Winter Wonderland (1)

What winter is really like

"Is it snowing?" That is the question my children often asked when we first moved to America. Growing up on a subtropical island, we had a fantasy about a snowy winter wonderland. We imagined the falling snow or a family sitting around their fireplace enjoying steaming hot chocolate. It seemed so cozy. In reality, snow can be really messy.

I can understand why kids love snow. They get two hours, a half day or a whole day off from school. Then the playtime begins. The kids build snowman, slide down hills on snowboards or have snowball fights.

For adults, it is not that much fun. Most cities and communities have snowplows to remove the snow from streets. They also spread salt mixed with sand to prevent ice on sidewalks and roadways. But cleaning our own driveway is such a bother. We have to shovel off the snow ourselves. If we don't, the icy surface can be dangerous.


Info Cloud
Teaching Topic: Retronyms
Retronyms 重新創造的字(字意需被重新定義) [retro - 昔日的, 復古的]

hot chocolate:
chocolate 早期指熱可可, 現指巧克力磚或巧克力糖, 所以熱可可需要新的字來說明

snail mail/mail 原始的紙本郵件, 有別現今email, 較慢故稱snail
acoustic guitar/guitar 傳統吉他, 有別電子吉他

Grammar Gym
We have to shovel off the snow ourselves.
ourselves - reflexive pronoun  反身代名詞
myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, oneself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
by ourselves:
to add emphasis and show subject alone and nothing or no one else is involved
- Since no one is around to help me, I will do this myself.
- The boss signed every Christmas card himself.
- Students in this internship program have to take care of every detail themselves.

Language Lab
subtropical adj. [sub-次要, 附屬]
relating to or living in an area that is close to tropical parts of the world
- We gradually got used the country's subtropical climate.
- This rare species of plant only grows in subtropical regions.

fantasy n.
the act of imagining something
- Greg indulges in fantasy occasionally.
- This kind of fantasy only happens in movies, not in real life.
something that is produced by the imagination : an idea about doing something that is far removed from normal reality [noncount]
- Many girls have a fantasy of meeting their Prince Charming when they grow up.

remove v. [re字首: away]
to move or take (something) away from a place
- The doctor removed the bullet from the cop's arm.
- As soon as the timer goes off, remove the cake from the oven.

shovel v.
to lift and throw (dirt, sand, snow, etc.) with a shovel
- It took us an hour to shovel the snow off our driveway.
- The boy shoveled all the food on this plate into his mouth.
n.
[count]  : a tool with a long handle that is used for lifting and throwing dirt, sand, snow, etc.
- We need a shovel and a bucket to build sand castles.


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