白小琦《巧克力英语》第七课:学英语易如反掌

Hello! Dear friends. My name is Mike Bai and I am an English teacher. English can be used in many countries: UK (England, Ireland, Scotland), USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada are English-speaking countries. Austria, Poland, Thailand and Iceland are not. Now, even if you want to get on the Internet, you must know English. English is becoming more and more useful. 

Many people say it is not easy to learn English well. The reason many, many Chinese students can’t learn English well is that they take too much time in learning so called English grammar. Just knowing grammar will not help you understand this: “To be or not to be, that is the question.” “To be” here does not mean “infinitive”. It means, “live”. “He is pretending” in Chinese saying may also be put into English like: “He is putting some garlic into his pocket.” But this is not the right way to say it. I think learning English can be easy if we have a good way to do it. If you have a good way to learn English, it may be a piece of cake. Or learning English will be as easy as learning ABC. Now, come with me and try an easy brand-new way to learn English.

Many, many years ago, I flew (fly) overseas to USA. It is a really big land. New York city is in its east part and L.A, where there is Hollywood, is in the west. Disneyland is also near L.A. I studied in UCLA for one year and I had a very good time there. It is not easy to go to New York from L.A. You have to go for many days if you take a train to go to New York from L.A. The airplane is much faster. To take an airplane, first, you must buy an air ticket from a booking office. You can pay cash to the cashier there to buy the ticket or you can do that by other ways. Now, the brand-new way to buy a ticket is through the Internet. After that you can take an Airbus or Boeing airplane. You can fly all the way from L.A to New York City. 

I also worked in USA. I worked in a cafeteria. Usually, I took (take) out those chairs after every meal and laid (lay) back down the chairs into the cafeteria before every meal because we had to mop the floors between meals. The basic thing for me to work in and go around USA is that I must have a passport. It was a shame I couldn’t use automobile there as most people living in USA have their own cars. 

Now I am back in China. I keep thinking about meeting my schoolmates from UCLA in the Olympic saloon and having a party with them. At the same time, my friends and I are always thinking about how to go to the saloon together. Someone suggests taking motorbikes or motorcycles to go there, others taking a taxi, while still more just taking bikes there. Olympic saloon is such a cool place. There is a saxophone player who plays very darling jazz music there. We can watch Oscar winning movies or cartoon shows from Hollywood in the saloon and talk about good old days over drinking vermouth, whisky or brandy. Once we got together, the past things began to show a clear picture in my mind …

课文注释：1 a Piece of Cake小菜一碟；2 can be used能够被使用； 3 English-speaking countries讲英语的国家； 4 more and more 越来越多；5 so called所谓的；6 be put into被翻译为； 7 as easy as像…一样容易； 8 L.A, where there is Hollywood好莱坞所在的洛杉矶；9 air ticket 飞机票；10 booking office售票所；11 all the way一路上；12 Oscar winning movies奥斯卡获奖片；13 cartoon show卡通片；14 We can watch Oscar winning movies or cartoon shows from Hollywood in the saloon and talk about good old days over drinking vermouth, whisky or brandy我们可以一边看好莱坞生产的奥斯卡获奖的电影或者卡通片、一边谈论过去的美好时光，一边喝味美思、威士忌或者白兰地。Do something over doing some other thing一边做这，一边那。

日常会话

A: Does your sister speak English?
B: Yes, she does.
A: Fine. Then, it will be easy for me to talk to her.
B: Who is that lady over there?
A: She is a classmate of your sister’s.
B: No, she is not.
A: Why isn’t she?
B: Because I know every classmate of my sister’s. But I don’t know her.
A: Does your sister have any hobbies?
B: Yes, she does. Her hobby is dancing. How about you?
A: My hobby is swimming on the weekends. Are you interested in going to swim this weekend?
B: Yes, I am.
A: OK. Let’s go together.
B: If you were to swim this weekend, what would you wear?
A: I am going to wear my jeans and cashmere T-shirt. Is that all right?
B: You’d better wear your shorts and silk T-shirt. It’s going to be hot this weekend.

英语故事

首位中国篮球运动员加入NBA 达拉斯小牛队俱乐部，这是一件不同寻常的事情。全中国关心篮球的人无不为之感到欢欣鼓舞。

小牛队的英文名称为：Maverick. 这是美国西部大开发时期出现的一个词汇。Maverick 是大约一百七十多年前得克萨斯州一个牧场主的名字。当时，各农场之间是没有铁丝网隔开的，牲口可以到处去吃草。一般牧场主都在自己的牛身上打上自己的记号，可是， Maverick 却不在乎， 他的牲口身上没有任何记号。后来， 当其他牧场主看到没有记号的牲口时， 他们就会说：“看，那是 Maverick 的牲口！”现在，Maverick这个字已被用到了政治之上，形容那些有独立主见，不象大多数党员跟着自己党的意志行事的议员。影片《TOP GUN》（壮志凌云）中Tom Cruise 所扮演的 Maverick 也是一个桀骜不驯的人。Maverick 驾驶战斗机的动作与众不同，.甚至违反教规。Maverick先是不被理解。后来, 经过生与死的考验，Maverick以出其不意的大胆飞行动作参加战斗而终成战斗英雄。

通过这个故事，我们可以看出，与其将Maverick翻译为“小牛队”，不如将其译为“卓越队”更能传神。

课后练习：请正确朗读、理解以下日常会话

A: Does your sister speak English?
你姐姐讲英语吗？
B: Yes, she does.
是的，她讲英语。
A: Fine. Then, it will be easy for me to talk to her.
太好了。那么，我就能很容易地与她交谈。
B: Who is that lady over there?
那边那位女士是谁？
A: She is a classmate of your sister’s.
她是你姐姐的一个同班同学。
B: No, she is not.
不，她不是。
A: Why isn’t she?
她为什么不是？
B: Because I know every classmate of my sister’s. But I don’t know her.
因为我认识我姐姐的每一个同班同学，而我不认识她。
A: Does your sister have any hobbies?
你姐姐有业余爱好吗？
B: Yes, she does. Her hobby is dancing. How about you?
是的，她有。她的业余爱好是跳舞。你哪？
A: My hobby is swimming on the weekends. Are you interested in going to swim this weekend?
我的业余爱好是周末去游泳。你有没有兴趣这个周末去游泳？
B: Yes, I am.
是的，我有兴趣。
A: OK. Let’s go together.
那好。咱们一起去。
B: If you were to swim this weekend, what would you wear?
假如你这个周末去游泳，你会穿什么衣服？
A: I am going to wear my jeans and cashmere T-shirt. Is that all right?
我会穿牛仔裤和开司米T恤。那样行吗？
B: You’d better wear your shorts and silk T-shirt. It’s going to be hot this weekend.
你最好穿短裤和真丝T恤。这个周末会很热。

本课要求：

1 正确朗读课文；
2 熟记课中的英语故事；
3 熟读日常会话。

作者白小琦，陕西省清涧县人，中国首支国家柔道队队员，教育学硕士学位，美国UCLA访问学者，Concordia College汉语及中国文化学分老师，现定居悉尼。

《巧克力英语》版权归作者白小琦所有，任何转载和私自下载存留的行为，需获白小琦书面授权。任何咨询事宜，请邮件至news@sydneytoday.com。

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