英语博客(A cup of English):Hot tub heaven（在线收听）

Beginners.

Cold fingers, cold toes, chilly shoulders, and a cold nose. When the weather gets chilly, sometimes you feel as if the inside of your body is as cold as your extremities. Some how, putting on lots of clothes isn't enough. You long to get into a deep, hot bath. That is our plan this Winter. We bought ourselves a very early Christmas present that, I'm sure, we will enjoy for years and years. It's a hot tub. I wasn't familiar with hot tubs until I came to Wenatchee, and got in a few during the first two Winters. That was a long time ago. My first experience was that they were too hot; I couldn't stay in them for very long. However, you can personalize your experience by adjusting the temperature so it is exactly what you want. There is a huge variety of tubs on the market. Some are just like big, hot baths. Others are the Jacuzzi variety that have jets of water for massaging. That is the kind that we bought. My husband tends to get tension in his neck and upper back, so this is the perfect solution. There are other benefits aswell. Our hot tub focuses time on family. The whole family can get in and spend some relaxing time together with no distractions, - no tv, no computers, no video games. You can float around, relax, and chat. Another benefit is being outside and enjoying nature. The first time I got in the tub was at 7am on Saturday. The kids were still asleep, so my husband and I quietly sneaked outside and got in. It was raining softly, there was a little mist over the lawn, and it was perfectly fresh and quiet. Wow. We giggled like children as we sat back and relaxed. This could become a daily habit.

Grammar notes.

 Related vocabulary: to personalize, to adjust, to tend to, a benefit.

Exs:

He personalized his hat by having his name sewn on it.

I adjusted the oven temperature so the turkey wouldn't burn.

He tends to shout when he speaks, but his wife tends to whisper.

One of the benefits of exercise is improved circulation.

Advanced.

 The hot tub that we know today was invented by an Italian family, the Jacuzzis, back in the sixties. They had immigrated to California and were responsible for inventing the first enclosed cabin monoplane. In the fifties, they invented the first hydrotherapy pump which sold to hospitals and schools. As engineering ran in their family, Roy, a third generation family member, invented the whirlpool in 1968. Those clever Italians. But we know that man's knowledge of the healing properties of water dates from pre-history. Early man utilized hot springs and pools. The ancient Egyptians used hot baths for therapy around 2000 BC, and about 600 B.C King Phraortes of ancient Persia built one of the first known hot tubs. Asian cultures from Japan to China celebrate water; the Japanese even have a saying that a person with a mind like water lives in harmony with the universe. The Greeks and Romans were known to place buildings around natural hot springs. In England, in the city of Bath, there are fully functioning Roman baths with multiple hot tubs and bathing areas. Infact, the first whirlpool was named 'Roman'. So, there you have it, lots of facts about the global appreciation of water. So, whether it's for an apres-ski warm-up, or just for relaxation, you can be sure that the hot tub is where you will find me.

Grammar notes.

Vocabulary and expressions: to be responsible for, enclosed, properties, to utilize.

Exs:

On this tour, you are responsible for your own safety.

Her rose garden is a beautiful, enclosed, secret place.

One of the properties of milk is calcium.

The solar panels can be utilized every day.

Practice of the preterite:

To build: The Romans built cities all over their empire.

To sell: He sold newspapers on the street for forty(fourty) years.

To say: They said they would meet us at 3pm.

To date: They dated eachother for six months.

To get: It got cold very suddenly last night.

To hold: We held on to the rope for our lives.