關(guān)于學(xué)習(xí)：學(xué)無止境

Mother: Hello. Whom am I speaking to please?

Grandpa: This is your dad， of course. Who did you think it was? Brad Pitt? (Laughs)

Mother: Haha， Dad! I wanted to thank you for your conversation about the value and fun of reading books to Alan. I think ①he sees the world in a whole new light.

Grandpa: Tell me more because I never thought Alan and I would have such a meaningful dialogue.

Mother: He is more interested in books than ever before. And he is even willing to put up with work around the house that he hadn’t been in the past. He saw we had a broken electrical 1)switch in the garage and he went to the library to borrow a book on Do It Yourself Home Electricity. After he diligently studied the book， he took the switch apart and fixed it. Dad， do you think he is a genius?

Grandpa: Haha， that’s nice. ②I hope he hasn’t become a jack-of-all-trades yet. Alan is getting more mature. He’s actually using the brains he 2)inherited from me—③a regular chip off the old block. He is finding out there is more to life than 3)PlayStation， iPod music and the Internet.

Mother: That’s right， dad. But maybe if you teach him more about practical information contained in books， he will tell you how to use the Internet in return. You two can merge your learning styles and both of you can be 4)better off.

Grandpa: Nah. ④You can’t teach this old dude a new trick. ⑤But if Alan can get me up to speed on the computer， it would be one for the books.

Mother: Oh Dad， I bet you will soon change your mind. You know， Uncle George has never been happier since he joined an online book club. He chats with his buddies online from time to time， discussing what they read recently.

Grandpa: Really? That’s big news to me. Yes， it sounds tempting. ⑥I’ll give it a go.

Mother: That’s the right attitude， Dad. We are never too old to learn. You know， Alan just taught me lately how to download a couple of chapters of The Obama Nation in my cell phone. Now I use my cell phone to read while I am riding to work on a bus. Isn’t that amazing?

Grandpa: Yeah， definitely. I saw Alan was reading on his iPod last time. He told me that was called， digi..digi…something book.

Mother: You mean， digital book?

Grandpa: That’s right. Digital book. ⑦I didn’t have a clue you could do such a thing.

Mother: Haha， yes. It’s also called the e-book， dad. I guess it’s time for the old fogies to go back to school.

媽媽：嗨。請問是誰啊？

外公：當(dāng)然是你爸爸了。你認(rèn)為是誰啊？布拉德·皮特？（笑）

媽媽：哈哈，爸爸！我要感謝您跟艾倫談了有關(guān)讀書價值與樂趣的事情。我想，他現(xiàn)在對這個世界有了新的

認(rèn)識。

外公：給我多講一些情況吧，因?yàn)槲覐臎]想過，艾倫跟我的交談這么有

意義。

媽媽：他對書的興趣比以前濃多了。而且，他甚至愿意去干一些以前從不干的家務(wù)活。他看見我們家車庫的電開關(guān)壞了，就到圖書館借了一本叫《家居用電DIY》的書。他非常認(rèn)真地學(xué)習(xí)完這本書以后，就拆開開關(guān)修好了它。爸爸，您覺得他是個天才嗎？

外公：哈哈，不錯啊。希望他不要學(xué)得雜而不精。艾倫是變得更加成熟了。實(shí)際上，他開始用腦子想東西了，那可是遺傳我的——一個模子印出來的。他開始明白，原來生活并不僅僅是玩游戲，聽音樂和上網(wǎng)。

媽媽：沒錯，爸爸。但如果您教他更多書里的實(shí)用知識，也許作為回報，他會告訴您怎樣使用互聯(lián)網(wǎng)。你們倆可以把各自的學(xué)習(xí)風(fēng)格融合在一塊兒，互補(bǔ)長短，各自得益。

