咕咕愛囉唆

你適合養寵物嗎？SHOULD YOU GET A PET?

寵物需要花時間用心照顧Pets need our time and attention

約翰在公園巧遇同事瑪莉詠在遛狗；他感到非常驚訝，因為他知道瑪莉詠的工作非常忙碌。

約翰：嗨，瑪莉詠；我不知道妳有養狗耶。

瑪莉詠：我沒有啊；不過，我是一直有在考慮想養一隻。我這個月臨時幫我阿姨照料她的狗；來見見賈斯珀吧。

約翰：嗯，牠真的好可愛喔，而且很友善。

瑪莉詠：除此之外，牠還是一隻訓練有素的狗。

約翰：我想，幫別人臨時照顧狗是個不錯的方法，可以藉機看看自己是否真的想養狗。

瑪莉詠：這是很好的預先演練。可以確定的是我更想養狗了。我每天帶賈斯珀出來三次；就已經認識這附近好多人了。

約翰：嗯，遛狗順便運動以及跟鄰居聊聊都很不錯。

瑪莉詠：那你呢？你有沒有考慮過想養隻狗或是其他寵物？

約翰：老實說，我覺得我們都太忙了。

瑪莉詠：為什麼這麼說？

約翰：想想看養狗的責任。狗是完全依靠飼主；貓則沒那麼依賴。但是，所有寵物都需要照料和餵養，即便是寵物魚或是寵物鳥。況且，妳經常工作到很晚。

瑪莉詠：但我現在都把大部分的工作帶回家做，這樣就可以陪伴賈斯珀了。

約翰：妳也常出差喔。那又該怎麼辦呢？

瑪莉詠：我會請狗狗臨時保姆，就像我阿姨一樣！

John is in the park and runs into Marion, a colleague who is walking a dog. He is surprised because he knows Marion is extremely busy at work.

Hey, Marion, I didn't know you had a dog.

 I don't.

But I've been thinking about getting one. I am dog-sitting for my aunt for this month.

Meet Jasper.

Well, he sure is cute - and friendly.

On top of that, he is a very well-trained dog.

I guess dog-sitting is a good way to see if you'd like your own.

It's a good dry run.

For sure I'm more active.

I walk him three times a day.

And I've met lots of people in my neighborhood.

Well, getting exercise and meeting neighbors are both good.

So what about you?

Have you ever considered getting a dog or another kind of pet?

In my honest opinion, I think we are both too busy.

Why do you say that?

Think about the responsibility.

Dogs look to their owners for everything. Cats aren't as dependent.

But all pets have to be taken care of and fed, even fish or birds.

Besides, you often work late.

But I'm bringing most of that work home now, so I can be with Jasper.

You frequently travel, too.

Then waht?

I'll get a dog-sitter, like my aunt!

extremely （adv.）極端地；非常地

Jane has extremely dry skin during the winter months. 在冬天時皮膚很乾燥

The price of meat seems to be extremely high right now.

extreme （adj.）

in the extreme = extremely

Maxine reacted to being fired with anger in the extreme. 對解雇非常憤怒

neighborhood（n.）附近；鄰近地區

The neighborhood I live in has many families with young children. 有小小孩的家庭

Do you know many of the people who live in your neighborhood?你認識很多住在附近的人嗎？

neighbor（n.）鄰居

Nancy’s next-door neighbor is always giving her homemade cookies.

自己做的餅乾

playground

Parks could just be a place that the city has set aside that has trees and walkways, maybe some flowers or benches.

to run into ＋（n.）

to walk a dog

we use when we take our dog outside to go pee-pee or poo-poo.

Meet  ＋（n.）

kind of a fun way of introducing somebody or your pet or something to somebody else.

dog-sitting/ baby-sitting/house-sitting

on top of that… 除此之外，或是「更重要的是...」

means that is in addition to what we just saw.

someone’s bark is worse than his bite沒有外表那麼兇（咆嘯比咬人還痛）

The boss seems mean, but his bark is worse than his bite. 看起來不友善，但其實他不會對你怎麼樣。

besides（adv.）除此之外

Tina loves her job. Besides, she makes good money.

For dinner we are having salad, vegetables, beef and a few other things besides.

besides（介係詞）

Besides being hurt herself, Serena couldn’t drive her car because of the damage.

除了受傷之外，車子也撞壞不能開了

frequently（adv.）頻繁地；屢次地

Because Jane is frequently late, her friends tell her to come an hour earlier than the real time.

Bethany frequently has to walk to school because her mother works.

frequent（adj.）

Helen’s friends are all frequent visitors to her house because her mom loves to cook for them all.常客

imho= in my humble/ honest opinion

to look to ＋（n.）

Well, if you're looking to... something or somebody for something, you are hoping or

expecting to get help or advice from them

Are you a cat person or a dog person?

to declaw去爪，又稱除爪手術，是將動物的末端趾頭鋸掉，以除掉動物的爪子，就像有人把你手指頭的第一節鋸掉一樣。

inhumane不人道