英语访谈对话 289 Halloween

 　　Todd: OK, guys we're going to talk about Halloween. So, what do you think about Halloween?

　　Adrienne: I actually like it. It's a fun holiday for kids especially because you get to dress up in costumes and you get lots of candy if you go trick-or-treating. I have a lot of good memories. of Halloween growing up.

　　Todd: OK, what is trick-or-treating? Why do you trick-or-treat?

　　Adrienne: Trick-or-treat is when you go, you dress up in your costume on Halloween and you go door-to-door ringing doorbells, knocking on doors. One person comes to the door, you say, "Trick-or-treat" and usually these days they give you a treat which is candy or apples or something like that but in the older days, you could, if they didn't give you a treat, then you could play a trick on them or they could play a trick on you, instead of giving you a treat, something like that.

　　Mike: I always thought that it was they performed, the person at the door performed some kind of trick for the kids because they didn't have candy to give, but I could be wrong.

　　Adrienne: Yeah, I don't know exactly. It's one of those three options.

　　Todd: Yeah, I think it's you play a trick on them.

　　Mike: Oh, reallyTodd: You throw trash against their house.

　　Adrienne: Toilet paper their.

　　Todd: Toilet paper, eggs,Mike: Egg their window.

　　Todd: Dog pooh in the paper bag on fire. On fire!

　　Adrienne: Yuck.

　　Todd: Yeah, that's gross¹. So, Mike, you're from Canada, so do you have Halloween American-style in Canada? Do you celebrate trick-or-treating? Do you do trick-or-treating?

　　Mike: Oh, yeah, I think it is the same as in the U.S. I believe it is a little bit different in Europe, maybe. They don't have the same kind of traditions but, yeah, exactly the same as in the U.S. We watched all the Snoopy, Charlie Brown Halloween kind of things, just like everybody....

　　Todd: OK. That's good. I'm glad because now we can diverge². What was, what were your costumes when you were younger?

　　Adrienne: Ah, I had so many. My mom was a seamstress so she used to make a lot of my costumes. I designed them and she would make them for me and my sister so one year I was bat girl, another year I was Wonder Woman. Another year I was Princess Lea from Star Wars, I was a rainbow and a clown and a cat, and a witch and everything, basically³ that you're supposed to be for Halloween I was.

　　Todd: A lot of heroines in there.

　　Adrienne: Of course. Strong women!

　　Todd: Mike, how about you?

　　Mike: I was goat boy.

　　Todd: Goat boy!

　　Mike: I was always goat boy because there...

　　Todd: Every year?

　　Mike: Yeah, we, I couldn't afford to get a decent⁴ costume every year.

　　Todd: So how were you goat boy? What did you look like?

　　Adrienne: Where did you get goat boy from?

　　Mike: They just put some sort of, they put a lot of trash on me, and forced me to eat a can. It's OK.

　　I got lots of candy but then the other kids would beat me up and steal it from me. That's OK.

　　Adrienne: That's the saddest thing I've ever heard.

　　Mike: Well, you know. That's all right. It toughened me up when I got older.

1 gross   

adj.全部的，粗俗的，肥胖的；vt.获得...总收入

参考例句：

• The gross weight of the box of chocolates is 500 grams.那盒巧克力的全部重量是500克。
• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。

2 diverge   

v.分叉，分歧，离题，使...岔开，使转向

参考例句：

• This is where our opinions diverge from each other.这就是我们意见产生分歧之处。
• Don't diverge in your speech.发言不要离题。

3 basically   

adv.基本上，从根本上说

参考例句：

• His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
• Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。

4 decent   

adj.象样的，不错的，体面的，正派的，恰当的

参考例句：

• We want to raise our children to be decent men and women.我们盼望把孩子们培养成优秀人才。
• There isn't even a decent table in this room.这屋里连张像样的桌子也没有。