地道美语听力播客:Small Talk About the Weather
时间：2019-01-11 作者：英语课 分类：地道美语播客
地道美语听力播客English as a Second Language Podcast (ESLPod)，是一家位于美国加州洛杉矶的英语教育研究机构推出的英文听力会话，于2005年7月23日首播， 主播Dr. Jeff McQuillan为南加州大学的语言学博士， 现专注于外国语学生的英语学习研究。该播客在iTunes store播客的教育子分类中，与Grammar Girl Just Vocabulary常居前三甲.
I admit that I'm not very good at small talk . When I'm with friends, I can just shoot the breeze all day long. But when I talk to a stranger or someone I don't know very well, I'm always casting about, searching for something to talk about. Politics and religion are definitely taboo 1 subjects, at least here in the United States. But you have to chat about something, otherwise there are these uncomfortable silences.
So we end up talking about—what else?—the weather. This usually begins with something like, "So, nice weather we've been having!" or "It sure is a warm one out there today." Of course, we have to comment on the temperature. My favorite is, "It's not the heat that's so bad, it's the humidity!" Actually, I think that's true—I hate it most when it's muggy 2 outside.
Back in my home state of Minnesota, everyone is obsessed 3 with the weather report! Every TV station has it's own meteorologist with a high- tech radar 4 giving you the 5 day forecast. They tell you when the temperature is rising or falling , what kind of clouds are moving in, and how cold the wind chill is.
My favorite quote about the weather comes from Mark Twain, who once said, that everybody talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it!
Script by Dr. Jeff McQuillan
- The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
- Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？
- We may expect muggy weather when the rainy season begins.雨季开始时，我们预料有闷热的天气。
- It was muggy and overcast.天气闷热潮湿，而且天色阴沉。
- He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
- The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。