may be part of a career.  Notice the following:

 

A few months after he graduated from university he had a proper job.

I'm not ready for a proper job yet.

take time

 

We took our time and had laughs and jokes while working.

 

When you 'take your time' in doing something it means that you do it at a comfortable speed and don't feel rushed. Notice the following:

 

Shopping is more fun if you can take your time.

Don't stress out about it.  Just take your time.

native to

 

I think macadamia nuts are native to Australia.

 

If a plant or tree is 'native to' a place it means it naturally grows in that area, that is where the plant is from. Notice the following:

 

These monkeys are native to the rain forests in Brazil.

Pine trees are native to the northern areas.

handful

 

We used to bring a handful of nuts with us for breakfast.

 

A 'handful' is the amount that fits in your hand. Notice the following:

 

I can only eat a handful of potato chips.

He took a handful of cereal¹² from the box.

 

 

1 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

2 Ireland   

n.爱尔兰(西欧国家)；爱尔兰岛(西欧)

参考例句：

• Ireland lies to the west of England.爱尔兰位于英格兰之西。
• Dublin is the capital of Ireland.都柏林是爱尔兰的首都。

3 cultivated   

a.有教养的，有修养的，文雅的；耕耘的

参考例句：

• The land around here has never been cultivated. 这一带的土地从未开垦过。
• These cultivated individuals have been imbued with a sense of social purpose. 这些有教养的人满怀着社会责任感。

4 souvenirs   

n.纪念品( souvenir的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These souvenirs were gathered from all parts of the world. 这些纪念品是从世界各地收集来的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has a pitch on the High Street where he sells souvenirs. 他在大街上有个卖纪念品的摆摊处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 handful   

n.一把；少量，少数，一小撮

参考例句：

• We invited 30 people, but only a handful came.我们邀请了30人，但是只到了几个人。
• He pulled out a handful of coins from his pocket.他从口袋里掏出一把硬币。

6 cracker   

n.（无甜味的）薄脆饼干

参考例句：

• Buy me some peanuts and cracker.给我买一些花生和饼干。
• There was a cracker beside every place at the table.桌上每个位置旁都有彩包爆竹。

7 shell   

n.贝壳，壳，外形；v.去壳，脱落；n.[计算机] DOS命令:安装备用的COMMAND.COM文件，并改变环境尺寸

参考例句：

• Please shell some peanuts for the cake.请为做点心剥点胡花生。
• This kind of beetles have hard shell.这类甲虫有坚硬的外壳。

8 crush   

v.压垮，压倒，压服，镇压；压碎，碾碎

参考例句：

• This machine is made to crush the rock into powder.这台机器是用来把石头压成碎末的。
• You can't crush so many people into the classroom.不能让这么多人挤进教室。

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 contract   

n.合同，契约，婚约；v.使缩短，感染，订约

参考例句：

• The terms of the contract are acceptable to us.我们认为这个合同的条件可以接受。
• I'm under contract to teach here for one year.我按照聘约要在这里教一年书。

11 professional   

adj.专业的；职业的；n.专业人员；职业运动员

参考例句：

• He is a professional tennis player.他是一名职业网球运动员。
• I need a professional to sort out my finances.我需要专业人士为我管理财务。

12 cereal   

n.谷类，五谷，禾谷

参考例句：

• I have hot cereal every day for breakfast.我每天早餐吃热麦片粥。
• Soybeans are handled differently from cereal grains.大豆的加工处理与谷类的加工处理不同。