如何描述人物

⊙ By Robert Dick

如何描述人物

⊙ By Robert Dick

學了這些年的英語，如果你描述人的詞匯還停留在“高矮胖瘦”上，那就太不應該了。來吧，聽完以下兩段對話，學以致用，你肯定會讓人刮目相看。

Part 1

So, what’s Your Roommate Like? 說說你的室友

Jennifer: Hey, Will! I haven’t seen you for a week, ’cause I’ve been really busy with classes. How are things?

Will: Hi, Jen. Yeah we haven’t chatted for a while. Things are pretty good. Got the courses I wanted, my teachers are interesting, and I have no classes on Fridays, which is great. How are things with you?

Jennifer: Good. Unfortunately I have classes every day and two math courses this semester. Groan[呻吟]! Still, I’m back in the same nice dorm room I had last year and have a new bike to get around the campus[校園].

Will: Sounds good.

Jennifer: Yeah, I really can’t complain too much. What else is new for you?

Will: I have a new roommate this semester, Jeremy.

Jennifer: Oh, what’s he like?

Will: Well he’s quite tall, fairly slim, has blond hair, and wears small round glasses.

Jennifer: Do you like him?

Will: Yeah, I do. He’s really intelligent and curious about unusual things, likes good music, is serious about his studies but quite interesting to talk with.

Jennifer: It doesn’t sound like he’s a lot of fun.

Will: Actually he’s really friendly and funny. He’s not a bit shy and I think he could be popular with the girls if he wanted to be. Oh, and we play badminton[羽毛球]a couple of times a week. So, do you have a roommate this year?

Jennifer: Oh, sure! Becky’s back. Remember “boring Becky”?

Will: Uhm, was she really good in…math?

Jennifer: Yeah, that’s her.

Will: I don’t really remember much about her.

Jennifer: She’s pretty quiet. She’s very hardworking, and determined to get good grades. Straight “A”s is her goal. She makes me look stupid, but I don’t mind. She’s a much better student than I am.

Will: I think I remember you kinda liked her because she helped you when you were having trouble with your math last semester, right?

Jennifer: Yeah, that’s true. She was really generous with her time and patient with me. I guess I do like her because she’s a good example for me, and she’s considerate and kind.

Will: I forget what she looks like. Is she fat, skinny[極瘦的], red hair…?

Jennifer: No, she’s fairly tall and slim, has dark brown hair and big brown eyes. She dresses modestly but still in fashion. She’s quite attractive, actually.

Will: What does she do for fun?

Jennifer: Well she occasionally plays badminton, like your roommate. What’s his name?

Will: Jeremy.

Jennifer: She also likes good music and she reads a lot about archaeology, you know, ancient people and places, stuff[事情]like that.

Will: Gosh, it sounds like she might like Jeremy. What do you think?

Jennifer: Maybe. They have similar interests, they’re both fairly tall and good looking, and both intelligent. Hmm.

Will: Does Becky use a social network where she’s posted[放置]a picture? Maybe I could suggest Jeremy look at her picture.

Jennifer: Or, how about the four of us friends go to a movie or play badminton on the weekend?

Will: That sounds like fun. I could ask him, and you talk to Becky.

Jennifer: Ooooh, this could get interesting. Maybe I’d like to meet Jeremy.

Will: And maybe I’d get to like Becky.

描寫外貌特征的詞匯

● 身高

? tall：高的。注意：盡管long是short的反義詞，但這僅限于長度，在表示身高時，short的反義詞是tall。

? short：矮的；指身高遜于常人。

? little：嬌小的；亦指身高遜于常人，但多帶感情色彩，指小而可愛或小巧。● 身材

? thin：瘦的；通常與平常人相比。

? slim：苗條的，纖細的；指招人喜愛的苗條身材。

? slender：苗條的；指體態優美，身體適中。

? skinny：極瘦的；指非常瘦的人，也就是人們常說的“皮包骨”。

? fat：胖的；略含貶義，多指體內脂肪過多。

? chubby：豐滿的；表示某人有點胖的委婉說法。● 相貌

? handsome：英俊的；多指男性，如果用在女性身上，則有端莊健美之意。

? attractive：迷人的，有魅力的；指引人注目的。

? beautiful：美麗的；含義廣泛，多用于女性或孩子。

? pretty：漂亮的；比beautiful語氣要強，用于描寫女性或孩子的可愛。

Part 2

Who’s Your New Teacher? 說說你的新老師

Jane: Hi, Dad. I’m finally getting around to calling you.

