英语博客：Please don't shoot!

 　　Those of you have been following my podcasts over the past few months, will know that my husband has recently 'got into'*hunting. He is now fully¹ licensed², fully equipped, and on his way to becoming an experienced hunter. Today, instead of leaving at six in the morning, as he usually does, to go to work, he spent the morning with me. He has taken a few days off to go with a friend to Minnesotta to hunt White Tail deer. He deserves a small vacation, so I have enthusiastically watched him pack all of his gear*, and listen to his plans for a successful hunt. Because he was ready ahead of time, he had a couple of hours to kill*, so we went up to the local shooting range to try out a couple of his rifles. I am a novice³*, so I was quite happy to watch as he shot at the targets. It was freezing cold, and I had bundled myself up in three coats, a scarf, and a bobble hat: not exactly the right fashion sense for a tough shooter. The first rifle that Tom used was extremely loud; thankfully we both had heavy duty* ear protection on. The funny thing was, each time we said something to eachother, we couldn't hear; we spent the whole time saying,"What?" and having to repeat everything in loud voices. As Tom tested his rifles, I had a good look around. There wasn't that much to look at. The range is basically a long roof that shelters the marksmen. There are a few chairs here and there, but no houses around (who would want to live next to a shooting range?). There was nobody but us there; the hills surrounding us were bare, and there was no wind, not even a sound. Well, the only sound was the horrendously⁴ loud noise of the rifle, but other than that, it all felt desolate⁵. I imagined someone whistling the theme tune⁶ from The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, but then I realized that with my woolly bobble hat, I had destroyed any image of cowboys. I did notice, however, some very interesting signs, three to be precise. Obviously, from the looks of them*, some people who come to practice get silly with the guns, and do dangerous things. I read the word "don't" over and over. Apparently⁷, some people shoot beyond the shooting range on to private property, or they shoot at the ground (which is dangerous), or at objects that they shouldn't. T-t-t-t-t-t, very naughty. Someone needs to have his gun taken away, doesn't he? And someone needs to be put in time-out*. I'm glad that I'm not at the shooting range when other people are there; it's potentially very dangerous, and I wouldn't trust other people's sense of safety. Anyway, before we left, I had a go shooting a lighter⁸ rifle, one that would be good for hunting birds or rabbits. I found it hard at first to look through the scope, but I go the hang of it. I calmed my breathing, and tried not to move. The cross was over the bullseye, and POW! What a shot! Not bad at all; almost right on the bullseye!. That felt good. I continued, each time thinking carefully about keeping still and controlling my breathing. POW! POW! BANG! WHAMMO! And another BANG! Hey, I'm not a bad shot at all. I even brought the target home to prove it.

　　Related expressions: to get into something, gear, heavy duty, a novice.

　　1. She really got into sculpting⁹ a few years ago, and now is quite good.

　　2. To rock climb, you need the right gear. You should also check your gear after using it to see if any of it is worn out.

　　3. I need some heavy duty earplugs; my husband snores like a rhinoceros¹⁰.

　　4. Novice hunters are potentially dangerous; the experts are much safer.Please don't shoot!

1 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

2 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

3 novice   

adj.新手的，生手的

参考例句：

• As a novice writer,this is something I'm interested in.作为初涉写作的人，我对此很感兴趣。
• She realized that she was a novice.她知道自己初出茅庐。

4 horrendously   

参考例句：

• Speedy they may be, but chipped ID cards are horrendously insecure. 芯片身份证也许便捷，但却极不安全。 来自互联网

5 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

6 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

9 sculpting   

雕刻( sculpt的现在分词 )； 雕塑； 做（头发）； 梳（发式）

参考例句：

• The quality of the result is determined by a Craft( sculpting) check. 由手艺（刻）定决定结果质量如何。
• Another difficulty in the process of ice sculpting is time control. 冰雕过程中的另一项困难是时间的掌控。

10 rhinoceros   

n.犀牛

参考例句：

• The rhinoceros has one horn on its nose.犀牛鼻子上有一个角。
• The body of the rhinoceros likes a cattle and the head likes a triangle.犀牛的形体像牛，头呈三角形。