【英语时差8,16】麦克和亚曼达正在聊假节俭

Mike: What are you so upset about? Amanda: It's my neighbors. They pay me to weed their garden once a year, but I can't stand what they do to it. They have a fish pond, but they never clean it out and they won't buy a filter¹ because they say it's too expensive! Mike: That must be pretty gross². What happens to the fish then? Amanda: That's the worst part! They die of course, but my neighbors don't care. They just buy new fish and put them in the same dirty water. Mike: But that's stupid! Wouldn't it make more sense to buy a filter and then not have to spend money buying new fish all the time? Amanda: You'd think so, but these people are always like that. They even say it's all right if I just pull off the tops of the weeds and don't bother to get the roots because it's faster that way. Their garden is a real mess. And the ivy³ and roses all have fungus⁴ on them because my neighbors didn't want to buy fungicide. Mike: That's really strange. They're not saving⁵ money by keeping it like that, and if they want to save that much money, why not just forget the garden?

neighbor (n.) 邻居 Henry had to stop singing loudly at night because his neighbors complained.

filter (n.) 滤水；过滤器 No one could go swimming that day because the pool's filter was broken.

gross (adj.) 恶心的 Blowing one's nose without a tissue⁶ is gross.

root (n.) 根 The plant died because its roots became moldy⁷.

ivy (n.) 常春藤 The ivy spread until it covered the entire front side of the old house.

to weed a garden 花园除草 A: Your jeans are covered in mud⁸! B: That's because I've been weeding the garden.

to clean something out 将…清理干净 A: Why is it taking you so long to find that document? B: I need to clean out my desk drawers. I can't find anything.

to make sense 合理；有道理 A: I'm going out in the rain to go buy a new umbrella. B: If an umbrella is all you need, wouldn't it make more sense to wait till the rain stops?

 

1 filter   

n.滤器，过滤嘴；v.过滤，透过

参考例句：

• Foreign influence began to filter into the country.外国势力开始渗透进这个国家。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

2 gross   

adj.全部的，粗俗的，肥胖的；vt.获得...总收入

参考例句：

• The gross weight of the box of chocolates is 500 grams.那盒巧克力的全部重量是500克。
• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。

3 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

4 fungus   

n.真菌，真菌类植物

参考例句：

• Mushrooms are a type of fungus.蘑菇是一种真菌。
• This fungus can just be detected by the unaided eye.这种真菌只用肉眼就能检查出。

5 saving   

n.节省，节约；[pl.]储蓄金，存款

参考例句：

• Energy saving is term strategic policy of our country.节约能源是我国长期的战略国策。
• Old-fashioned housewives were usually very saving.旧时的家庭主妇通常都很节俭。

6 tissue   

n.组织；薄纱，薄纸，手巾纸

参考例句：

• As we age we lose muscle tissue.肌肉组织会随着我们日趋衰老而萎缩。
• Athletes have hardly any fatty tissue.运动员几乎没有什么脂肪组织。

7 moldy   

adj.发霉的

参考例句：

• She chucked the moldy potatoes in the dustbin.她把发霉的土豆扔进垃圾箱。
• Oranges can be kept for a long time without going moldy.橙子可以存放很长时间而不腐烂。

8 mud   

n.泥，泥浆

参考例句：

• The swimming pool is filled up with mud.游泳池里全是泥。
• A car ran past,spotting my coat with mud.一辆汽车驶过，给我的外衣溅上了泥点。