------Daily English--------

荷兰剑客

<每日一词>
fault   [fo:lt]  v.指责;挑毛病
Bremer faulted Bush before 9/11 attacks.
九一一前布雷默已指责布什反恐不力。

<每日一句>We went to the baseball game to root for our team.
我们去看棒球，帮我们的球队加油。

注: root for 为口语用法，指“支持、鼓励……；为……加油”，后面跟的通常是人或者竞赛队伍。root 可能源自英式英文的 rout 一字，本义为“（牛）吼叫、鸣叫”。

<每日一笑>
This woman is rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Her husband waits patiently in the waiting room. After a few minutes, the doctor comes out and asks her assistant for a wrench, which understandably concerns the husband.

Then, after a couple more moments, the doctor re-enters the room this time asking for a screwdriver. The man grows worried and begins to pace in circles.

Then, a little later, the doctor bursts through the doors screaming for a hammer, at that, the husband, in a state of frenzied terror, runs up to the surgeon and asks, ''Doctor, what the heck is wrong with my wife?''

"I don't know," replies the flustered doctor, "I can't get my damn bag open."

一位伤病不轻的女子被送入医院。她的丈夫在候诊室耐心的等待。几分钟后，医生出来让助手找个扳手来，这当然让丈夫紧张了起来。

又过了几分钟，医生又要了一个螺丝起子。丈夫担心地踱起了圈子。

又过了一小会儿，医生在门内大叫拿个榔头来。焦急的丈夫再也忍不住了，跑过去问医生：“大夫，我太太究竟是什么问题？”

“不知道，”医生答道，“我那该死的袋子打不开了。”

<每日一文>
A Ray Of Sunshine[锋芒毕露的“王牌冤家”]

Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman has written another magical movie. The man behind "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation" has now conjured up "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," featuring all the trademarks of a Kaufman story: bizarre and unexpected plot twists, a playfulness rarely seen on screen, and a willingness to take wild leaps of the imagination. In spite of its absurdity, this is at heart a big, sweet romance in which the guy gets the girl, breaks up with her and then wins her back.

The guy is Joel (Jim Carrey), a loser who falls in love with every woman that gives him the least bit of attention. Clementine (Kate Winslet) is a free spirit with blue hair.

The two fall in love. Unfortunately, their relationship goes sour, and they decide to have the memories of their shared experiences erased at Lacuna, Inc., a company that helps people forget.

Joel eventually realizes that if you erase your memories, you give up the happy as well as the sad moments, so he tries to stop the process by hiding his good memories of Clementine in unrelated areas of his mind.

The picture has an elaborate structure. It starts near the end, and much of the story is told in flashbacks. The audience may have some trouble following the timeline.

Director Michael Gondry matches Kaufman's inventiveness with visual wit and ingenuity, and he keeps an eye on this wonderfully absurd and deeply touching movie's powerful message: Love is worth the risk.

[ 本帖最后由 荷兰剑客 于 2005-12-7 09:00 AM 编辑 ]

荷兰剑客

<每日一词>
memorabilia　n.值得纪念的事物；重要记事

Streisand memorabilia set for auction.
芭芭拉史翠珊从影纪念品即将拍卖。

<每日一句>
Jane makes less money now, so she had to pare down her expenses.
珍现在赚钱比较少，所以她必须减少花费。

pare 本指“削去（外层、边、皮等）”，pare down 引申指“削减”，与 reduce 意思相同。

<每日一笑>
   A woman was staying at a hotel and she decided to go sunbathing on the hotel roof. When she laid down to sun her back, her bikini top fell off. She didn't care so much, though, because nobody ever came up to the roof anyway. Which is why she was surprised when she heard footsteps. It was the maitre'd from the restaurant.

"Ma'am," he said, "we were all wondering if you could put your top back on."

"Why? I'm not disturbing anybody."

"Ma'am. You're on the skylight."

