【英语趣味课堂】他是怎样度过周末的-How He Spend His Weekends

Todd: Hey, Edwin, how you doing?

Edwin: I'm good thank. How are you?

 

Todd: Oh, I'm doing pretty good. So, did you do anything this weekend?

 

Edwin: Yes, I went down to the city.

 

Todd: Oh, you went to the city? Who did you go with?

 

Edwin: I went with a couple of friends.

 

Todd: Oh, yeah. Were you guys going clubbing and going out?

 

Edwin: No, we just went shopping.

 

Todd: Shopping, really.

 

Edwin: Oh, yeah.

 

Todd: You don't strike me as the shopping type.

 

Edwin: No, but it's getting cold now, and I need some winter clothes.

 

Todd: That is true. That is true. So, what did you buy?

 

Edwin: I bought a jacket and a pair of warm trousers.

 

Todd: How much did you spend?

 

Edwin: I spent about a couple of hundred dollars.

 

Todd: Really?

 

Edwin: Yes.

 

Todd: Wow! That's a lot.

 

Edwin: Yes, but I don't want to freeze, so ...

 

Todd: Right. So did you go on Saturday or Sunday?

 

Edwin: I went on Saturday.

 

Todd: Saturday. You didn't stay overnight²?

 

Edwin: No, I didn't stay overnight. It was going to be too expensive if we stayed overnight.

 

Todd: Right, yeah. How did you get there by the way? Do you drive?

 

Edwin: No, we took the bus.

 

Todd: Oh, you took the bus.

 

Edwin: Yeah.

 

Todd: I hate the bus.

 

Edwin: Yes, but unfortunately I don't have a license³ so we have to take the bus.

 

Todd: Right, actually, I'm in the same boat, you know, I don't have a license either, but when I go to the city I always take the train. Have you ever taken the train?

 

Edwin: Ah, no, I have taken the train yet.

 

Todd: Oh, man you gotta take the train.

 

Edwin: How does it compare to the bus?

 

Todd: It's so much better ... well, it takes about the same amount of time

 

Edwin: Oh, really.

 

Todd: It takes about two hours, but you can kind of walk around a bit, you know, it's not as cramped⁴. I kind of get motion⁵ sickness on the bus.

 

Edwin: But isn't it more expensive on the train?

 

Todd: Well, actually, you can get four tickets for a hundred dollars, so it's about twenty-five dollars one way, and I think the bus is ... you can get four tickets for eighty dollars, so it's only a little more expensive.

 

Edwin: I see, I see.

 

Todd: It does take a little bit longer though.

 

Edwin: Okay.

 

Todd: So anyway, what about Sunday? What did you do yesterday?

 

Edwin: Yesterday? Just walked around campus⁶, and not much to do on Sunday. Sunday is usually my easy-going⁷ day.

 

Todd: Yeah, did you study?

 

Edwin: Yeah, later in the night. Daytime it's usually ... yeah, usually no studies during the day.

 

Todd: Yeah, did you wait until the last minute?

 

Edwin: Yeah, I'm that kind of person, so yes.

 

Todd: Yeah, me too, me too.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

you don't strike me

 

You don't strike me as the shopping type.

 

The expression "you don't strike me" as something means⁸ that you do not seem that type of person or that you would do that type of thing. You have surprised my expectation of you in some way.

 

I thought you liked book shops and libraries, you don't strike me as the sporting type.

I was surprised to hear that you are married, you don't strike me as the settled⁹ down type.

a couple of hundred

 

 

I spent a couple of hundred dollars.

 

"A couple of " something usually means 2 or 3 of something. A small number of things.

 

The weather forecast shows rain for the next couple of days.

Come to our barbecue on Saturday and bring a couple of bottles of beer and we'll cook the steaks.

freeze

 

I don't want to freeze.

 

"Freeze" literally¹⁰ means to change from a liquid to a solid¹¹ state. It is often used to mean something is very, very cold.

 

I went skating without my gloves and my hands are freezing.

Building a snowman is fun if my hands don't freeze off first.

in the same boat

 

I'm in the same boat. I don't drive.

 

This expression means to share something with another person; an experience or quality.

 

Traveling in Thailand communication was difficult. We were all in the same boat because nobody spoke¹² the local language.

Climate change has put many different countries in the same boat as they try to manage serious natural disasters.

You gotta ....

 

You gotta take the train.

 

"Gotta" is a contraction¹³ of "you have got to" meaning that you must do something.

 

You gotta get the lights on your car fixed¹⁴ before you have an accident.

My mum says you gotta eat your carrots to keep your eyes healthy.

until the last minute

 

 

Did you wait until the last minute.

 

This expression means to not do something until the very latest moment possible.

 

Jack¹ was supposed to meet me at the bus stop and I waited until the last minute but he didn't come.

If you wait until the last minute to study for a test, you will probably feel stressed¹⁵ and not do well.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 overnight   

ad.前一天晚上，一夜间 a.前一天晚上的

参考例句：

• She stayed overnight in the hotel. 她在旅馆过了一夜。
• Our success is not won overnight. 我们的成功不是一夜之间得来的。

3 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

4 cramped   

a.狭窄的

参考例句：

• The house was terribly small and cramped, but the agent described it as a bijou residence. 房子十分狭小拥挤，但经纪人却把它说成是小巧别致的住宅。
• working in cramped conditions 在拥挤的环境里工作

5 motion   

n.打手势，示意，移动，动作，提议，大便；v.运动，向...打手势，示意

参考例句：

• She could feel the rolling motion of the ship under her feet.她能感觉到脚下船在晃动。
• Don't open the door while the train is in motion.列车运行时，请勿打开车门。

6 campus   

n.大学校园，学校校园；大学　

参考例句：

• They spoke of the old days on the campus.他们谈起昔日的校园生活。
• The campus covers an area of twenty square kilometres.这个校园占地二十平方公里。

7 easy-going   

adj.随和的；轻松的

参考例句：

• She is an easy-going girl.她是一个随和的女孩子。
• The students considered Mrs.Smith an easy-going teacher.学生们认为史密斯夫人是一位宽容随和的老师。

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 settled   

a.固定的；稳定的

参考例句：

• The dispute was settled without acrimony. 没有唇枪舌剑，这场纠纷就解决了。
• a settled way of life 安定的生活方式

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 solid   

adj.固体的，结实的，可靠的，实心的；n.固体，实心；adv. 一致地

参考例句：

• Water may change from a liquid to a solid.水可以由液体变为固体。
• I know that James is a solid type of person.我知道詹姆斯是个可信赖的人。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 contraction   

n.缩略词，缩写式，害病

参考例句：

• The contraction of this muscle raises the lower arm.肌肉的收缩使前臂抬起。
• The forces of expansion are balanced by forces of contraction.扩张力和收缩力相互平衡。

14 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

15 stressed   

adj.紧张的，有压力的

参考例句：

• Loud music makes me stressed out.大声的音乐让我很紧张。
• He stressed that we should always be honest.他强调我们应该永远诚实。