英語趣味課堂：幸運 Lucky

Todd: OK, Richard!

Richard: Hi, Todd. Good to see you.

Todd: Good to see you.

Richard: Long time no see.

Todd: Yeah, it's been awhile.

Richard: It's been awhile.

Todd: Richard, you helped me out when I first started the website.

Richard: My pleasure.

Todd: Yeah, you're very kind and you talked about your dog!

Richard: Lucky! Here he is! This is Lucky's picture.

Todd: Wow! That's big. So tell us about Lucky. How's lucky been the last two years?

Richard: Lucky, the last two year! Yeah! Lucky is almost two years old. His birthday is November the 11th! One-One-One-One, so he'll be 2 years old. He's doing well. He's developed some unique, sort of characteristics, personality traits. One is that late at night he doesn't like walking just with me, it has to be with me and my wife together. So he has two big bodyguards. It's true. It's an unusual thing but he will not walk by the river where it's very dark with just one person. He needs two people to walk him. Which is unusual for a dog. He's a golden retriever so he's a big dog, but he's just, he needs two people and he gets very lonely, you know he likes to follow people around the house the whole time, you know he's a really, he's a very sort of sociabledog.

Todd: What a lovely dog?

Richard: Yes, lovely dog!

Todd: I want to meet him!

Richard: Yeah, well, anytime!

Todd: So, I think you were saying something earlier about how he gets cold.

Richard: Yeah, that's the other thing. One of the other unique things about Lucky is that I think he's a but spoiled. I mean, you know, a lot of dogs live outdoors but this dog lives indoors, and you know the kotatsu, in the winter my obaachan, my wife's mother has the kotatsu.

Todd: Yeah, like the kotatsu is like a big blanket.

Richard: Ah, yeah, like a little low table.

Todd: Oh, the kotatsu, oh, yeah, yeah, sorry

Richard: An electric heater underneath it

Todd: Yeah, that's right, sorry!

Richard: And cat in Japan, cats are famous for going under the kotatsu in winter but my dog goes under the Kotatsu, so and he's quite big right, so you just see his legs poking out of the kotatsu. I mean that's a very unusual behavior for a golden retriever. Yeah, yeah, he's and unusual dog.

Todd: So how much does he eat?

Richard: I see, what about my son. I want to talk about my son.

Todd: Well, no but like, first I'm just curious, how much does you dog eat?

Richard: How much does he eat? Well, it's three times a day.

Todd: Yeah, I mean, how much does it cost?

Richard: Oh, the cost!

Todd: Yeah, to feed a dog in Japan!

Richard: Well, that's a good, that's a tough question. I buy a big bag of food. It costs me 18,000 yen and that lasts about three months, so about 6,000 yen.

Todd: Man, that is expensive! So you're dog, that's at least 6,000 yen a month on food.

Richard: And then Vet's bills are pretty high.

Todd: Wow! But he's worth it! It seems like you love your dog.

Richard: I love my dog. I carry his picture everywhere.

Todd: That's my favorite dog too! Golden Retrievers. They're so kind.

Richard: I also love my son! Can I talk about my son!

Todd: OK, we'll do your son in the next interview.

學(xué)習(xí)內(nèi)容：

a while

It's been a while since I last saw you.

You can use the phrase 'a while' to mean a long amount of time. Notice the following:

He moved to Canada a while ago.

I haven't been to the cinema in a while.

spoiled

One of the other unique things about Lucky is that I think he's spoiled.

If a pet or a child is 'spoiled' it means that he gets everything that he wants. Notice the following:

He is spoiled by his wife who does almost everything for him.

She is an only child and her parents spoiled her.

famous for

In Japan, cats are famous for going under the kotatsu in winter.

If cats are 'famous for' something it means that it is their usually action and many people are aware of it. Notice the following:

He is famous for getting into trouble.

Japan is famous for excellent fish.

unusual behavior

That's a very unusual behavior for a golden retriever.

Something that is 'usual behavior' is not a normal action, it is something that doesn't happen every day. Notice the following:

It is very unusual behavior for him to arrive anywhere late.

I think my cat is sick because she has had unusual behavior recently.

last

Eighteen thousand yen-worth of dog food lasts about three months.

How long something 'lasts' is how long you can keep it or use it. We can also use 'last' when talking about humans to mean 'survive. Notice the following:

A kilo of sugar lasts me about 3 months because I almost never use it.

The hot water in the shower lasts for about fifteen minutes

1 characteristics

n.特性，特征，特色，[數(shù)](對數(shù)的)首數(shù)( characteristic的名詞復(fù)數(shù) );獨特性;性質(zhì)

參考例句：

the textural characteristics of the rocks 巖石的紋理特征

Men have ascribed their own characteristics to their gods. 人們認(rèn)為他們的特性屬于諸神。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》

2 personality

n.個性，人格，名人

參考例句：

Einstein was a great personality.愛因斯坦是個偉大的人物。

She has a powerful personality.她有堅強的個性。

3 traits

n.人的個性，顯著的特點，特征( trait的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )

參考例句：

We do not know which behavioural traits are inherited and which acquired. 我們不知道哪些行為特征是遺傳的，哪些是后天養(yǎng)成的。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》

His generosity is one of his good traits. 慷慨大方是他的好品質(zhì)之一。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》

4 bodyguards

n.保鏢，衛(wèi)士，警衛(wèi)員( bodyguard的名詞復(fù)數(shù) )

參考例句：

Brooks came to Jim's office accompanied—like always—by his two bodyguards. 和往常一樣，在兩名保鏢的陪同下，布魯克斯去吉姆的辦公室。 來自《簡明英漢詞典》

Three of his bodyguards were injured in the attack. 在這次襲擊事件中，他有3名保鏢受了傷。 來自辭典例句

5 golden

adj.金的，含金的，可貴的，金色的，貴重的，繁盛的

參考例句：

My teacher is an Englishman with golden hair.我的老師是一個金黃色頭發(fā)的英國人。

It's a balmy evening,the golden time for lovers.這是一個暖和的夜晚，是戀人們的黃金時光。

6 sociable

adj.好交際的，友好的，合群的

參考例句：

Roger is a very sociable person.羅杰是個非常好交際的人。

Some children have more sociable personalities than others.有些孩子比其他孩子更善于交際。

7 indoors

adv.(在)室內(nèi)，(在)戶內(nèi)

參考例句：

Because of the coldness of the weather we stayed indoors.我們因天氣寒冷呆在家里。

It is very cold outside,you'd better come indoors across the board.外面很冷，你們所有人最好都進(jìn)屋。

8 heater

n.加熱器，火爐，加熱之人

參考例句：

If you are hot you can turn the heater down.如果你覺得熱，你可以把暖氣擰小。

The heater is on a timer switch.加熱器連在一個定時開關(guān)上。

9 underneath

adj.在...下面，在...底下;adv.在下面

參考例句：

Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽車底下工作是件臟活。

She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿著一件大衣，里面套著一條連衣裙。

10 poking

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 撥開，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行動散慢

參考例句：

He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖撥動垃圾。

He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布滿塵埃的舊書店里。

11 yen

n. 日元;熱望

參考例句：

He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想將美元換成日幣。

He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望獨自呆在一條船上。

12 phrase

n.短語，詞組;成語，習(xí)語

參考例句：

The phrase was caught on and immediately became popular.這個短語被采用后很快就流行了。

That's exactly the phrase I was looking for.這就是我一直找的那個短語。

13 means

n.方法，手段，折中點，物質(zhì)財富

參考例句：

That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段獲取機密。

We must get it done by some means or other.我們總得想辦法把它干完。