一位女士决定去所在旅馆的屋顶享受日光浴。当她晒背的时候，她的比基尼上装掉了。但她并不在意，因为反正也没人来楼顶。当脚步声传来，她显得很诧异，原来是饭店的领班。

“女士”他说，“我们希望你能将上装穿回”

“为什么？我又没影响到别人。”

“女士，您正躺在我们的天窗上。”

<每日一文>
The Dance of the Animal Court[动物法庭的跳舞]

Once upon a time there was a monkey who had a magical fiddle and bow and arrow. He could hit anything with his arrow, and with his fiddle, he could make anyone dance.

One day Monkey met Cheetah. "I've been stalking Springbok all day," Cheetah complained, "and I'm exhausted, and still I am starving."

"Let me try," Monkey suggested, and he pulled out his bow and arrow, aimed, and shot Springbok through the heart.

Cheetah was amazed. He wanted the bow and arrow for himself, so he growled, and jumped on Monkey. As the two fought, Jackal passed by. Jackal suggested that they go to animal court to decide the matter.

When they arrived at court, Monkey began to shake. He was so young, and these were the elders of the jungle. When Elephant asked him what was wrong, Monkey replied, his voice quavering, "My uncle gave me this bow and arrow."

"Can't you see he's lying?" growled Cheetah. "Listen to his voice. Look at him shake. I spent all day stalking Springbok, and when Monkey came along, he tried to steal my bow and arrow."

Within moments the court announced their verdict. "Monkey, we find you guilty," announced Zebra. "For your crime, you will hang."

Monkey began to weep, but suddenly he remembered his fiddle. "Before I die, may I please play one last tune?" Monkey begged.

Giraffe said yes, and so Monkey picked up his fiddle and began to play. Within a few moments, all of the animals started to dance. Monkey played faster, and the dancers began to dance more quickly. They couldn't stop.

Before long, Elephant was wheezing, Cheetah and Jackal were gasping for breath, and even Lion was weeping with exhaustion. Giraffe's long, wobbly legs collapsed, and he fainted, but Monkey kept playing.

"Monkey, please," Lion cried at last, "if you stop, we will give you the kingdom."

"I don't want the kingdom," Monkey laughed. "I only want Cheetah to tell the truth."

"The bow and arrow are not mine!" Cheetah cried.

Monkey stopped playing, and the animals stopped dancing. Monkey laughed as the others slunk away.

[ 本帖最后由 荷兰剑客 于 2005-12-7 09:00 AM 编辑 ]

ANATA

great, except your icon..........

荷兰剑客

action forbiden in men washroom

荷兰剑客

<每日一词>
oil  n. 油画，油
Picasso oil fetches record $104 million.
毕加索油画以 1.4 亿美元天价售出。

<每日一句>
Tom asked me to go to a movie with him, but I told him I have bigger fish to fry.
汤姆找我去看电影，不过我告诉他我另有要事。

这句成语字面意思是“有更大的鱼要炸”，表示“有更重要的事情要做”之意，相同的说法还有 have other fish to fry。

<每日一笑>
Little Teddy's doing very poorly in math, so his parents enroll him in Catholic school. The first day home from St. Michael's, he walks straight to his room to do his math homework. After dinner Teddy marches back upstairs and starts calculating again.

His mother visits his room and says, "Your working awfully hard!"

"Well",Teddy replies,"today when i saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, i knew they weren't fooling around."

小特迪的数学不好，父母将他送去了教会学校。从学校回来第一天，他直接走进房间做数学作业。吃饭后特迪又回到楼上去开始算起来了。

他妈妈走到他房间说：“你现在可真用功呀！”

特迪回答道：“今天我看到那个被钉在十字架上的人，我就知道他们可不是说着玩的。”


<每日一文>
What's in a name

Ivy: Hi, my English name is Ivy. Last summer, when I introduced myself at many schools in America, the students usually called me "poison ivy." I am a sweet, nice girl and I don't like to be "poison." Can you tell me if an Ivy is poison?

Dear Ivy: Your name comes from the name of a plant. Ivy is a pretty climbing vine. People grow it on buildings and walls. It was most popular as a girl's name in the first quarter of the 20th century, which means it sounds old-fashioned now. Unfortunately, there is another plant, called "poison ivy," which looks a bit like ivy. If you touch poison ivy, you will get a bad rash.

