生活英语对话 Episode 72: Christmas Shopping

本单元是关于圣诞节购物的对话。

Alice: Hmm, what do you think, you two, how do I look?
Helen: Ooh, it's a gorgeous 1 dress, Alice, but the other one seemed nicer.
Alice: Mmm, it is lovely, isn't it? But you're right, the blue dress looks better. Tim?
Tim: Oh yes, lovely, very nice. Can we go and look at the computer games now?
Alice: Ok Tim, you've been very patient. Let's just get Helen's shoes and then we can go to the electronics 2 shop. I want to buy a camera for my brother, and then Helen wants to get a book for her Dad, don't you Helen?
Helen: Yes, and after that I expect we'll all be feeling peckish, so we'll have a quick bite to eat, and then Alice wants to look at winter coats.
Tim: Here we go...
Alice: It won't take as long as the dress, I promise!

Vocabulary:字汇

gorgeous (adj):美丽的
lovely, beautiful

peckish (adj):肚子有点饿的
a little bit hungry

a bite to eat:零食或轻食
a snack or light meal

here we go:又来了
this phrase is used to show mild annoyance 3 at something happening repeatedly. In this case, Tim is expressing mild frustration 4 at Helen and Alice's constant clothes shopping.

本单元语言点是关于连系动词的用法，在英语中除了 be 外，还有look, feel, seem, sound 等，请看下面的解释和例句

Verbs which take adjectives - look, feel, seem, sound

Verbs, adverbs and adjectives 动词、副词、形容词

A verb is a word which describes an action - for example, walk, work, drive. Adverbs are words which describe how the actions described by verbs are performed.

He walked slowly - (How did he walk? Slowly.)
She worked hard - (How did she work? Hard.)
He drives dangerously - (How does he drive? Dangerously.)

Some verbs can be used with adjectives, to give more information about the subject of the verb. These verbs function as a link between the adjective and a particular aspect of the subject.

Helen says:
'It's a gorgeous dress, Alice, but the other one seemed nicer.' ('nice' refers to 'the dress')

Alice replies:
'It is lovely, isn't it? But you're right, the blue dress looks better.' ('better' refers to 'the dress'; 'look' refers to an aspect of the dress - here, the way it looks)

Helen says:
'And after that I expect we'll all be feeling peckish...' ('peckish' refers to 'we'; 'feel' refers to an aspect of 'we'. In other words, we don't look peckish, we don't sound peckish, we feel peckish.)


Verbs of perception 5, sense and change-of-state with adjectives 感知动词，状态动词后接形容词

Verbs which can be used with adjectives in this way are called link verbs. They are also known as copula verbs. They can be divided into groups:

Verbs of perception: seem, appear

Your plan seems realistic.
He appears older than he really is.

Verbs of sense: look, feel, taste, smell, sound

The blue dress looks better.
This fabric 6 feels lovely.
I didn't enjoy the food. It tasted horrible.
These flowers smell beautiful.
That sound system sounds expensive.

Change-of-state verbs: become, grow, get, go, turn

She became very angry when she saw what they had done.
As night fell the air grew cold.
The sun got hotter and hotter.
His face went white with shock when he heard the news.
As I get older, my hair is starting to turn grey.


More about verbs, adverbs and adjectives

Link/copula verbs take adjectives. They can also function as normal verbs which take adverbs.

She looked angry (adjective) = she had an angry expression
She looked angrily (adverb) at her husband. Here, 'looked' is a deliberate 7 action.

The cake tasted beautiful (adjective) = the cake had a beautiful taste.
She quickly (adverb) tasted the cake. Here, 'tasted' is a deliberate action