外公：不。老家伙學(xué)不會新東西。不過，要是艾倫能讓我學(xué)會用電腦，那可真是天方夜譚，得載入史冊啦。

媽媽：噢，爸爸，我敢打賭您很快就會改變想法的。知道嗎，喬治叔叔自從加入了網(wǎng)上讀書俱樂部以后，他從沒像現(xiàn)在這樣快樂過。他不時跟朋友上網(wǎng)聊天，討論他們最近看過什么書。

外公：真的嗎？對我來說這可真是大新聞啊。好吧，聽起來挺誘惑人的。我得試一試。

媽媽：這才是正確的態(tài)度嘛，爸爸。活到老，學(xué)到老啊。知道嗎，艾倫最近剛教會我怎樣把《奧巴馬國度》的幾個章節(jié)下載到我手機(jī)里去。現(xiàn)在，我坐公交車上班的時候就用手機(jī)看書。是不是很了不起？

外公：對，絕對是。上次我看見艾倫用iPod讀書。他告訴我，那叫數(shù)……數(shù)……什么書。

媽媽：您是說，數(shù)碼書嗎？

外公：對，數(shù)碼書。沒想到你還懂這個。

媽媽：哈哈，對啊。那也叫做電子書，爸爸。我猜啊，老頑固們是時候該回學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)啦。

Smart Sentences

① He sees the world in a whole new light. 他現(xiàn)在對這個世界有了新的認(rèn)識。

see/look at sth. in a whole new light: view sth. in a completely different way（重新看待某事）。例如：

The movie Burn After Reading had me looking at the intelligence service in a whole new light.

電影《閱后即焚》讓我對情報機(jī)構(gòu)有了一個全新的看法。

② I hope he hasn’t become a jack-of-all-trades yet. 希望他不要學(xué)得雜而不精。

jack-of-all-trades: someone who is able to do a variety of different jobs， but not very good at any of them（雜而不精的人）。例如：

Alex prides himself as a jack-of-all-trades.

亞歷克斯以自己什么都懂為傲。

③ a regular chip off the old block 一個模子印出來的

a chip off the old block: someone is just like one of his/her parents in character or behavior（完全像父母的人，跟父母一個模子里出來的人）。例如：

If you want to know Betty， look at her folks. She is just a chip off the old block.

如果你想了解貝蒂，看看她父母就知道了。她跟他們簡直一模一樣。

④ You can’t teach this old dude a new trick. 老家伙學(xué)不會新東西。

teach an old dude a new trick = teach an old dog a

new trick

can’t teach an old dude a new trick: someone is unwilling to try new ways of doing things（守舊的人不接受新事物）。例如：

My 80-year-old grandpa is excellent at sending text messages and pictures with cell phone. Who says you can’t teach an old dude a new trick?

我80歲的外公用手機(jī)發(fā)短信和照片可在行了，誰說老家伙學(xué)不會新鮮事物？

⑤ But if Alan can get me up to speed on the computer， it would be one for the books. 不過，要是艾倫能讓我學(xué)會用電腦，那可真是天方夜譚，得載入史冊啦。

up to speed on sth.: fully informed of sth.（熟悉某事）。例如：

I’m not up to speed on what happened to the car yet.

我對車子究竟出了什么事情不清楚。

one for the books: an occurrence so incredible that should surely be remembered for years to come（值得大書特書的，值得記載的事）。例如：

It’s so incredible that Mark got admitted to Harvard. It’s surely one for the books for our family.

馬克能考上哈佛真是太了不起了，這是咱家值得大書特書的一件事。

⑥ I’ll give it a go. 我得試一試。

give it a go: give it a try（嘗試）。例如：

I heard that the Coke Zero was wonderful and I am going to give it a go.

我聽說零度可樂挺不錯的，我打算試一下。

⑦ I didn’t have a clue you could do such a thing. 沒想到你還懂這個。

don’t have a clue: have no idea（毫無頭緒， 什么也不知道）。例如：

Joe is leaving for Australia for the spring break? I didn’t have a clue.

喬春假要到澳大利亞去？我一點(diǎn)兒也不知道。