【英语趣味课堂】电话-Phones

Simon: Yeah, hey Todd, I have one complaint¹. Why can't I never reach you on the phone?

 

Todd: Ah, I know, I'm really bad with my phone. I hate the phone. I can not stand the phone. I hate talking on the phone, so I have a hand-held phone and I always go and put it in the closet² and I turn it off.

 

Simon: Oh, really! Yeah, you said hand-held. I usually call it a cell³ phone or a mobile⁴ phone. (Yeah) but, uh, well, I mean, these days everybody has one, so uh, I think they're quite useful actually. You can call people when you want, and you can call people who you want. You don't have to pick up like you don't sometimes, it's.

 

Todd: See the thing is, if somebody calls me, right, and I see that they called me, I feel really guilty⁵ for not calling them back, or no answering the phone if I'm very busy, so I don't want to feel guilty, so I just turn off the phone and put it in my closet.

 

Simon: Well, I guess that's why you like land lines, because you can pretend⁶ like you didn't hear it or that you weren't home at the time.

 

Todd: Exactly, I really miss the old style phones. The old phones that would ring and you'd have to walk over and pick up the phone. I thought those were great.

 

Simon: You know what, I think that you're just not going with progress. The old style, uh, life has changed, yeah, we use technology every day, and this is just the next step, you know, being able to communicate at all times, anywhere and anyhow, and we're using technology right now.

 

Todd: That's true, I mean, obviously⁷ I have my website, I'm very into computers. I love e-mail. I love Internet telephone like Skype but there's just something about hand-held phones that I don't like. I don't know why. I just don't like them.

 

Simon: OK, well, let's agree to disagree.

 

学习内容:

 

reach (you) on the phone

 

Why can't I ever reach you on the phone? 

When you 'reach someone on the phone' it means⁸ that you contact them using the telephone. Notice the following:

 

I will just try to reach you on your house phone tonight.

We have been trying to reach you for three days now, but never answered.

hand-held phone or mobile phone

 

You said hand-held, but I usually call it a cell phone or a mobile phone. 

A 'mobile phone' and a 'hand-held phone' are other words for a cell phone. This is a phone that you can take with you anywhere to make phone calls. Notice the following:

 

My hand-held phone didn't get good reception in the building.

I think I forgot my mobile phone at home. Can we go back?

feel guilty

 

If I see that somebody has called me, I feel really guilty for not calling them back. 

When you 'feel guilty' about something it means you feel as though you did something wrong and you feel responsible⁹ for what happened as a result. You feel as though something is your fault. Notice the following:

 

I feel really guilty that you had to wait for me for two hours. I'm so sorry.

Eating a lot of chocolate always makes you feel guilty.

internet telephone

 

I'm very into computers, and I love internet telephone like Skype. 

'Internet telephone' is a way to make phone calls using the internet instead of a landline or cell phone. These calls are usually very cheap, but only work if you have a very internet connection. Notice the following:

 

Do you have an internet phone number where we could reach you?

Internet telephone has made it easy for me to stay in contact with my family even when I'm in another country.

agree to disagree

 

We have different opinions, so let's just agree to disagree. 

When you 'agree to disagree' it means that you understand that you will never have the same opinion as the person you are talking to. You can use this phrase¹⁰ to end a discussion¹¹ or debate that will never be resolved¹². Notice the following:

 

We agreed to disagree about that and never talked about it again.

I can't talk to you about this anymore. Let's just agree to disagree.

1 complaint   

n.诉苦，抱怨，牢骚，委屈，疾病

参考例句：

• This is a cause of complaint.这是抱怨的原因。
• He has a heart complaint.他有心脏病。

2 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。

3 cell   

n.区，细胞，血球；小室，牢房；电池，光电管；基层组织

参考例句：

• Soap destroys the cell walls of bacteria.肥皂破坏细菌的细胞壁。
• They have locked the prisoners up in their cell.他们已把犯人监禁在小牢房里。

4 mobile   

adj.可移动的，易变的，机动的；n.运动物体

参考例句：

• The old lady sits on a mobile chair every morning.那位老妇人每天上午坐在一把可携带使用的椅子上。
• She's much more mobile now that she's bought a car.自从她买了汽车后，活动量就大多了。

5 guilty   

adj.犯罪的；有罪的；内疚的

参考例句：

• There wasn't enough evidence to prove him guilty.没有充分的证据证明他有罪。
• Really honest people are ofter made to feel guilty.真正老实的人常被弄得感到犯了罪似的。

6 pretend   

vt.假装，假托，装扮；vi.假装，装作

参考例句：

• So you don't need to pretend,do you?所以你不必装假了，对吧？
• Many people pretend that they understand modern art.许多人装着自己懂得现代艺术。

7 obviously   

adv.显然；明白地

参考例句：

• Obviously they were putting him to a severe test.显然他们是在给他以严峻的考验。
• Obviously he was lying.显然他是在撒谎。

8 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。

9 responsible   

adj.有责任的，应负责的；可靠的，可信赖的；责任重大的；vi.休息，睡；静止，停止

参考例句：

• He must be responsible to me for this matter.这件事他必须对我负责。
• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。

10 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。

11 discussion   

n.讨论，谈论；论述

参考例句：

• It is certain he will come to the discussion.他肯定会来参加讨论。
• After months of discussion,a peace agreement is gradually taking shape.经过几个月的商讨，和平协议渐渐有了眉目。

12 resolved   

adj.下定决心的，断然的；坚决的；已解决的v.做决定，分解(resolve的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• I was resolved not to see him. 我决意不见他。
• The union resolved to strike by 40 votes to 18. 工会以40票对18票通过决议举行罢工。 来自《简明英汉词典》