英語趣味課堂：親愛的老爸-Dear Old Dad

Todd: OK, Keri, I've heard you talk about your father quite a bit. He sounds like a very interesting man. Can you talk a little bit about him?

Kerri: Sure. My dad's name is Robert and he's an interesting guy. He's retired now and lives in Oregon and in his free time he's building an airplane (wow!) Yeah!

Todd: So can he fly a plane as well?

Kerri: Yeah, he has a private pilot's license.

Todd: Wow, that must be pretty difficult. He's actually making a plane from scratch.

Kerri: Yeah. Well, he used to be an airplane mechanic, so quite awhile ago. But yeah, he's doing all the riveting, building all the different parts of the plane and assembling it.

Todd: Wow! So when do you think he's going to be finished.

Kerri: I don't know. I got an e-mail from him recently that said he's just putting the tail section on soon. But I haven't seen a picture of that yet.

Todd: Wow. So are you going to go in this plane with your father as soon as it's finished?

Kerri: I hope so. He's having someone else test fly it which made me happy when I found out. Although I trust his work cause he's meticulous but it made me feel good that someone else is going to try it for the first time, but yeah, after it's finished, when he's ready to take up passengers.

Todd: Cool. Sounds fun.

Kerri: Yeah. I think so.

學(xué)習(xí)內(nèi)容：

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

quite a bit

I've heard you talk about your father quite a bit.

If we do something 'quite a bit' we do it more than some but less than a lot. Notice the following:

You look quite a bit like your father.

He spends quite a bit of money on music.

retired

My dad's retired now, and he lives in Oregon.

When someone is finished working because they are old or because they have enough money then they are 'retired.' This can be used as both a verb and adjective. Notice the following:

He made a lot of money quickly and retired young.

Are your parents retired?

free time

In his free time, he's building a plane.

Our 'free time' is the time we have to do something that we like. It is time when we aren't working, going to school or completing obligations. Notice the following:

I don't have a lot of free time this week.

She takes photographs in her free time.

test fly

My dad's having someone else test fly his plane.

When you 'test' something you try it to see how it works. Before you buy a new car you 'test drive' it. Notice the following:

I want to test fly the plane before I buy it.

Do you want to test drive my new boat?

meticulous

I trust his work, because I know he's meticulous.

Someone who is 'meticulous' is very precise and careful. Notice the following:

Your daughter is a meticulous student.

He works slowly, but he is very meticulous.