英語早間課堂:話說地道美語 Lesson 19(3)

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首先，let's warm up。我們先來做個熱身?，F(xiàn)在就進入我們今天的復習環(huán)節(jié)。在第19課第一講中我們知道了“熬更打夜”的表述法是pull an all-nighter。在第19課第二講中我們知道了“熬更打夜的人”的表述法是night owl。A night owl is a person who pulls an all-nighter. 夜貓子就是熬更打夜的人。

【今日課題】

那么，既然談到夜貓子，夜貓子就是貓頭鷹的別稱。我們就來透視一下中西的文化對貓頭鷹(Night Owl)的看法。這就是我們今天的“美味早餐”。

【課題詳說】

在英語文化中，an owl is thought to be wise(貓頭鷹是智慧、聰明才智的象征。)在希臘和古羅馬神話中，an owl stands beside Athenae(站在智慧女神雅典娜的身邊)，因此owl就有智慧的象征。

有個成語叫做as wise as an owl，是“有學問的”“聰明絕頂?shù)?rdquo;“有才智的”意思。我們來看2個例句。

例句1：Her parents lay stress on her education very much. They are proud to be her parents because of her good grades. When she got a success, they said, " Our daughter is as wise as an owl."她的父母很重視她的教育。由于她的成績好，身為父母，他們也很驕傲。當她取得成功的時候，他們便會說：“我們的女兒真是聰明過人。

注解：Lay a stress on something是重視、注重......的意思。例如：Sure , a man should lay a stress on his career . 誠然，一個男人應當注意事業(yè)。

例句2：The child picked up the glasses and put them on. "Now you look as wise as an owl, " said his father affectionately. 那孩子拾起那副眼鏡戴了起來。他的爸爸非常疼愛地說：“瞧，看上去真夠有學問的。”

注解：Pick up是“撿起”“收拾”的意思。例如：My mother gasped as she bent to pick up the object. 母親喘著氣彎腰把它拾起來。I am checking out soon. Could you please pick up my luggage? 我現(xiàn)在要退房。請問可以幫我收拾一下行李嗎? Put sth on是“戴上”“穿上”的意思。例如：Put on your scarf. Go out to play. 戴上圍巾，出去玩吧。Anyway, We'd better put on more warm things. 不管怎么樣，我還是多穿些暖和的衣服。Affectionately是“摯愛地”“親切地”的意思。

Owl是個名詞，其形容詞是在詞尾加上ish，即：owlish，意思是看上去“聰明的”“儒雅的”的意思。For example：Her new glasses make her look rather owlish. 她戴著新眼鏡看上去很文氣。Owlish 詞尾加上ly就是副詞了，owlishly。For example: Her grandmother peers owlishly at us through his glasses. 他的祖母透過他的老花鏡嚴肅而又機智地打量著我們。

注解: Peer at是凝視的意思。例如：He had to peer at his book because the room was dark . 因為房間里很暗，他看書時可費勁了。She peers at him closely , as if not believing it can really be him. 她仔細地打量著他，似乎不相信真會是他。

以上足以說明以英語為母語的人認為貓頭鷹是智慧的象征。然而，在中國，a night owl is regarded as an unlucky bird (被視為一種不吉祥的鳥)。Just because it comes out that often and it squeakes out shrill cries，所以迷信的人就把它的叫聲和死聯(lián)系在一起。有句話：“貓頭鷹進宅，好事不會來。”以此預兆厄運的到來。誰要是在樹林里hear a night owl，就預示someone in his family would pass away。It's so horrible. 那么，Juliet在此建議您千萬不要在深夜到在樹林中聽到a night owl的凄厲的叫聲，祝愿您的家人平平安安，健康幸福。