Short Sentences and Idioms: 1. I have booked a flight for Thursday evening to return to my home in Hong Kong. 2. I think it is advisable(明智的; [某行动, 行为]可取的, 适当的 It was advisable for you not to mention that你不提及那件事是明智的 It is advisable to carry one of the major credit cards带上一种主要信用卡是明智之举 Early booking is advisable应该早些预定 advise有正式的通知意思: 如Please be advised that the position has now been filled. Please advise the date of shipment as soon as possible, You will be advised of the requirements.) for the community to know of (know of 知道听说知晓 I don't know the writer, but I know of him我不认识这个作家, 但我听说过 He would wish that he had never known of it他但愿自己根本不晓得这件事 Such a kind of thing has never been known of before这种事情以前闻所未闻) his sudden stroke and most likely passing in the next few hours. 3. The focus for my energy has to be with you and your extended family. However, I still will be thinking of everyone here at Japan and wish the church family to know that they are in my prayers even as(at the very same time as正当, 恰恰在…的时候 Even as he spoke their baggage was being unloaded就在他说话的时候, 他们的行李被卸了下来 ) they hold, with thanks, my family in their prayers(prayer 祷告, 祷文, 起到). 3. My wife will be remaining home while I am in Hong Kong. 4. He had been of returning good health over the past several weeks as he was battling the early stages of cancer(fighting cancer). But now he might meet the final moments of earthly俗世的, 尘世的 living. 5. Australians have been warned to prepare for skyrocketing vegetable prices物价飞涨 after millions of seedlings幼苗 were poisoned in a suspected case疑似病例 of industrial sabotage. The price of tomatoes, peppers, courgettes(=zucchini 西葫芦) and aubergines(eggplant) was predicted to increase up to three times after seven million vegetable plants were attacked at two nurseries苗圃 in Queensland. Officers believe a herbicide除草剂 was injected into the irrigation system used by the nurseries about a week-and-a-half ago. The poisoning is expected to have a large knock-on effect(撞击作用, 冲击) on the vegetable industry, wiping $50m out of the local economy, which relies heavily on agriculture during the winter months. 6. (be/get) up in arms (about/over) very angry Local businessmen are up in arms over the new parking regulations which will make shopping very inconvenient for customers. Usage notes: often followed by a phrase beginning with over, as in the example, or about: Why aren't we up in arms about children who are not being educated? 7. alloy 合金, 铸成合金 Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. alloying tin with copper to make bronze. take the blame (for doing something) to acknowledge that one is to blame for doing something. Do you really expect for me to take the blame for something I didn't do? I am afraid of heights = I am scared of heights[不用 be frightened by] = have a fear of heights = I have acrophobia我有恐高症. Are you in town for business or pleasure来出差还是玩?business proposition商业提议, 提案 Pretty Woman中Richard Gere给Julia Roberts的提议是待足一星期. tag along (with/after/behind somebody/something)尾随, 跟随, 跟着 to follow or go with a person or group when you were not invited Do you mind if I tag along? I'd like to see the show at the museum too. We don't want any kids to tag along with us today. Do you mind if I tag along behind you? 8. Teenagers Allie and Noah find themselves in a whirlwind courtship( 迅速堕入情网, 迅速相恋 courtship n. 求爱期, 恋爱期 After a whirlwind courtship, they married and went to live in Bath经过一场旋风式恋爱, 他们结了婚, 到巴斯生活去了.) that is ended by Allie's upper-class上层社会的 parents. Years later they meet again, and their relationship rekindles(vt. 重燃, 再燃 rekindle hope[interest]重新引起希望[兴趣] he tried to rekindle their friendship他试图恢复他们的友谊 the photos rekindled memories这些照片重新勾起对往事的回忆 They tried to rekindle the flames of romance他们试图重燃爱火 Nothing could rekindle her extinct passion她激情已逝,无从心回意转), forcing Allie to choose between her desires and those of her parents. 9. 调味品或佐料英语是condiment, seasoning, flavouring, relish(a condiment eaten with plain food to add flavour, typically a piquant sauce or pickle) wiki上的解释是:A condiment is sauce, or seasoning added to food to impart a particular flavour or to complement the dish. Often pungent辛辣刺鼻的 in flavour and therefore added in fairly small quantities, popular condiments include salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, olive oil, vinegar and sugar, soy sauce. spice是香料, 如Sichuan pepper(花椒, 又叫山椒) star anise八角 nutmeg肉豆蔻的内核, mace肉豆蔻的皮, cassia or cinnamon桂皮, saffron藏红花, ginger, cloves丁香油 clover苜蓿, 三叶草 in clover: 养尊处优, 生活优渥富裕 He inherited his father’s fortune and has lived like a pig in clover ever since. ) , wiki上说: A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark树皮, or vegetative substance used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth. In the kitchen, spices are distinguished from herbs, which are leafy, green plant parts used for flavoring. An herb(植物型调味品, 如parsley, basil, rosemary) is a plant that is valued for flavor, scent, medicinal or other qualities other than its food value. Herbs are used in cooking, as medicines, and for spiritual purposes.
