關(guān)于閱讀：老幼皆宜

Alan: Hi Grandpa! How’s it going? You seem always to be reading when I come to visit. You are such a 1)bookworm.

Grandpa: Hi back to you， Alan. Now about my reading habit: when I was young， I didn’t have a lot of 2)moola. So if I wanted to know about the world， I had to find out from books. And I am happy to say I still enjoy reading books after all these years.

Alan: What kind of books did you read as a teenager? ①Are these books still in print?

Grandpa: ②Don’t be such a smart aleck， Alan. Good books are always available to read. ③I may be old but I am not a dinosaur. I liked 3)science fiction books by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. I admit that ④I have always been on a science fiction kick. Do you know about these authors， Alan?

Alan: Sorry but I don’t. But I like the Star Wars stories and the Harry Potter series. Tell me about Jules Verne’s books， Grandpa， will you?

Grandpa: Well， Jules Verne wrote a book called Around the World in 80 Days. It has been made into a movie at least twice. The last one starred Jackie Chan. But my favorite was Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. In it much of story 4)revolved about a 5)submarine before it became a reality. It’s a good story， even today.

Alan: Awesome! Did he really 6)predict future inventions in his stories?

Grandpa: Oh yeah. The author was a very clever man. But lately I like reading some self-help books.

Alan: Like what?

Grandpa: Well， books like 7)Diabetes for Dummies， Who Moved My Cheese 8)and so forth.

Alan: Wow! No wonder you are so knowledgeable， Grandpa.

Grandpa: Haha， so can you ⑤if you spend more of your time reading rather than jacking around.

Alan: Oh come on， Grandpa! ⑥I gotta go shoot some hoops with my friends now. And later Mom can take me to a bookstore to check out those ancient books.

艾倫：嗨，外公！最近好嗎？每次我來看您，您似乎都是在看書。您真是名副其實的書蟲。

外公：嗨，你好啊，艾倫。關(guān)于我讀書的習(xí)慣，我現(xiàn)在得說幾句：年輕的時候，我沒多少錢。所以，如果我想要了解這個世界就不得不從書里找答案。我可以很開心地說，經(jīng)過了這么多年，我仍然十分享受讀書這個習(xí)慣。

艾倫：您年輕的時候都讀哪些類型的書啊？這些書現(xiàn)在還出版嗎？

外公：別自作聰明了，艾倫。好書無論何時都能讀到。我也許年紀大了，可我不是老古董啊。我喜歡儒勒·凡爾納和赫伯特·喬治·威爾斯的科幻小說。我承認我一直是個科幻小說迷。你認識這些作家嗎，艾倫？

艾倫：不好意思，我不認識。但是，我喜歡“星球大戰(zhàn)”故事和“哈利·波特”系列。跟我多說點儒勒·凡爾納的作品，好嗎，外公？

外公：噢，儒勒·凡爾納寫了一本名叫《環(huán)游世界八十日》的書。這本書至少兩次被改編成電影了。最新的版本是由成龍主演的。可我最喜歡的卻是《海底兩萬里》。這部作品是圍繞一艘潛艇展開的，而在那之前，潛艇還沒造出來呢。時至今日，它仍是個優(yōu)秀的故事。

艾倫：太棒了！在故事里，他真能預(yù)測出未來的發(fā)明嗎？

外公：噢，對。這位作家非常聰明。不過，最近我喜歡讀一些自助自立的書。

艾倫：例如呢？

外公：例如《糖尿病傻瓜書》、《誰動了我的奶酪》等等。

艾倫：哇！怪不得您這么有見識啊，

外公。

外公：哈哈，你也可以的，只要你多花點時間讀書，而不是到處瞎混。

艾倫：噢，別這樣，外公！我現(xiàn)在得去跟朋友打籃球了。晚一點，媽媽就可以帶我到書店去找找那些古書看了。

Smart Sentences

① Are these books still in print? 這些書現(xiàn)在還出版嗎？

in print: copies of a book are still being produced（尚有供應(yīng)的書）。例如：

Many of their books have been in print for nearly 50 years.

他們的許多書出了近五十年了，現(xiàn)在還可以買到。

② Don’t be such a smart aleck. 別自作聰明了。

smart aleck: someone who thinks they are very clever and always have an answer for everything（自作聰明的人，自以為是的人）。例如：

Tim is nothing more than a smart aleck， despised by his classmates.

提姆只不過是一個被同學(xué)看不起、自以為是的人。

③ I may be old but I am not a dinosaur. 我也許年紀大了，可我不是老古董啊。

a dinosaur: someone whose thinking is very much outdated（老古董）。例如：

Tim doesn’t mind to be called a dinosaur because he is happy in his own world.

提姆在自己的世界里自得其樂，并不介意別人把他看成是老古董。

④ I have always been on a science fiction kick. 我一直是個科幻小說迷。

on a + sth. + kick: having a temporary， often obsessive interest in sth.（對……一時的愛好，通常是癡迷）。例如：

After watching The Devil Wears Prada， I was on an office fashion kick.

在看了《時尚女魔頭》后，我有一段時間對職場時裝產(chǎn)生了濃厚的興趣。

⑤ If you spend more of your time reading rather than jacking around. 只要你多花點時間讀書，而不是到處瞎混。

jack around: to mess or fool with（胡混）。例如：

Dave， stop jacking around with the street kids and pay more attention to your books.

戴夫，不要再與街上的小孩鬼混了，好好管好你的功課吧。

⑥ I gotta go shoot some hoops with my friends now. 我現(xiàn)在得去跟朋友打籃球了。

shoot hoops: play basketball（打籃球）。例如：

Steve is shooting hoops outside.

史蒂夫正在外面打籃球。