【英语趣味课堂】社交媒介-Social Media

 Alex: So Maria, do your parents use any of the social media sites.

Maria: They do. Both my parents are on Facebook. My mum is not that active on Facebook. She has a profile¹ and she has pictures and I think she's online whenever she wants to get in touch with her kids mostly, which is me and my sister. But my father he uses it regularly and I sometimes get weird² like comments from him. It's not that bad, but, for example, when I'm traveling and he can't call me, he just writes like that looks awesome³ to weird pictures and it kind of gets awkward⁴ sometimes. But they do have, they are very active on the internet and my dad he's a journalist, so he's good with words, so whenever we have to write each other, I always get these long mails like that's very cleverly worded and humorous and it's so cool. He's so cool. My mum is more behind.

 

Alex: What about Skype?

 

Maria: Skype yes but mostly only to get in touch with me and my sister.

 

Alex: OK, cool. What about like do they ever have MySpace?

 

Maria: No, none of us have.

 

Alex: No, it's a word I haven't heard in a while too, MySpace?

 

Maria: Yeah.

 

Alex: What about Twitter?

 

Maria: I'm not active. My father keeps talking about it. I don't know if he wants to start a Twitter account because he keeps mentioning that it's kind of a good idea but he's not there. I'm not because I think I have Facebook that should be enough for me at least. I don't know if, they are not into social media so they will just like open it for fun. Google Plus is definitely⁵ not a solution at the moment because there is Facebook and that's like a big deal in the first place.

 

Alex: Have you ever wanted to de-friend your parents on Facebook?

 

Maria: Nope. I am very open about my Facebook profile. I never wanted to close it to anybody so I try not to, I'm trying to make sure that there won't be anything embarrassing⁶ on it so I manage it so there won't be any need for like de-friending them and they're not that annoying. They text me sometimes and they comment my things if it's something important but they're being nice. They're good parents.

 

重点词汇：

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

awkward

 

 

It gets kind of awkward.

 

In this case, 'awkward' refers to something that is socially uncomfortable. Notice the following:

 

He is a bit awkward when you first meet him, but he's really funny once you get to know him.

It's always a bit awkward to see someone you haven't seen in a while.

cleverly worded

 

 

I always get these long mails like that's cleverly worded.

 

When something is 'cleverly worded,' it is written in an intelligent, funny or witty⁷ way. Notice the following:

 

His cleverly worded comments always make me laugh.

They are known for their cleverly worded advertisements.

active

 

 

What about Twitter? I'm not active.

 

If you are not 'active' in something, it means that you are not a member or you don't participate in it. Notice the following:

 

He used to be active on MySpace, but he closed his account.

Are you active on Facebook, or do you just have an account?

keeps mentioning

 

 

I don't know if he wants to start a Twitter account, because he keeps mentioning that it's kind of a good idea.

 

When someone 'keeps mentioning' something, it means that they talk about it a number of times over a short amount of time. Notice the following:

 

He keeps mentioning the school that he goes to, because he wants to impress me.

I think she keeps mentioning her trip to the Caribbean just to make me jealous⁸.

de-friend

 

 

Have you ever wanted to de-friend your parents on Facebook?

 

'De-friend' is not an actual word in the dictionary, but it has become commonly used in recent years.  When you are a member of a social media site, you can choose your friends on that site who can view your information. When you 'de-friend' someone, it means that they can no longer view your information on the site. Notice the following:

 

He doesn't have very many friends on Facebook because he's always de-friending people.

I haven't seen or talked to her in years, but I'm still surprised that she de-friended me.

 

1 profile   

n.侧面，轮廓，人物素描；概要，人物简介；v.描绘...轮廓，评论人物

参考例句：

• I turned my head and saw the profile of a man.我转过头，看见一个人的侧影。
• He drew her profile.他给她画侧面像。

2 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

3 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

4 awkward   

adj.笨拙的，尴尬的，使用不便的，难处理的

参考例句：

• John is so shy and awkward that everyone notices him.约翰如此害羞狼狈，以至于大家都注意到了他。
• I was the only man among the guests and felt rather awkward.作为客人中的唯一男性，我有些窘迫。

5 definitely   

adv.一定地，肯定地；明确地，确切地

参考例句：

• The team will definitely lose if he doesn't play.如果他不参加比赛，这个队肯定会输。
• I shall definitely be home before six o'clock.6点以前，我一定回家。

6 embarrassing   

adj.使人尴尬的，令人为难的v.（使）窘迫，（使）局促不安( embarrass的现在分词)

参考例句：

• His jokes didn't even raise a smile, which was embarrassing. 听了他讲的笑话，都没人笑一下，真是太尴尬了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I was in the embarrassing position of having completely forgotten her name. 当时我完全忘记了她的名字，很是尴尬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 witty   

adj.机智的，风趣的

参考例句：

• Her witty remarks added a little salt to the conversation.她的妙语使谈话增添了一些风趣。
• He scored a bull's-eye in their argument with that witty retort.在他们的辩论中他那一句机智的反驳击中了要害。

8 jealous   

adj.妒忌的，猜忌的；精心守护的

参考例句：

• He was jealous when he discovered that she loved someone else.当他发现她爱别人的时候，他吃醋了。
• An honorable Chinese citizen should be jealous of his own rights.一名光荣的中国公民应当珍惜自己的公民权利。