Wednesday 67-79頁
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最終晚上還是下雪了。Greg準備去幫人剷雪賺錢啦。
Today I realized there’s just too much history between me and the people in my neighborhood.
他找了一圈，覺得自己和自己的鄰居們有太多尷尬的往事，都不太合適，於是去了另一條街道。
Greg遇見的第一個人是Mrs Melcher。
must’ve been in there for an hour before I was finally able to steer the conversation back to the subject of me shoveling her driveway.
Greg出於禮貌，在人家坐了將近一個小時，最後才決定把話題轉到剷雪這件事。
這裡面用了個有意思的小詞，steer the conversation
我們常見的steer的搭配有 steer the car/boat/plane, 就是駕駛汽車、輪船、飛機的意思。
我們還會說steer someone，指的是把某人引向某個防線。
那這裡的steer the conversation是什麼意思呢？對了，就是說把話題轉移到某個方向 的意思。
結果，對於這份工，Mrs Melcher是怎麼回應的呢？
But Mrs Melcher said her son was coming by in his pickup truck any minute and he ploughs her driveway for free.
所以她有兒子免費給自己剷雪了，Greg的嘗試失敗。
接下來Greg終於找到一個人可以幫他有償剷雪了。
I got to work and was making pretty good progress. But it started snowing again while I was shoveling. By the time I’d finished, it had snowed so much that you could barely tell I’d done any work.
這裡面有個短語make a good progress, 就是進展不錯的意思。
我們可以來嘗試造一個句子看看。
你在下個月希望在哪方面有所進展呢？
比如，Allie想說, I hope all of my students can make a good progress in the new term!
回到原文，Greg剷雪遇到的一個大困難是，鏟完雪又下雪了。結果僱主不承認。他還給大家一條血的教訓：
See, this is why it’s a good idea to have a contract before you start working for someone.
打工前要籤合同啊！保護自己的權益啊！
這裡面，have/sign a contract 是籤合同的意思。
好了，那麼Greg是如何解決自己的這個困難呢？
Attempt 1
嘗試1
I got back out there and started shoveling, but so much snow was falling that I was getting nowhere.
繼續回去剷雪，但是雪多到going nowhere就是說一點進展都沒有。
失敗告終。。。
Attempt 2
嘗試2
So I walked over to her place and pushed the mower back to the driveway I was working on.
常住中國的公寓樓的小朋友們可能不熟悉mower是什麼東西，這是割草機，裡面有刀片，割草機走過路過會把草割下來到兩側。書中的一些人物住在帶有花園的房子，這樣的家庭一般都會有，用來修剪草坪。當然，如果你住在像大頭兒子家一樣的別墅，上句話當我沒說。。。
所以，用割草機來剷雪？好像略機智？看看結果呢？
Unfortunately, it didn’t go as smoothly as I hoped it would. I thought the snow would shoot out of the side, but the blade cut right through it and the snow stayed where it was.
Smooth常見意思為：
A smooth surface has no roughness, lumps, or holes.
就是光滑平滑的意思。
如果說某個動作很smooth：
A smooth line or movement has no sudden breaks or changes in direction or speed.
就是很順，沒有突然的變換方向或增減速度的意思。
例如：
This exercise is done in one smooth motion.
這裡面Greg講這件事go smoothly就是很順利的意思。
比如，Allie老師又來祝福你們啦：Hope the next term goes smoothly. 希望新學期順順利利！
你們希望什麼順順利利呢？
對於Greg來說，剷雪這件事就沒有想象中的順利啦。
他以為the snow would shoot out of the side, 就是雪會被衝擊到邊上，the side。但是實際上，the blade （刀片）cut right through it。
Through這個介詞帶有穿過的意思，這裡面就是說刀片從雪中間徒然地穿過，the snow stayed where it was，積雪還是原地不動，留在Greg在風中凌亂。。。
失敗告終。。。
Attempt 3
嘗試3
I could see that his garden hose（花園軟管） was attached to the house, so I turned it on, put the nozzle（噴嘴）to the ‘shower’ setting and sprayed down the snow in the driveway.
我知道，你們看到那些園藝詞彙又被嚇到了，Allie已經把中文給你們了。不過這裡有幾個詞你們還是需要掌握的。
Attach to
If you attach something to an object, you join it or fasten it to the object.
就是連接起來或者貼上的意思，比如下面這個句子，我們在把東西歸檔前貼上標籤。
You can say: We attach labels to things before we file them away.
回到原文，the garden hose was attached to the house, 那說明了什麼呢？水管和房子連著，水管的房子那頭連著水龍頭哦，打開會有水出來哦。於是Greg turned it on，打開了，水管開始向車道噴水。Spray是噴灑的意思。是個比較常用的詞彙。
所以，用水噴來剷雪？好像略機智？看看結果呢？
It was GREAT. The water melted the snow on contact, and I was cruising. Then I saw a sprinkler （灑水器） leaning up against the house, and I got an even BETTER idea.
我們來看下melt這個詞：
When a solid substance melts or when you melt it, it changes to a liquid, usually because it has been heated.
融化的意思，我們可以講something melts/melted，某物融化
或者我們可以說A melts/melted B A讓B融化
我們來練習一下：
雪融化了。
The snow had melted.
水使雪融化了。
The water melted the snow.
回到原文，Greg發現,the water melted the snow on contact, on contact就是一接觸的意思。Nani？？好像有用？等等，你確定嗎？這不是來搞笑的嗎？
果真,
By the time I’d walked back down Prentice Lane, the driveway I’d hit with the sprinkler was frozen over.
be frozen, 凍住了。果真，這條被灑水器噴了的車道凍住了。
失敗告終。。。
最後誰來幫Greg收了這個爛攤子呢？
When Dad got home, we had to go out and buy five big bags of rock salt to melt the guy’s driveway. So now, instead of having money in my pocket for all my hard work, I’m twenty bucks in the hole.
是的，爸爸花了20刀買了5袋子粗鹽拿去化冰了。
看來，Greg最後不僅沒有賺到錢還反倒賠了20刀。所以說，嗯，知識很重要啊，哈哈哈。
好了，到最後，你們還能回憶起來Greg對於剷雪時下大雪的3個attempt和其結果都是什麼嗎？試著用一個導圖畫出來吧。
答案如下
最後我們來總結一下本次課的幾個核心表達，一起來複習一下吧 你們還記得他們是什麼意思嗎？
- Be supposed to do/be something
- Fundraiser
- Steer the conversation
- Have a contract
- Go smoothly
- Attach to
- Melt
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