【话匣子英语】哥斯达黎加

 苏珊因为参加朋友的婚礼去了哥斯达黎加，让我们听听她对哥斯达黎加的印象吧......

Andrew:           Today, we’re gonna do a Chatterbox episode¹. And this is where we have a natural conversation about a topic that we find very interesting, and we think you will find interesting too. And today, we have a good one. We are going to talk all about Suzanne’s trip to Central America.

 

Suzanne:        Woohoo!

 

Andrew:           Because, Suzanne, you recently visited Costa Rica.

 

Suzanne:        Yeah, I did. I wanted to sing, “In the jungle, the mighty² jungle, the lion …” But yeah, I was in the jungles, the mountains, the rainforest, the waterfalls, the coast of Costa Rica.

 

Andrew:           Right on. This is a country I’ve always wanted to visit ’cause it seems so beautiful, but I’ve never had the chance yet. So I’m gonna have to live through your stories here.

 

Suzanne:        I will make them absolutely divine³ so that you go there soon, Andrew, because I think you would really love it there.

 

Andrew:           OK. Well, today, we’ll find out all about it, but let’s start at the start.

 

Suzanne:        Yes.

 

Andrew:           It’s always, you know, a nice place to begin. So why did you go to Costa Rica?

 

Suzanne:        I went to Costa Rica because two of my friends were getting married and decided⁴ they wanted to get married in a small wedding, and they wanted a destination wedding.

 

Andrew:           Hmm.

 

Suzanne:        So at first they wanted Mexico, but they chose, oh, this really beautiful place in Costa Rica on the Pacific coast.

 

Andrew:           So, on the west side of the country?

 

Suzanne:        Yes.

 

Andrew:           OK.

 

Suzanne:        And in fact, if you see a map of Costa Rica, on the Pacific coast, there’s also a spot where you … There’s a little bit of a peninsula, so we were on that west side of the peninsula in order to have the wedding. So we actually had to take a ferry. So we rented two big 4 by 4s because you’re driving on some roads that are not always paved⁵, and up mountains and down mountains, so you need a sturdy⁶ car. And we put the car on a ferry, and then took the ferry to this peninsula. Then once we got off the boat, we drove another hour to this location for the wedding. The wedding was in the middle of the vacation.

 

Andrew:           Mmhmm.

 

Suzanne:        So the first part of the vacation was in the inland part of Costa Rica, in the mountains. So it was sometimes cool, and sometimes really, really rainy because it was the beginning of the rainy season.

 

Andrew:           So you said that you went for a destination wedding.

 

Suzanne:        Yes.

 

Andrew:           And so correct me if I’m wrong, but a destination wedding occurs when a couple wants to get married somewhere different, somewhere far away.

 

Suzanne:        Yeah.

 

Andrew:           Like you said, Mexico or Hawaii.

 

Suzanne:        Somewhere other than their home. Somewhere other than where they’re from.

 

Andrew:           And it’s usually in a tropical place, right? You don’t hear of people going to …

1 episode   

n.（作品的一段）情节，插曲，系列事件中之一

参考例句：

• The episode was a huge embarrassment for all concerned.这段小插曲令所有有关人员都感到非常尴尬。
• This episode remains sharply engraved on my mind.这段经历至今仍深深地铭刻在我的心中。

2 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

3 divine   

adj.神的，上帝的，神圣的，如神的，非凡的

参考例句：

• Jesus is believed by Christians to have been divine.基督教徒们相信耶稣是神。
• The despot claimed to be the chosen instrument of divine providence.专制者声称自己是上天选定的统治工具。

4 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。

5 paved   

v.铺( pave的过去式和过去分词 )；为…铺平道路

参考例句：

• a paved area near the back door 后门旁一块石板地
• The wide paved road degenerated into a narrow bumpy track. 铺好的宽阔道路渐渐变窄，成了一条崎岖不平的小径。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 sturdy   

adj.强壮的，结实的，坚固的，坚定(强)的

参考例句：

• We need several sturdy men to push this car.我们需要几个强壮的人来推车。
• Children need sturdy shoes.孩子们需要结实的鞋子。