手机网络及信号, 覆盖, 容量问题: 1. 我的手机是移动的. I just got an iPhone with Optus on Friday. Having been with Optus for 10 months here in Townsville. My friend has an iPhone on Optus. I'm on Telstra and get great coverage and consistent speeds, everywhere I've ever tried to use it. 2. 我现在信号不好 I got bad reception here. 3. 抱怨: I am reading a lot of people complaining about bad reception with iPhone and Optus lately. I am also experiencing this with the iPhone switching to GPRS (small circle at the screen top left) from 3G. My phone frequently does not ring, yet可是, 不过 I will have messages asking me to call back... This happens at my house in Eltham, on the freeway when driving, at work in the CBD – basically everywhere. Another thing is that my messages come through several minutes after being sent. 4. Having been with Optus for 10 months here in Townsville, I can safely(有把握的, 不会出错的, 有根据的. = It's safe to say that) say that it is reasonably(相当的, 理由充分的) good, but after I switched back to Telstra prepaid (managed to get out of my contract) I can safely say that Telstra is just awesome, everywhere. 5. My friend has an iPhone on Optus. The coverage is absolutely laughable荒唐可笑的. Even when it shows coverage, the speeds are sometimes so slow he simply closes Safari and gives up. I'm on Telstra and get great coverage and consistent一贯的, 始终如一的 speeds, everywhere I've ever tried to use it. I mean do we have hope that this will improve in the near future不久的将来? I wouldn't bet a single cent on it我可不敢打这个包票. It's good that I have wireless at my place otherwise there is no chance in hell I would be able to browse the internet at home on my phone. Wow, I'm in the same boat我们处境一样, 我们情况一样. 6. The Optus network is oversold(过度销售, 过分吹嘘, 卖空, overloaded), massively congested, and doesn't have the power, infrastructurally, to support proper 3G mobile telcomunications. I can almost always get 3g reception in the CBD however when i'm travelling and thereby requesting access to another cell tower, the iphone often spits out吐出 "No service" or "searching". 30secs later it will finally connect, usually with very good reception according to the bars. Optus' network is no doubt largely to blame担主要责任, however perhaps the iphone does contribute a little也有点关系. Not really... They are extending their coverage, but as far as populated areas(居住区, populated = populous) they have said and apparently done zero. 7. I believe that the problem is the network is overloaded. From my research I've found that Telstra have at least 50% more towers for a given area, which would explain why they're never congested. Unfortunately you do pay more for the privilege of good reception with Telstra (for example, I get 1GB for $20 on top of my plan, with telstra I would pay $59). 8. I am in the SE suburbs (near Frankston) and cannot get any decent(体面的, 令人满意的, 像样的, 说得过去的) 3G coverage in my house. It always reverts to GPRS and the phone simply dosn't ring or dosn't connect sometimes the coverage is so week. We do however have a Nokia on Telstra 3G in the same house and it's faultless完美无缺的, 无懈可击的. Basically, the further away from home I get the worse the 3G reception gets. 9. Optus customer service just telephoned me to ask me how things were going (i.e. I am out of contract soon and they want to sign me up(跟...签合同) again). I told them exactly how things were going – that the phone was great, but their network was garbage in the Melbourne CBD and elsewhere and that I couldn't wait until my contract expired. The guy then said that he had no problems with his when he came to Melbourne. I said that I was very happy for him, but that my experience differed, markedly显著的. I pointed out that their recent decision to charge me $2.20 for the privilege of a paper bill was the last straw. I was never rude or abusive, but I did enjoy providing some "customer feedback" 10. I called them this morning. They suggested to change to 2g and they will call me in 4 hours to find out whether it was phone related or not跟电话有关系. Before you say handset, I popped in my telstra sim for 30mins and I had full service and it was faultless, I wasn't out in the sticks(远离城镇;处在偏远地区), I was in a busy sydney suburb and the service was just terrible. 11. Well the capacity issues are obvious, optus are selling plans with very generous (compared to telstra) data quotas, and are generally cheaper. As a result they get more subsribers onto the network. We all need to put pressure施加压力 on Optus to improve their coverage. It is a pity it is so bad as the iPhone and applications are fantastic. The Optus $99 free call package is also good but they fail to tell you that the coverage is pathetic可怜的. 12. I have been with Optus and an iPhone for a few months now. Had those issues, another issue I had was a crackling噼噼啪啪的声音 and signal noise信号噪音 that can be heard a bit on my end but drowns淹没 our my voice on the receiver end. Called Optus and found out my work and home is in a known blackspot area for Optus. 13. I was sitting on my couch and the reception bar varies so much when i'm in the exact same spot, it would jump from full bars to no services, in the space of(在...期间 在...距离内) a few minutes! why?
