【英语趣味课堂】令人厌恶的家务活-Chore Bores

 Todd: Okay. So Josh, in another interview we were talking about foods that we don’t like, now let’s talk about activities or things we don’t like to do.

 

Josh: Okay.

 

Todd: Like for example, washing dishes, ironing clothes, mowing² the lawn, things like that.

 

Josh: Alright.

 

Todd: Is there ... are there any other activities you really dislike doing?

 

Josh: Well, you mentioned washing dishes, I don’t like that one.

 

Todd: Oh, really?

 

Josh: I'd much rather mow¹ the lawn than wash dishes.

 

Todd: So what's it about washing dishes that you don’t like?

 

Josh: I guess, it’s just the idea of touching³ dirty plates that everyone ate off of and then they sat at the sink for a couple of hours and it grosses me out. So I’ll do it but it’s not something I enjoy.

 

Todd: Yeah. That’s interesting because I’m actually ... like I don’t like cooking. I hate to cook but I don’t mind doing the cleanup.

 

Josh: Really?

 

Todd: Yeah.

 

Josh: You see, I love cooking.

 

Todd: Oh, you do?

 

Josh: I cook all the time.

 

Todd: Really?

 

Josh: Yeah.

 

Todd: It’s like so messy and time consuming.

 

Josh: And I guess I treat it more as an art than anything and then I just work on it. And then when it’s done, I like when people are like, “Oh, it’s so good." And I’m like, “Thank you.”

 

Todd: That’s true. That's true. That’s a good point. I guess for me I don’t like cooking because it’s the opposite of cleaning and like everything's getting progressively dirtier and dirtier. Of course when you clean, everything is getting progressively cleaner and cleaner.

 

Josh: That’s ... that's very true.

 

Todd: I kind of like that.

 

Josh: Yeah, cooking makes a mess.

 

Todd: So are there any other household chores you don’t like to do, like dusting, there's dusting.

 

Josh: I can’t stand dusting. I was actually going to say that one.

 

Todd: Oh, really?

 

Josh: Because it just gets my allergies⁴ going so badly.

 

Todd: Ah, right.

 

Josh: And so that’s a pain. And you know dust seems like of where it just builds and builds and builds, and it's like...

 

Josh: Absolutely, you could do it every day and still need to do it the next day.

 

Todd: Yeah. And like you can ... like my house is really bad, like it builds up and you know, you almost don’t want to look on the top ledges⁵ or anything.

 

Josh: Yeah.

 

Todd: That’s definitely my motto, just don’t look at anything above eye level and then it does...

 

Josh: Right. You don't have to worry about it.

 

Todd: Right. And it does like ... it’s the one thing where it's probably not healthy for you, right? Because you can be breathing it in.

 

Josh: Yeah, that’s true.

 

Todd: Yeah.

 

Josh: Actually, I read somewhere that dust is actually 98% dead skin that just drifts off you.

 

Todd: Is that true?

 

Josh: Yeah.

 

Todd: That’s disgusting, isn’t it? And we breathe that in, it’s all floating in the air all the time.

 

Josh: Oh my gosh.

 

Todd: And if you leave your windows open, it’s you're whole neighborhood. Well there’s a lot of dead people in this house I tell you that. What about outdoor stuff, you know you’ve got pulling weeds, mowing the lawn, watering the grass, taking out the trash, any outdoor stuff?

 

Josh: Well, I actually like mowing the lawn. It’s a good workout, you know, especially if you have an old fashioned push lawn mower⁶.

 

Todd: Yeah, oh yeah.

 

Josh: So you get a good workout and push it around and the grass looks a lot better. And then weeding is a pain because you've got to get down on the ground and get in the mud and pull it all out and like buckets, and it’s never done like dusting, yeah.

 

Todd: And weeds like come back, right?

 

Josh: Yeah, exactly. Every day, there’s a new one.

 

Todd: Right, And the position that you have to be in to pull the weeds, it’s so uncomfortable.

 

Josh:Exactly. Yeah, like crouch⁷ down and yeah.

 

Todd: Yeah, I hear you.

 

Josh: It’s hot and it’s horrible.

 

Todd: Yeah, there’s always jobs you hate to do.

 

Josh: Yeah.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

sit in the sink

 

Then they sat at the sink for a couple of hours

 

To sit in the sink is when something is in the sink. Notice the following:

 

The glasses sat in the sink for three days before I washed them. 

The potatoes are just sitting in the sink, waiting for someone to cook them.

gross --- out

 

it grosses me out.

 

To gross out is to feel very uncomfortable about something. Notice the following:

 

Seeing blood really grosses her out. 

I get grossed out when when I look in the trash.

progressively

 

Everything's getting progressively dirtier and dirtier.

 

Progressively is increasing over time. Notice the following:

 

He got progressively better at speaking English. 

I became progressivley sleepier as it got late.

my motto

 

That’s definitely my motto.

 

My motto is a personal way of thinking. Notice the following:

 

My motto is never be late. 

Always help those in need is my motto.

crouch down

 

It hurts to crouch down.

 

To crouch down means to bend your knees to lower your body. Notice the following:

 

She crouched⁸ down to pick up a coin. 

I crouched down behind the bushes to hide from my friends.

1 mow   

v.割（草、麦等），扫射，皱眉；n.草堆，谷物堆

参考例句：

• He hired a man to mow the lawn.他雇人割草。
• We shall have to mow down the tall grass in the big field.我们得把大田里的高草割掉。

2 mowing   

n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The lawn needs mowing. 这草坪的草该割了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• "Do you use it for mowing?" “你是用它割草么？” 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

3 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。

4 allergies   

n.[医]过敏症；[口]厌恶，反感；（对食物、花粉、虫咬等的）过敏症( allergy的名词复数 )；变态反应，变应性

参考例句：

• Food allergies can result in an enormous variety of different symptoms. 食物过敏会引发很多不同的症状。 来自辞典例句
• Let us, however, examine one of the most common allergies; hayfever. 现在让我们来看看最常见的变态反应的一种--枯草热。 来自辞典例句

5 ledges   

n.（墙壁，悬崖等）突出的狭长部分( ledge的名词复数 )；（平窄的）壁架；横档；（尤指）窗台

参考例句：

• seabirds nesting on rocky ledges 海鸟在岩架上筑巢
• A rusty ironrod projected mournfully from one of the window ledges. 一个窗架上突出一根生锈的铁棒，真是满目凄凉。 来自辞典例句

6 mower   

n.割草机

参考例句：

• We need a lawn mower to cut the grass.我们需要一台草坪修剪机来割草。
• Your big lawn mower is just the job for the high grass.割高草时正需要你的大割草机。

7 crouch   

v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏

参考例句：

• I crouched on the ground.我蹲在地上。
• He crouched down beside him.他在他的旁边蹲下来。

8 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。