【英语趣味课堂】英国城镇-English Village

 Todd: OK. Hello?

Steven: Hello, there!

 

Todd: How are you doing today?

 

Steven: Pretty good.

 

Todd: Could you please introduce yourself.

 

Steven: Yeah. My name is Steven and I come from the north of England.

 

Todd: Oh, really? Where in the north of England?

 

Steven: A little village called Gawsworth.

 

Todd: Is it a big place?

 

Steven: No, it's about 10 thousand people I think.

 

Todd: Oh, really? Do you go back there often?

 

Steven: Not so often. The last time I went back was Christmas.

 

Todd: Oh, really? OK. Did you have a good time?

 

Steven: Yeah, it was very nice. I saw old friends and family and did the usual Christmas things.

 

Todd: What actually are the usual Christmas things?

 

Steven: Oh, I guess a lot of eating and a lot of drinking and a lot of laughing. Just general fun and games I guess.

 

Todd: Great. How many of your family members still live in this town?

 

Steven: Well, they don't actually....my mom and dad live in the town. My brother and sister actually live pretty close to this town, so my family is all in that general area.

 

Todd: Oh, OK. Great. Thanks a lot Steven. 

 

学习内容：

Learn Vocabulary¹ from the lesson

pretty good

[How are you doing?] Pretty good.

'Pretty good' is a common but grammatically² incorrect³ phrase⁴ that we use to say how we feel at the moment.  Notice the following:

 

Are you feeling pretty good now?

She was still pretty good after the game, despite⁵ running a lot.

introduce yourself

Could you please introduce yourself?

When you 'introduce yourself' you usually say your name and maybe some information about yourself.  Notice the following:

 

I don't think I've ever properly⁶ introduced myself.

At the beginning of the meeting we had to introduce ourselves.

good time

Did you have a good time?

If you have a 'good time' you enjoy yourself or have fun.  Notice the following:

 

We always have a good time at your house.

She never wants to go, but she always has a good time.

did the usual (Christmas) things

I saw old friends and family and did the usual Christmas things.

To do the 'usual things' is to do whatever is typically⁷ or traditionally⁸ done in a certain situation.  Notice the following:

 

What are the usual things your family does at Thanksgiving?

We did all the usually birthday things, but the kids still wanted more.

pretty close

My sister lives pretty close to this town.

If you live 'pretty close' to something the distance you have to travel to get there is not far.  We can also use this for something that is a short distance in the future.  Notice the following:

 

She is pretty close to graduating.

I live pretty close to the lake.

 

1 vocabulary   

n.词汇，词汇量；词汇表

参考例句：

• How can I widen my vocabulary?怎样扩大自己的词汇量？
• You can find all the new words in the vocabulary of the text.你能在课文的词汇表中找到所有的生词。

2 grammatically   

adv.符合语法规则地

参考例句：

• This essay is grammatically smooth and readable. 这篇作文写得还顺。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Grammatically, the Sanskrit paradigm exemplifies the concept of radical. 从语法的观点看，梵语的变格范例明确了词根的概念。 来自辞典例句

3 incorrect   

adj.不正确的，错误的

参考例句：

• Your answer is incorrect.你的回答不正确。
• The method is incorrect.方法不对头。

4 phrase   

n.短语，词组；成语，习语

参考例句：

• The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.这个短语被采用后很快就流行了。
• That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.这就是我一直找的那个短语。

5 despite   

n.轻视，憎恨；prep.虽然，尽管

参考例句：

• Despite the difficulties he threw himself into the research.尽管困难重重，他还是全心投入了调查研究。
• All the people on the ship were in safety despite the storm.虽然遇到风暴，船上所有的人都安然无恙。

6 properly   

adv.适当地；正当地；严格地

参考例句：

• He has disposed of the rubbish properly.他已经适当地处理了垃圾。
• Do your shoes fit properly?你的鞋适合吗？

7 typically   

adv.典型地，有代表性地

参考例句：

• The factory typically produces 500 chairs a week.这家工厂通常每周生产500把椅子。
• The disease typically manifests itself in a high fever and chest pains.这种疾病的典型症状是发高烧和胸痛。

8 traditionally   

adv.传说地；传统地

参考例句：

• Traditionally,people clean the house before the Spring Festival.传统上，人们在春节前打扫房子。
• Medicine is traditionally the first of the Nobel prizes awarded each year.根据传统，医学奖是诺贝尔奖每年颁发的第一个奖项。