[ 本帖最后由 荷兰剑客 于 2005-12-8 10:00 AM 编辑 ]

荷兰剑客

<每日一词>

aide  n.助手
Ex-Bush aide wins Indiana GOP governor nod.
布什前幕僚获得共和党提名竞选州长。

<每日一句>
My dad is a jack-of-all-trades, and he has had many different jobs.
我爸是个每件事都略知一二的人，他做过许多份不同的工作。

jack-of-all-trades 为名词，指的是“对每件事情都大约懂一点皮毛的人”，原版的句子应该是 jack of all trades, master of none. 相对于中文里的“样样通，路路通”，用来形容一个人似乎懂很多事，但其实每一样事情都不是非常清楚。演变都后来为了方便，就将原句的后半部 master of none 省略。

<每日一笑>
A beautiful young woman about to undergo a minor operation is lying on a gurney in a hospital corridor awaiting the medical staff.

A man in a white coat approaches her, lifts up the sheet, and visually examines her naked body. he walks away and confers with another man in a white coat. the second man then approaches the girl and performs the same examination.

When a third man approaches her, she ask impatiently,"These examinations are fine, but when you going to start the operation?"

He shrugs and says,"Your guess is as good as mine,lady. We're just here to paint the halls."
一个即将做小手术的美女躺在医院走廊的担架床上，等待着医务人员。

一个白大褂走近她，掀起床单，仔细的查看了她的裸体。然后他走过去和另一个白大褂交换了意见，另一个白大褂也走过来对女子进行一样的查看。

等到第三个白大褂走过来，她忍不住问：“查看了这么多，你们究竟什么时候开始手术呀？”

白大褂耸了耸肩说：“我也不知道，女士。我们只是到这里来粉刷走廊的。”

<每日一文>
Inanna's Journey[依拉娜之旅]

Inanna was a goddess. One day, she heard her sister, the queen of the underworld, crying. Her husband had died.

"I must go to my sister's husband's funeral," Inanna told her servant. "If I do not return in three days, ask the gods for help."

When Inanna arrived at the outer gates of the underworld, the gatekeeper ran to tell the queen about the goddess. The queen hated her sister, so she told him: "Open the seven gates, but as my sister enters each gate, take away one of her royal garments."

When the gatekeeper opened the first gate, he grabbed the crown from Inanna's head. It was the same at the other gates. At each one, the gatekeeper took away another piece of Inanna's jewelry, and at the seventh gate the gatekeeper removed her royal robes.

Naked, Inanna entered the underworld and walked into her sister's throne room. Inanna looked at her sister, and saw the eye of death staring back.

"Sister," the queen said, and struck Inanna dead.

Three days later, Inanna's servant went to ask the gods for help. First she went to the God of the Air, but he could do nothing.

Then she ran to the God of the Moon, but he shook his head.

At last she visited Enki, the God of Wisdom. From beneath his fingernails, Enki took some dirt. With this he created two flies. "Go to the underworld and give this to Inanna," he instructed the insects, giving them a bottle filled with the food of life.

The flies slipped through the seven gates of the underworld. When they reached the throne room, they heard the queen crying. The flies echoed her words with compassion, and compassion was what the queen craved most.

In gratitude, she offered them any gift they desired.

"Give us Inanna's body," the flies said.

The queen gave them Inanna's body, and they fed the goddess the food of life. Inanna rose again, and returned to heaven and Earth.

Now, Inanna spends six months of every year in the underworld, and when she returns to Earth, spring comes with her.

[ 本帖最后由 荷兰剑客 于 2005-12-9 09:13 AM 编辑 ]

Lamborghini

不错。

学习学习

荷兰剑客

<每日一词>
bully  v.欺侮
Obese kids more likely to bully, be bullied.
肥胖孩童比较容易欺侮人或受欺侮。

<每日一句>
Shelly's heart went out to the family members of the victim.

