20090810 -- As Busy as Beavers (1)

As Busy as Beavers

Beaver advice: Work first, play later

Bucky was an eager beaver.
"Make way!" he cried. "Why-ah, here comes another log!"
"Aw, Dad!" Junior pined.
"We have plenty of logs already.
Let's just make do with the ones we have."
"Why-ah, certainly not!" replied Bucky.
"We must make sure that our lodge by the riverbank is sturdy and strong.
We must make use of all the logs we can.
Why-ah, after all, when the floodwaters come,
we don't want our home to be destroyed."
"Aw, Dad. Our makeshift dam is strong enough.
We'll make out all right. We always have.
Besides," complained Junior, "we've been as busy as beavers!"

"Well, after all, Junior, we are beavers!" his father reminded him.
"But I'd rather do other things! Can't we make time for fishing?"
begged Junior. "Or maybe take a little swim?"
"We will, we will," his father promised.
"But first we have work to do! Now, let's get back to cutting logs."
"But, Dad!" Junior cried. "My jaw has a gnawing pain.
And my teeth hurt. And my ..."
"Why-ah, stop making excuses," warned Bucky.
"We don't have a minute to spare! Why-ah,
if we don't make good time, we won't finish our dam before the rains come!"



pine v. 痛苦/悲哀
=> very sad about something
=> It looks like you're losing something
eg: Saily pined for her little lost dog.

lodge n. 海貍的巢穴
=> beaver's home
eg: Nick spent his vacation at a lodge in the woods.
eg: Father beaver was busy building their lodge while mother beaver took care of the babies.

lodge n. 小木屋
eg: The couple has a ski lodge they visit every winter.

makeshift adj. 暫時的/臨時的
=> substitute
eg: It's raining! I'll use this big plastic bag as a makeshift raincoat.
eg: The Smiths used their garage as their makeshift office.
eg: The makeshift refugee camp is in the terrible condition.
eg: After the earthquake, the church was turned into a makeshift shelter.

gnaw v. 啃/咬
=> painful or warry that keep happening for a period of time
eg: Sandy had a gnawing feeling she had forgotten something at work.
eg: Nathan has a bad habit of gnawing his fingernails.

gnaw v. 侵蝕/腐蝕
eg: The salty air gnawed at the plumbing(水管) of our beach house.

beaver n. 海狸

Make way! 讓路
=> Let me through! I need to get through!

why-ah
=> for filling the quiet space when speaking

log n. 圓木
=> big piece of tree trunk

sturdy adj. 堅固的/經久耐用的

make time for 為...空出時間
=> set apart time to do verb

We don't have a minute to spare!
=> We don't have a minute to waste!

//== Chat room ==//

advice n. 忠告
eg: I need your advice.

advise v. 忠告
eg: Can you advise me?

counsel v. 勸告/
counselor n. 專門提供建議的人/輔導員

adviser n. (較主動給予建議)
consultant n. (較被動給予建議，必須要去找該人請教諮詢，他才會提供你意見)

financial advisers
business consultant

//== Grammer on the go ==//

After all, Junior, we are beavers!

after all
=> here it means "let's no forget that."

eg: Let's go out and find something to do. After all, it's only 2 pm.
eg: There's no need to hurry. We are on vacation, after all.