生活英語對話 Episode 28: The year of the dog

本單元是關(guān)于中國狗年的對話

Alice: Happy Chinese New Year Helen! What are you doing?

Helen: Reading about our Chinese astrology signs.

Alice: Oh do tell.

Helen: Well, I was born in '86 so I'm a tiger. I have an air of authority and am courageous but I'm also prone to emotional outbursts and react poorly under stress.

Alice: Oh, what am I?

Helen: You are 3 years older than me so you're a pig.

Alice: A pig? Charming!

Helen: No, it's different in Chinese culture. A Chinese pig is magnanimous and highly intelligent. You're a perfectionist but venomous if you're crossed.

Alice: It's all true! What about Michal?

Helen: Well, he's 21 so he's an ox. He's dependable, methodical, honest, unbiased but introverted too.

Alice: Ooh, so does that bode well for you two or not?

Vocabulary (詞匯):

Does that bode well for you two?:

Is that a sign that you will have a good future together? (對你們倆的未來來說，這是個主吉的預(yù)兆嗎?)

astrology (n): (占星術(shù))

the belief that the movement of the stars and planets affect people and their behaviour

本單元的語言點是描述人，在描述某人的性格或特征時，我們可以使用下面這些詞和短語

Describing people 描述人

To talk about people's personality or characteristics we can use the following words and phrases:

Positive characteristics (積極的特征)

She has an air of authority (有權(quán)威的氣息)

Other people believe her and listen to her opinions (其他人都相信她，并聽取她的意見)

She's courageous (勇敢的，無畏的)

She's brave (她很勇敢)

They're magnanimous (寬宏大量的，高尚的)

They're very generous (他們很大氣)

She's very dependable (可靠的)

If she says she'll do something, she does it. She always keeps her promises. (如果她說了要做什么事，她就會去做的。她總是信守諾言。)

He's honest (誠實的)

He always tells the truth. You can trust him. (他總是講實話。你可以信賴他。)

He's unbiased (不偏不倚的;無偏見的)

He's neutral or impartial. He can see both sides of an argument or disagreement. (他是中立的或無偏見的。他了解雙方的爭論或不同意見。)

Negative characteristics (消極的特征)

He's prone to emotional outbursts (容易情緒化發(fā)作)

He often reacts with very strong emotions (for example, an outburst of anger or tears) 他很容易情緒化發(fā)作(比如，勃然大怒或眼淚奪眶而出)

She reacts poorly under stress (她在壓力下表現(xiàn)糟糕)

She reacts badly under stress (她在壓力下表現(xiàn)很差)

She doesn't deal with stress well. She cries or gets very angry when she's in a stressful situation (她不善于應(yīng)對壓力。遇到緊張的情況，她要么哭泣，要么發(fā)火。

He's so venomous (惡意的，懷恨的;有毒的

He's extremely hateful or angry (他充滿仇恨或憤怒)

Neutral characteristics (中性特征)

She's such a perfectionist (完美主義者)

She likes everything to be perfect. She has very high standards for herself (她喜歡事事完美。她為自己定下了很高的水準。)

He's introverted (內(nèi)向型性格的)

He's very shy and doesn't like talking to new people (他很害羞，也不喜歡結(jié)識他人。)

Note: Both these characteristics can be thought of as negative. It depends on the context of the sentence (注意：這兩種性格都可以被看作是消極的性格。具體用法要看句子的上下文。)

Making negative characteristics sound more positive (使消極特征聽起來更積極些)

To make a negative comment about someone sound a bit more positive you can say (使用下面的句型，可使針對某人的消極性說法聽起來更積極些):

not very + positive adjective

She's not very generous = She's mean (她很自私)

He's not very dependable = He's unreliable (他不可靠)

They're not very honest = They're untrustworthy (他們不值得信賴)