英語學習筆記

Dain: What's new?
Nana: Do you know two dogs called Lucky and Flo? They were recently awarded medals by the Malaysia government, according to a report I read in the China Post.

Markets Crisis Tests Resolve Of Fed, Officials
                                                              by Greg Ip, Deborah Solomon & David Wesel
    As an academic, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake studied the policy mistakes that led to the Great Depression and the ways dislocations in financial markets can affect the rest of the economy.
    Now he is getting a chance to put theory into practice.

Dan: Is the air conditioner broken?
Nona: Yep. I already called the maintenance department. They'll be here in no time.
Dan: If I keep sweating

Daniel: The blazing heat is killing me.
Nina: You're telling me. Do you know that the sea ice in Arctic recently shrunk

'It's a piece of cake.'
    A very common idiom among language learners, but not something you hear very often from native speakers. A much more natural way of saying this is just by using the adjective 'easy':
'It's very easy.'
    A important thing to remember when using adjectives, though, is to decide whether you are using an extreme adjective or a normal one. Extreme adjectives are any adjective with the meaning of 'very + adjective', for example 'freezing' (very cold) or 'excellent' (very good). This is important, because with extreme adjectives we can only use 'really' or 'absolutely' and not other words like 'a little' or 'very'. So, for example 'very excellent' is wrong, you must say 'absolutely excellent'.

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    常可在英語學習者之間聽到這句慣用語，但並不會常聽到以英語為母語的人士這樣說。其實白語一點來說, "簡單" 這個形容詞就足夠。

It's raining cats and dogs.
    A great idiom and one that paints a very colorful picture. However... if there is one thing that show up a competent speaker of English as someone who hasn't really fully grasped the language, it's an over-reliance on idioms. In everyday life, we just don't tend to use them, and so coming from a non-native speaker they seem forced and unnatural. Far more appropriate is :
              'It's raining heavily.'

Rain can be described as 'heavy' or 'light' depending on its intensity. 
Several other things can also be described in this way:

Luis: You know what? According to a news report I read in the China Post, Microsoft is going to cut down its Xbox 360's price by US$50 to compete with Sony's PS3 and Nintendo's Wii. It will cost only US$349 per console.
Faye: That doesn't sound bad. But I remember you told me that you will prepare for graduate school this year?
Luis:

Lewis: Do you want some peanut butter sandwiches?
Fay: Thanks. But I'm allergic to foods such as peanuts, milk and eggs.

Will Credit-Market Turmoil Stifle Growth?
                                                                 by Phil Izzo
    Most economists expect the turmoil in credit markets to have just a minor impact on growth, but they cut their economic forecasts and nearly a third expect higher borrowing costs to be a

Faith: Louis! Don't text with your mobile while driving. It's too dangerous.
Louis: You're telling me. I'll still pay attention to my driving job. It's no big deal.