Dad: Oh, Hi, Jane. Good to hear from you. How have your first two weeks at college been?

Jane: Oh, really good, Dad. I’ve met all my teachers and started cracking my books[用功學習].

Dad: Your courses look good?

Jane: Yeah, I got all the courses I wanted, but I’m a little worried about my English course.

Dad: Oh, why?

Jane: Well, the teacher is new this year. Dr.[博士]Wal-something. I forget. He’s from New Zealand.

Dad: New Zealand! We don’t very often hear about teachers coming from there. What’s he like?

Jane: Of course he talks with a very strong accent and speaks fairly fast. I hope I’ll be able to understand him. It’s kinda hard to catch[聽清]everything he says.

Dad: That’s important for lectures, isn’t it? To understand clearly, I mean.

Jane: Yeah, I guess so. I think it’ll be hard to listen to him, because of his accent.

Dad: In my university years, I had a couple of professors who came from other countries, and they were a bit difficult to understand, too.

Jane: So, what did you do about that?

Dad: Well, I had to listen carefully and ask lots of questions. They were patient with me, though, and after a while I got used to their accents, so it got easier.

Jane: I hope it’ll get easier for me, too, and quickly. He seems really knowledgeable and well-organized. He laid out[說明]the course for us, which looks like it will be interesting, with a focus on reading, writing and analysis.

Dad: I’d expect a course on English to include that. Other than his accent, what’s he like?

Jane: Actually, he’s a bit humorous. He likes to illustrate his points with humor.

Dad: Do you understand his humor?

Jane: Most of the time, but sometimes it’s culturally confusing for me. You know, like a cold joke[冷笑話].

Dad: Yeah, I can appreciate that.

Jane: He doesn’t look like most teachers, either.

Dad: Oh, how so?

Jane: Well, he’s short and quite fat, and he wears casual clothes. He’s also fairly old, I think, because he has long grey hair that he wears in a ponytail[馬尾辮]. But for a guy who’s older, he’s pretty lively. I think he’ll bepopular with the class.

Dad: If he’s a professor with a PhD, has he written any books?

Jane: Yes, he told us about his book on etymology[詞源學], a history of how languages developed, but he didn’t really talk much about his book.

Dad: That’s unusual.

Jane: Oh, and one thing I think will be really great about this course will be learning about some different languages that are almost extinct, like the Maori[毛利語]in New Zealand and several other languages in southeast Asia.

Dad: That sounds interesting.

Jane: Yeah, and we’ll also be studying how language gets transferred[轉換]between cultures. He’s really energetic and enthusiastic when he’s talking about this stuff.

Dad: Hmm.

Jane: He seems to be determined to demonstrate[展示]the long-term trends, like how and why English is becoming the most important global language. I think I’m going to have to work hard in this course, but it’ll be worth it.

動詞sound有一個常見用法，可表達對某事的印象或觀點。印象或觀點形成的來源可以是聽說的，也可是讀到的，與sound最常見的含義“聲音”無關。

使用時，sound后可跟形容詞，如本文的sound good和sound interesting；也可跟介詞like，如本文的sound like fun，like后還可以跟一個句子，如本文的sound like he’s a lot of fun.

本文的sounds good是口語中的常見用法，是it sounds good的省略形式。

描寫人物性格的詞匯

● 為人處世

? curious：好奇的，求知欲強的；多為褒義，特別是用于孩子或學生時。

? nosy：好管閑事的，八卦的；帶有貶義。

? chatty：愛閑聊的，話多的；多指無聊的閑談，略含貶義。

? talkative：健談的；屬中性詞，但也偏于貶義。

● 智力

? clever：聰明的；指學東西快，頭腦靈活。

? smart：非常聰明；比clever更上一個臺階。

? intelligent：有才智的；指在理解新東西或處理問題時，智力超過常人；比較正式。

? knowledgeable：博學的，學識淵博的；多指熟知多個領域或某個特定方面。

● 態度

? happy：高興的，滿足的；強調感到滿足。

? cheerful：歡樂的；多指因內心愉快而表現出來的興高采烈。

? joyful：快樂的；強調心情，語氣較強。

? active：積極的，活躍的；多指活動能力方面，強調與消極相反的狀態。

? lively：活潑的，生氣勃勃的；強調有生氣。

? energetic：充滿活力的；指精力充沛，特別是對于某事的態度。