英语访谈对话 426 Mexican Vacation

 　　Todd: Simon, when you were younger, did you take vacations with your family?

　　Simon: Yes, I did.

　　Todd: OK, where did you go?

　　Simon: Well, I went to many places, but I have one memorable¹ experience. I went to Baja, California.

　　Todd: Baja, California. Nice. Can you explain where Baja, California is?

　　Simon: Actually, it's not in California. It's south of California. It's in Mexico, and it's on the west side of Mexico, below California, of course, and it's a desert surrounded by beautiful ocean. Todd: Oh, sounds good. Sounds nice. What's the landscape like?

　　Simon: Dry, dusty, and beautiful.

　　Todd: So it's a desert?

　　Simon: Yeah, it's a desert with lots of cacti².

　　Todd: Oh, OK. What are cacti?

　　Simon: Well, maybe you know what a cactus³ is. It's a, you know, the desert plant from Cowboy movies, and it has needles which stick and hurt and it's green, but yeah. That's about it and beautiful blue waters.

　　Todd: You mean water from the ocean.

　　Simon: Water from the ocean. There's no water on the land. You know, there's no lakes, probably no rivers, just dust, yeah!

　　Todd: How did you get there?

　　Simon: I drove.

　　Todd: You drove?

　　Simon: Yeah! We drove. I didn't drive. I was too young but my parents drove. Baja is very long. It's about 2,000 miles, or 2,000 kilometers and we drove.

　　Todd: What do you remember most about your trip?

　　Simon: Well, I remember the color of the water, the white sandy beaches, and the desert at dusk⁴. It's a pretty cool place, you know.

　　Todd: How long did you stay for your vacation?

　　Simon: 6 weeks.

　　Todd: 6 weeks. That's a long time.

　　Simon: Yeah, well, my parents were a little bit different from other parents.

　　Todd: Sounds like a really good time. So do you plan to back to Baja sometime?

　　Simon: I hope so. Yeah. But I won't prick⁵ myself on a cactus.

　　Todd: OK. Well, take me. I want to go, too.

　　Simon: OK.

1 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

2 cacti   

n.（复）仙人掌

参考例句：

• There we could see nothing but cacti.那里除了仙人掌我们什么也看不到。
• Cacti can survive the lack of rainfall in the desert.仙人掌在降水稀少的沙漠中也能生存下去。

3 cactus   

n.仙人掌

参考例句：

• It was the first year that the cactus had produced flowers.这是这棵仙人掌第一年开花。
• The giant cactus is the vegetable skycraper.高大的仙人掌是植物界巨人。

4 dusk   

n.薄暮，黄昏，幽暗

参考例句：

• The park closes at dusk.公园在黄昏时关闭。
• At dusk bats appear in vast numbers.蝙蝠于傍晚时分大批出现。

5 prick   

v.刺伤，刺痛，刺孔；n.刺伤，刺痛

参考例句：

• He felt a sharp prick when he stepped on an upturned nail.当他踩在一个尖朝上的钉子上时，他感到剧烈的疼痛。
• He burst the balloon with a prick of the pin.他用针一戳，气球就爆了。