【话匣子英语】更多的新词汇

今天毛拉和安德鲁玩的是猜词游戏，利于增加更多词汇量哦！

 

Maura: All right, let’s get started on today’s episode then.

 

Andrew: Yeah. Today we have a very fun episode. We are going to do a Chatterbox episode, and this is where we chat and we chew the fat, and we gossip, and we have fun. And today we’re going to play a game, which is the most fun you can have on a podcast.

 

Maura: Now, last time you did this kind of game, it was with Harp¹, so this is my first time. So I guess I should say I’m extra excited to try this.

 

Andrew: So what we’re going to do is the New Words Quiz. And English is a language that is always coming up with new expressions and new ways to say things. And so every couple of months, the big dictionaries, like Oxford² Dictionary and Cambridge Dictionary, they add new words to their dictionary. And so what we’re going to do is look at some of these new words and see if we can understand – as native speakers – what these words mean, or if they stump³ us. It’ll be fun. And last time, I actually lost. Harp beat me, so I am on a mission to win tonight.

 

Maura: All right, I’m ready. I’m really curious to see what kinds of words have just been added.

 

Andrew: Right. So there are 10 expressions that we’re going to look at today. And this is actually a quiz – a multiple-choice quiz – that is on the blog of Oxford Dictionary. So we will provide the link with the description of this episode, and if you want to play along, now is the time to navigate⁴ to the website so you can take the quiz as well. So, let’s get started, shall we?

 

Maura: Let’s do it. You’re dead meat.

 

Andrew: Ooh, OK. So expression number one is cat café.

 

Maura: Wow, cat café.

 

Andrew: Hmm. I’ve heard of this one before.

 

Maura: Yeah, me too. But I’m surprised that it’s getting its place in a dictionary.

 

Andrew: You know we have a cat café in Montréal now?

 

Maura: I think I heard that. Have you been?

 

Andrew: No.

 

Maura: Although cats are generally very clean animals, I don’t know if I’d want to pet all kinds of strange cats. I actually have two of my own, so I’m not missing any cat affection in my life.

 

Andrew: Right. So shall we go through the options for cat café? And we’ll try to decide which is the correct choice. So we have cat café; it could be a commercially prepared coffee for pet cats.

 

Maura: Or the second choice is a café where people pay to interact with cats housed on the premises⁵.

 

Andrew: Mmhmm. Or it could be coffee served with whipped cream or hot milk.

 

Maura: Well, I think our discussion already gave away the answer.

 

Andrew: I think so. It’s got to be B, right? It has to be a café where people go to interact with the cats.

 

Maura: Yeah.

 

Andrew: And so this idea was really popular in Korea when I lived there, and I think in Japan as well. But, like we said, it’s kind of new to North America; we just have one cat café in Montréal. All right, one point for each of us.

1 harp   

n.竖琴；天琴座

参考例句：

• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。
• He played an Irish melody on the harp.他用竖琴演奏了一首爱尔兰曲调。

2 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

3 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

4 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

5 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。