雪莉很同情那些受害者家属。

heart go out to 是一个口语的用法，表示“对……抱着同情心；可怜……”的意思。

<每日一笑>
A policeman was patrolling a local parking spot overlooking a golf course. He drove by a car and saw a couple inside with the dome light on. There was a young man in the driver's seat reading a computer magazine and a young lady in the back seat knitting. He stopped to investigate. He walked up to the driver's window and knocked. The young man looked up, cranked the window down, and said, "Yes Officer?"

"What are you doing?" the policeman asked. "What does it look like?" answered the young man. "I'm reading this magazine." Pointing towards the young lady in the back seat, the officer then asked, "And what is she doing?" The young man looked over his shoulder and replied, "What does it look like? She's knitting."

"And how old are you?" the officer then asked the young man. "I'm nineteen," he replied. "And how old is she?" asked the officer. The young man looked at his watch and said, "Well, in about twelve minutes she'll be sixteen."

一位警察在巡视高尔夫球场上的一个停车点。他驶过一辆车旁，看到一对男女在其中。一个年轻人坐在驾驶座上读电脑杂志，一个女孩在后座织毛线。他停下来去调查，走进车旁敲车窗。年轻人抬起头，摇下车窗问：“有事吗？”

“你在干什么？”警察问。“你看呢？”年轻人回答，“我在读杂志。”警察指着在后座的年轻女子又问：“她在干什么？”年轻人回头看了看答：“你看呢，她在针织。”

“你几岁了？”警官问年轻人。“我19了，”他回答。“那她呢？”警官又问。年轻人看了看表说：“再过12分钟她就满16岁了。”

<每日一文>
Dirty Shirt[印有脏话的T恤]

Dear Annie: My 22-year-old brother went on a trip with his friends and came back with a T-shirtwith a funny saying on it that included a swearword. One day, the shirt mysteriously disappeared. It turns out my mother threw it away because she didn't like what it said.

I knew how much my brother loved that shirt, so last Christmas, I had a T-shirt made with the same message and gave it to him as a replacement. Now it, too, is gone. My mother admitted she shredded it.

That shirt cost me a lot of money. Does Mom have the right to throw out someone else's property?
    -- Montreal, Quebec

Dear Montreal: Mom obviously didn't care for that shirt, but she should not have tossed it. She should have told your brother that she found the shirt offensive and asked him not to wear it in front of her. Your brother, being the caring son that he is, would have complied, of course.

[ 本帖最后由 荷兰剑客 于 2005-12-13 12:37 PM 编辑 ]

荷兰剑客

<每日一词>
gargantuan  adj.庞大的;大量的

Gargantuan asteroid to pass near Earth this fall.
大量小行星今秋将与地球错身而过。

<每日一句>
John is a real go-getter, so he always achieves his goals.

约翰是一个非常积极进取的人，所以他总能达到他的目标。

go-getter 为名詞，是一个十分口语的用法，表示“有野心的人；积极进取的人；能干的人”。

<每日一笑>
A group of girlfriends are on vacation when they see a 5-story hotel with a sign that reads: "For Women Only". Since they are without their boyfriends and husbands, they decide to go in. The bouncer, a very attractive guy, explains to them how it works. "We have 5 floors. Go up floor by floor, and once you find what you are looking for, you can stay there. It's easy to decide since each floor has a sign telling you what's inside." So they start going up and on the first floor the sign reads: "All the men on this floor are short and plain." The friends laugh and without hesitation move on to the next floor. The sign on the second floor reads: "All the men here are short and handsome." Still, this isn't good enough, so the friends continue on up. They reach the third floor and the sign reads: "All the men here are tall and plain." They still want to do better, and so, knowing there are still two floors left, they continued on up. On the fourth floor, the sign is perfect: "All the men here are tall and handsome." The women get all excited and are going in when they realize that there is still one floor left. Wondering what they are missing, they head on up to the fifth floor. There they find a sign that reads: "There are no men here. This floor was built only to prove that there is no way to please a woman."

