Slow your pace
By Michelle
Picture by Zhu Lijun

新西兰这个美丽的太平洋岛国向来以宜人的气候和幽雅自然的生活环境为人们所知. 2004年, 本文作者踏上这块土地并亲身感受了其迷人之处. 然而令她印象最深刻的, 除了那里的旖妮风光之外, 还有新西兰人的"慢速生活". 相比起凡事追求效率的亚洲人, 新西兰人的生活节奏就像是用慢镜头处理过的影像, 带给她不一样的思考和感受.

During the past year of 2004, I had been in New Zealand for study, living with my uncle and antie in their beautiful house with three floors and several rooms surrounded by a garden. Once, however, the ceiling of our kitchen unfortunately came up with the problem of leakage(漏水). As we know, New Zealand is a country that rainfall visits frequently throughout the whole year so that you can imagine how difficult life must have been. We did need someone to help us urgently!

Therefore we soon rang the local "Household repair" company for help. On the phone, they promised to send an expert to help us as soon as possible so we supposed everything would be settled in no more than a week. But we were wrong. Seven days later, a kind-looking middle-aged man arrived at our house on an early morning with all the tools and equipment needed.
The whole morning passed. The ceiling had been under construction for nearly four hours but I couldn't tell whether it was something obviously different from before or not. The next time he came was after another seven days. Then the same thing happened and after the work he left, with the ceiling still leaking.

What annoyed us more was that, one day he called to tell us that he was rather sorry for having to come after two weeks, which was quite out of the already planned schedule. Honestly, we considered this to be unreasonable but since there were no more experts in the only household repairing company in our community, all we could do was wait. I remember, finally the leakage was solved a month later and the total time taken to repair it was two months!

What I can see from all these occurrences is that most people living in New Zealand are enjoying a really slow pace of life compared to us in China. They always give themselves a loose schedule no matter if it's for work, social activities or family issues. For them, life is never a race but a comfortable journey in which you can find drops of wisdom and happiness. This type of attitude for life asks for a calm minded person who does not fill himself up with much pressure and eagerness. Take your time; never rush. On the basis of my experience this year, this is just what the New Zealanders have deep in their culture and society.

At last, remember, slow your pace a little bit once you step onto the land of New Zealand and try to enjoy yourselves there with all the shining, tiny drops of your life!

 

 

Crossword Puzzle
本栏目内容由 www.1cm.com.cn 提供



Across
1.A mild animal.
3. Below the waist.
5. Pyramids.
7. Drinks, snacks, and sometimes live performance.
8. To inquire.
9. Very bad.
10. "Window of the heart".

Down
1. Being without a shape.
2. With nothing inside.
4. Name of a very famous cat.
6. A number.
7. Almost.

Please e-mail your answer to the following address: common-talk@fj172.com. Participants will have a chance to win free movie tickets to the Jinying Cinema (世贸金鹰影院) within two weeks. Please check the results on the website www.common-talk.com.

 

 

Hot Word
Collected by Jianjiang

● withdrawal
Each renminbi-denominated bankcard issued by mainland banks can be used for the withdrawal of cash equivalent to no more than 5,000 yuan per day overseas.
去韩国、泰国和新加坡旅游的中国人可以直接用人民币银联卡在当地ATM上取款了, 每张卡每天限取5000元. 这是人民币银联卡首次真正意义上走出国门.
withdrawal, 提款. 原意是"收回, 撤退". saving withdrawals, 存折储蓄提款.

● spearhead
The U.S. is spearheading the international relief effort and delivering more supplies than any other nation for the natural disaster thousands of miles from American shores.
在援助遭受地震和海啸灾难的国家时, 美国起了带头作用. 布什与克林顿联合发出倡议, 号召美国民众和企业踊跃捐款.
spearhead, 充当先锋、带头. spear是矛, spearhead矛头可是最精要最中坚的部分, 引申出"先锋"的意思.

● mudslide
A powerful storm moved along California's Coast, causing highway-blocking mudslides, flooding and power outages.
当地震和海啸无情地席卷东南亚时, 美国加州南部也遭到一场20年来罕见的暴风雨的袭击. 洛杉矶地区6万多用户断电, 山区爆发山洪和泥石流.
mudslide, 泥石流. 祈祷地球宁静, 人类平安, 我们不用再频繁介绍灾难类的词汇啦.

● mansion
The location for the wedding has not been set yet. It might be in Beijing, where they bought their mansion, or Xi'an, where the relationship got solid.
传言王菲和李亚鹏正在秘密筹备婚礼. 婚礼地点可能在北京他们买的豪宅中, 也可能是在他们的定情地西安.
mansion, 豪宅. 缩写是一个气派的大写M, 表示"官邸". Executive M, 总统官邸.

● overjoyed
The 1.3 billionth Chinese person was greeted in Beijing. Watched closely by his overjoyed father and tired mother; the baby was sleepy but healthy.
北京妇产医院迎来了中国内地第13亿名小公民. 男婴重3660克, 身长52厘米, 取名张亦驰. 不用说, 小宝宝的父亲自然非常开心了.
overjoyed, 狂喜的. joy已经够高兴了, 前头再加个over, 真是欣喜若狂了.



● charts
More than 27 years after he was officially declared dead, Elvis Presley is poised to make history by claiming the 1,000th British charts No 1.
在官方正式宣布其死讯的27年之后, "猫王"将有可能开创历史记录, 成为英国流行乐坛史上的第1000位排行榜冠军.
charts, 流行音乐排行榜. chart的本义是"图表", 复数形式表示"排行榜", 常和the连用.

 

 

Daily English
Collected by the Chef

衣食住行, 学英语要从身边的小事开始. 本栏目将带给您最实用的日常口语. 同时也非常欢迎读者来信来电"点题", 我们将尽力满足大家的要求. (联系电话:5581650;电邮地址:common-talk@fj172.com)

Repeat 再说一遍

● Could you say it again, please? 您能再说一遍吗?
● Sorry, I didn't catch that. 对不起, 我没听清楚.
● What was that? 什么?
● Excuse me/Sorry? 对不起?
● What were you saying? 你刚才说什么?
● Can you repeat that? 您能重复一遍吗?
● Eh? 啊? (加拿大人用得比较多)

 

 

我"挺"你
By Suky

当你孤单,一句简简单单的"I'll back you up."(我会挺你的)也许就会让你心生温暖, 胜过冬天里的三把火. 不要吝啬自己的言语, 多和朋友说一句:我"挺"你!

1. I will support you.
我会支持你的.

2. I'm on your side.
我站在你这边.

3. You can count on me.
你可以依靠我.
"count on"指望、依靠. 你也可以说: You can rely on me.你可以依赖我.

4. You can trust in me.
你可以信赖我.
trust me相信我. trust之后加上in, 更有一种信赖、信任的持久性. 也可以说, You can put your trust in me.

5. I'll be available if you need me.
你需要帮助时, 我就有空.
如果直接说: I am available!反而有一种"乐于结交男(女)朋友"的意思.

6. I'll be there if you need a hand.
你需要帮助时, 我就会出现.
Give me a hand. 帮个忙吧!

7. I'm a phone call away.
我随call随到.

8. I'm with you all the way.
我一路上陪着你.
很让人感动的一句话, 人生得一知己, 斯当以同怀视之.