【英语趣味课堂】怪咖-Freaks

 Todd: So, Julia, let's talk about types of people.

Julia: OK.

 

Todd: Right, first one, are you a fitness¹ freak?

 

Julia: A fitness freak? I'm fairly fit but I'm not a freak. No, I'm not a fitness freak, no.

 

Todd: So you exercise but it's not like you do it all the time?

 

Julia: No, and I do some unhealthy stuff as well. I like to drink and I'm a former smoker² and yes, no I'm not a fitness freak.

 

Todd: Right. I think a fitness freak is like somebody who does it, who exercises compulsively.

 

Julia: I indulge³ in bad stuff too so no I'm not a fitness freak.

 

Todd: OK, so that leads us to the next question. Are you a party animal?

 

Julia: Not any more. I'm too old now.

 

Todd: When you were younger, you were a party animal?

 

Julia: I think, yeah, that was probably the type that I most fitted into.

 

Todd: Nice. I was never a party animal.

 

Julia: No?

 

Todd: No, I've always been pretty tame. I've always been pretty tame.

 

Julia: Yes, I was pretty wild when I was younger.

 

Todd: Really?

 

Julia: Yeah.

 

Todd: So you used to drink, smoke, stay up late?

 

Julia: Yeah. All that and more, yeah.

 

Todd: Come home in the wee hours of the morning?

 

Julia: Oh, yeah.

 

Todd: Oh, nice, that's cool. OK, next one would be do you know anybody in your family who's a couch⁴ potato?

 

Julia: Couch potato?

 

Todd: Because I know that you're not a couch potato.

 

Julia: I'm not a couch potato, no. My brother sometimes demonstrates couch potato traits⁶.

 

Todd: Yeah.

 

Julia: He likes to play video games and stuff like that and he'll spend a lot of time watching movies and so he does spend a lot of time sedentary compared to me. He makes me look like a fitness freak, I guess, because he doesn't do so much exercise.

 

Todd: Right. And so for people listening a couch potato is somebody who watches a lot of TV and sits on the couch.

 

Julia: Spends a lot of time on the couch, yeah.

 

Todd: Well, how about the similar personality trait⁵ of the bookworm? Are you a bookworm?

 

Julia: A bookworm? No, but I think my husband's probably a bookworm.

 

Todd: Yeah?

 

Julia: He spends a lot of time reading books. He reads very fast so he gets through a lot of books.

 

Todd: He's a speed reader?

 

Julia: Yeah, he's a very fast reader and he has to read. He has to have a book with him all the time. He cannot, a waiting room or on a train or any situation where you've just got to sit around, he cannot do it if he doesn't have a book.

 

Todd: Yeah. You know I live alone and that's a terrible trait that I have. I cannot sit and eat and just eat without something to occupy my attention. I have to read or I have to be like watching something on the computer and if I go to a waiting room or anything like that or I'm on a plane I'm the same. I have to have something to read. It drives me nuts.

 

Julia: You see I can't read on transport because I get sick. It makes me sick, it makes me nauseous.

 

Todd: Like motion sickness?

 

Julia: Yeah. So I don't have a habit of reading on a train. A bus or a car, oh my God no, I can't read. No way but my husband reads everywhere all the time.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

compulsively

 

A fitness freak is someone who exercises compulsively.

 

If you do something 'compulsively,' you have an irresistible⁷ desire to do it. It's like something inside of you tells you that you must do it. Notice the following:

 

It's hard to relax around him, because he compulsively does things with his hands.

She is always compulsively touching⁸ her hair.

tame

 

I've always been pretty tame.

 

Here, 'tame' is the opposite of wild. Instead of being a crazy party boy, Todd was calmer and more relaxed. Notice the following:

 

Her boyfriend is a little too tame for her.

She's usually kind of wild at bars, but she was tame tonight.

wee hours

 

Did you come home in the wee hours of the morning?

 

The 'wee hours' of the morning would be the time when the sun starts coming up. Notice the following:

 

I'm exhausted⁹ because I was awake until the wee hours of the morning finishing this paper last night.

He always stays out until the wee hours of the morning when he goes out with his friends.

sedentary

 

 

He spends a lot of time sedentary compared to me.

 

You are 'sedentary' when you don't move around very much or do physical activity. Watching TV is a sedentary action. Notice the following:

 

After breaking her leg, she had to be completely sedentary for six weeks.

He has gained a lot of weight since he started a more sedentary job.

drives me nuts

 

I have to have something to read. It drives me nuts.

 

Something that 'drives you nuts' irritates¹⁰ you or makes you feel crazy. Notice the following:

 

It drives me nuts the way he talks with food in his mouth.

This song drives him nuts, so I always play it when he is around.

nauseous

 

I can't read on transport because I get nauseous.

 

When are 'nauseous, ' you feel like you want to vomit¹¹. Notice the following:

 

This medicine will keep you from getting nauseous in the car.

I think I ate too many sweets, because I'm feeling very nauseous now.

1 fitness   

n.适合，适当，健康，健身

参考例句：

• They're doing exercises to improve their fitness.他们为增强体质而做体操。
• No one questions her fitness for the job.没人怀疑她能胜任这项工作。

2 smoker   

n.吸烟者，吸烟车厢，吸烟室

参考例句：

• His wife dislikes him to be a smoker.他妻子不喜欢他当烟民。
• He is a moderate smoker.他是一个有节制的烟民。

3 indulge   

vt.沉溺（于），纵容，迁就，肆意从事

参考例句：

• I never indulge children with plenty of pocket money.我从不放任子女，给他们大量零用钱。
• Everyone should indulge in fantasy on occasion.每个人都应偶尔沉浸在想像之中。

4 couch   

n.睡椅，长沙发椅；vt.表达，隐含

参考例句：

• Lie down on the couch if you're feeling ill.如果你感觉不舒服就躺到沙发上去。
• The rabbIt'sprang from its grassy couch.兔子从草丛中跳出。

5 trait   

n.显著特点，特性

参考例句：

• Creativity is a human trait.创造力是人类的一种特性。
• Repose of manner is an estimable trait in a horse.神情镇定是一匹马可贵的特质。

6 traits   

n.人的个性，显著的特点，特征( trait的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We do not know which behavioural traits are inherited and which acquired. 我们不知道哪些行为特征是遗传的，哪些是后天养成的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His generosity is one of his good traits. 慷慨大方是他的好品质之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 irresistible   

adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的

参考例句：

• The wheel of history rolls forward with an irresistible force.历史车轮滚滚向前，势不可挡。
• She saw an irresistible skirt in the store window.她看见商店的橱窗里有一条叫人着迷的裙子。

8 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

9 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

10 irritates   

使发怒( irritate的第三人称单数 )； 使急躁； 使感到不适； 使疼痛

参考例句：

• The way she puts on that accent really irritates me. 她故意操那种口音的样子实在令我恼火。
• This excess fungal yeast irritates the scalp, causing overproduction of skin cells. 这过量的真菌酵母刺激皮肤产生了过多的皮肤细胞。

11 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。