一群女友们去度假，她们看到一幢五层的旅店，牌子上写着“仅限女士进入”。她们都没有带男友或者丈夫，所以决定进去。旅店的保镖给她们解释了规则“我们有5层楼，每层都有一个牌子说明此层有什么，一旦你选定一层，就可以留在那层。”

于是她们走到第一层，牌子写着：“此层的男人长得矮、相貌平庸。”

女友们笑着毫不犹豫地走向上一层。二楼的牌子写着：“此层的男人长得矮，但很英俊。”

当然，这还是不够好，女友们继续上楼。第三层牌子写着：“此层男人长得高，但相貌平庸。”

她们还想要更好，又想到还有两层，于是继续上楼。第四层牌子写得颇为完美：“此层男人高且帅。”

女人们万分激动，准备进入，但她们想到还有一层楼。为了想知道自己会错过什么，于是继续上楼，在五楼，她们看到牌子写着：“此层无男人，建造此层是为了证明女人是永不可能满足的。”

<每日一文>
To Go Take a Hike

Most of us love the great outdoors. We find beauty and peace in the natural environment of forests and fields. Walking outside provides pleasant and healthy exercise. If a walk covers several kilometers through the countryside, we call this activity "taking a hike," or simply "hiking."

"Taking a hike" is a pleasant activity if we want to exercise, but it may be a very unpleasant activity if someone forces us to do it against our will. For this reason, when someone tells us "to go take a hike," we know they do not mean something pleasant. In fact, telling people "to go take a hike," especially in a forceful voice, is an insulting way to tell them to go away and stop bothering us. It means we want them to leave the area and go someplace else where they will not be seen or heard.

荷兰剑客

<每日一词>abuse vt. 虐待

Pentagon probes Iraqi prisoner abuse.
伊战俘受虐案，美国防部调查中。

<每日一句>
My old car still runs like clockwork.
我的旧车仍然运行非常良好。

clockwork 是时钟的发条，是让时钟走得准确的装置，所以如果走（跑）的像时钟发条般准确，即表示“机器运作的很好”，或“事情进行的有条不紊”。 还有一个相近的词clockwork orange（发条橙），老伦敦人用它作比喻，总是用来形容奇怪的东西。“He is as queer as a clockwork orange他像发条橙一样怪”，就是指他怪异得无以复加。以至有了库布里克的片子《发条橙》(clockwork orange)。

<每日一笑>
A young bride and groom-to-be had just selected their wedding rings. As the young lady admired the plain platinum and diamond band she had chosen for herself, she suddenly looked concerned. "Tell me," she asked the rather elderly salesman, "is there anything special I'll have to do to take care of this ring?" With a fatherly smile, the salesman said, "one of the best ways to protect a wedding ring is to soak it in dishwater."

一对年轻的准夫妇在挑选他们的结婚戒指。年轻女子正欣赏着自己选的纯白金加钻石镶边的戒指，她突然若有所思，问年纪蛮大的售货员说：“告诉我，保护这戒指有什么需要特别注意的？”售货员带着慈父般的微笑道：“保护结婚戒指最好的方法就是把它泡在洗碗水里。”

<每日一文>
Blessed With a Son, But Grandparents Don't Care

Dear Annie: I recently gave birth to our fourth son, who is my in-laws' 12th grandchild. Apparently, they've had enough. My in-laws left for a vacation the week the baby was due, saying they "forgot" I was expecting.

At birth there were major complications. While everything turned out fine, my husband's parents have yet to see their newest grandson. It's been six weeks, and they live less than 10 minutes away. How could grandparents not care about a new baby? I don't want to take the baby to their house 一 that makes it too easy for them.

My in-laws are both under 55 and in good health. They do not play an active part in any of my little boys' lives, but at least they were around when our children were born 一 until now. How do I manage this hurt?
    -- Mother of the Forgotten Grandson

Dear Mother: Your in-laws seem rather uninvolved in their grandsons' lives, which is a shame. Holding a grudge is understandable, but please take the high road and go see them. Accept whatever contact they offer, without expecting more. Perhaps your parents, or other relatives or friends, can fill the empty emotional space. As your children grow up, your in-laws will see what they've been missing. We only hope it won't be too late.