【英语趣味课堂】爷爷-Grandfather

Todd: So, Conrad, you were saying that you have a grandfather and your grandfather is ninety-seven.

 

Conrad: That's right.

 

Todd: Ninety-seven!

 

Conrad: That's right Todd. I think he was born in 1910.

 

Todd: Man!

 

Conrad: Yeah, ninety-seven years old and still driving.

 

Todd: Wow! He's still in good health.

 

Conrad: Yes, he's very healthy, and like I said he drives. He lives by himself. My grandmother passed away a couple years ago, and yeah, he basically can do anything he wants still.

 

Todd: Man!

 

Conrad: I mean, he still loves poker¹. He does that probably at least once a week.

 

Todd: He plays poker. Wow!

 

Conrad: So he's pretty sharp, still.

 

Todd: Does he just play for fun or does he play for money?

 

Conrad: Both. But usually money. I guess I should say always money.

 

Todd: Always money? Really?

 

Conrad: Yeah, he likes gambling².

 

Todd: Well, what else can you say about your grandfather?

 

Conrad: Well, you know, he's been through some tough times. During World War II he was interned⁴ along with my parents when they were babies, so he lost his... he had a business going in Stockton, California. He lost his business, his house, interned, so he made it through that. He came back out of camp and started a new business, was successful again, so I'd say he's been through a lot but he's made it through. He's made it. He's made a successful person out of himself.

 

Todd: So many people might not know what the internment⁵ is. Can you just explain briefly⁶?

 

Conrad: Sure that was during World War II. Some people felt that the Japanese Americans who were born and lived in Japan on the West Coast were a threat to the other people around them so they decided⁷ to intern³ them and put them into camps. Pretty much these camps were located in the most desolate⁸ place that could be found. Sometimes a place where they used to store horses or something, and I visited one just last winter, and yeah, in the the wintertime it's extremely cold and they had to endure some very hard conditions for I think it was for about four years.

 

Todd: That's terrible.

 

Conrad: Yeah, it was pretty tough.

 

Todd: Back to your grandfather, how would you describe his personality?

 

Conrad: Well, he's still very cheerful. He's a pretty conservative⁹ person. I remember him once telling me - this is back I think the first time I voted for Reagan - and he was saying like, just talking about voting and he said, "Always vote for the older person because experience is the most important thing you can have." Yeah, so his thinking is rather on the conservative side.

 

Todd: Well, sounds like a great guy.

 

Conrad: Yeah, he is Todd.

 

1 poker   

n.扑克；vt.烙制

参考例句：

• He was cleared out in the poker game.他打扑克牌，把钱都输光了。
• I'm old enough to play poker and do something with it.我打扑克是老手了，可以玩些花样。

2 gambling   

n.赌博；投机

参考例句：

• They have won a lot of money through gambling.他们赌博赢了很多钱。
• The men have been gambling away all night.那些人赌了整整一夜。

3 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

4 interned   

v.拘留，关押( intern的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was interned but,as he was in no way implicated in war crimes,was released. 他曾被拘留过，但因未曾涉嫌战争罪行而被释放了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These soldiers were interned in a neutral country until the war was over. 这些士兵被拘留在一个中立国，直到战争结束。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 internment   

n.拘留

参考例句：

• Certainly the recent attacks against the internment camps are evidence enough. 很明显，最近营地遭受到的攻击就是一个足好的证明。 来自互联网
• The chapters on the internment are Both readaBle and well researched. 这些关于拘留的章节不仅具可读性而且研究得很透彻。 来自互联网

6 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

9 conservative   

adj.保守的，守旧的；n.保守的人，保守派

参考例句：

• He is a conservative member of the church.他是一个守旧教会教友。
• The young man is very conservative.这个年轻人很守旧。