英语博客：Hold on while you sled!（在线收听）

　　Have you ever been sledding? In places where it is snowy, I think it is a great thing to do. In a way it is as good as, or even better than skiing; I'll tell you why. First of all, you don't need any skill at all to sled. Secondly, if it is speed that you love, you can easily find a way to meet your need for speed. Thirdly, there is no expense involved, and hardly any equipment at all. The best kind of sledding I have ever done was on an inner tube. An inner tube is a circular tube that is made of rubber, and made to go inside a wheel. It is very bouncy and comfortable to sit on, and protects you from landing hard on the ground. A few years ago, I went sledding with my brother who had come over from New Zealand for a visit. We took an inner tube up to Mission Ridge, which is the ski resort of this town. We found an empty slope that went through a bit of the forest and up an embankment. It was safe, secluded, and provided an easy way to slow down at the end. Perfect. On the way up there, I stopped at Goodwill to pick up a second hand pair of ski pants, as I didn't have any. Once we were both ready, we set off, and within about twenty minutes we were out of the car, and scoping out the area for the best place to sled. Now, my brother is a very big guy, tall, broad, and much heavier than me. He made the first few runs. His big body on the big inner tube smoothed the snow down perfectly, making a track for us to use. It was so much fun. We laughed our heads off. The best runs were when we went together. Because of our combined weight, we picked up tremendous speed, and literally flew over the bumps on the track. Oh, I forgot to add a fourth reason to sled; you do actually do a lot of exercise. Once you have reached the bottom, you have to pull your inner tube back up to the top of the hill again, and again, and again. By the end of the day, we were exhausted, not only from the exercise, but also from all the laughter.
　　Grammar notes.
　　Some common turns of phrase: to laugh one's head off, to work one's rear end off, to talk someone's leg off.
　　1. The comedian was very clever; we laughed our heads off for a whole hour.
　　2. You must have worked your rear end off to get the whole house clean in one hour!
　　3. My neighbor is a lovely friend, but she'll talk your leg off if you're not careful.