英语访谈对话 496 Kiwi Summers

 　　Todd: So, Mark, what do Kiwis like to do in the summer?

　　Mark: Yeah, I think the first thing for some people to realise¹ is that Christmas is midsummer in New Zealand.

　　Todd: Oh nice!

　　Mark: So Kiwis combine Christmas holiday and New Year holiday with a summer vacation as well.

　　I can remember when I was small, we’d have family Christmases and then the next day, which is Boxing Day, we’d go to the beach or we’d travel somewhere and rent a small house on the beach. They call them ‘batches’ in the north of the island or ‘cribs’ in the south island. And you just spend 4, 5 days, maybe a week, 2 weeks, just swimming in the sea, playing in the sand dunes², walks in the forest: just a really relaxing time with family and family friends.

　　Todd: That sounds nice, so you know in Australia they’re really big on surfing. Do a lot of people surf in New Zealand?

　　Mark: There is a surfing population. I think the Australian beaches are probably much larger and

　　maybe they have better waves, I don’t know, but several of my friends used to go on surfing holidays in summer as well.

　　Todd: And what foods do people like to eat when they get together for the summer?

　　Mark: Barbecue is almost the national obsession³ in summertime, you know, you’d just throw a sausage on the barbie or friends would ring up and say ‘hey, it’s a nice night, let’s have a barbie!’. I think all my friends have their own barbecue set.

　　Todd: What meats do people barbecue?

　　Mark: Again, New Zealand foods used to very much sort of be the lamb or beef, but now it’s getting a lot more varied⁴, you can grill⁵ a nice fish on the barbecue, you can still have sausage, chicken, pork, beef, lamb, whatever you want.

　　Todd: Yeah, it sounds good. OK, well thanks, Mark.

　　Mark: OK.

1 realise   

v.觉悟；明白；实现；兑现

参考例句：

• Wish you realise your dreams as early as possible!祝愿您早日实现自己的梦想！
• How much did you realise on the house?这所房子你们出售后赚了多少钱？

2 dunes   

沙丘( dune的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The boy galloped over the dunes barefoot. 那男孩光着脚在沙丘间飞跑。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat. 将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

3 obsession   

n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感)

参考例句：

• I was suffering from obsession that my career would be ended.那时的我陷入了我的事业有可能就此终止的困扰当中。
• She would try to forget her obsession with Christopher.她会努力忘记对克里斯托弗的迷恋。

4 varied   

adj.多样的，多变化的

参考例句：

• The forms of art are many and varied.艺术的形式是多种多样的。
• The hotel has a varied programme of nightly entertainment.宾馆有各种晚间娱乐活动。

5 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。