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Construction

简体
Construction
建筑

Date: Sep 03 2010

Themes: Work

Grammar: Gerunds vs. Infinitives

Intro

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Along with dentists and tax collectors, construction workers must have one of the most hated professions. What they do is essential, but it’s also pretty annoying. Whether it’s waking us up early, delaying traffic or forcing us to take a detour, construction disturbs our day-to-day lives in countless ways. On the other hand, without the hard work of construction workers, our cities would fall apart!

Summer is the worst season when it comes to construction. Most construction work is done then, when it’s more likely that the work won’t get delayed by bad weather. Ella and Jeff are both fed up with all the construction happening in their city right now. Find out how they’re managing to grin and bear it.

建筑工人这一职业大概可以和牙医以及收税员一起并列为最让人反感的行业了。尽管建筑工人的工作非常重要,但同时却非常令人反感。无论是在清晨惊醒我们的好梦,还是设置路障阻碍交通,或者是迫使我们绕路行走,建筑行业都干扰了我们日常生活的方方面面。但从另一方面来看,如果没有建筑工人的勤奋工作,我们的城市可能便会支离破碎!
就建筑施工而言,夏天是最糟糕的季节。尽管夏天里建筑工程不会被糟糕的天气所耽误,但大部分建筑工程到那时都已经完成了。埃拉(Ella)和 杰夫(Jeff)对他们所居住的城市中到处存在的建筑工程感到非常厌烦,让我们来了解一下他们是如何忍受的这一切并乐观面对的吧。

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Ella

Ella

Jeff

Jeff

Ella:  So there’s been tons of construction by my house, and it’s causing me to take so many different detours, it’s loud, it’s annoying, I just…I can’t stand it.

Jeff:  I think I’m on the same page with you. Since I’ve lived here, there’s been constant construction. In the winter, in the summer…usually in the summer.

Ella:  It feels like it’s never-ending. Is it even worth it to file a complaint, I mean what do you do?

Jeff:  I think that’s just how cities work. It’s beyond me. But we need to have some upkeep, make improvements. And we have to sacrifice our daily schedules because of it.

Ella:  So, what do you do to just kinda tolerate it and not let it get to you?

Jeff:  It’s frustrating, but I just try to grin and bear it. I try to take detours, but it seems to be everywhere. And everybody else is thinking the same thing, so you take a detour and it ends up becoming the same deal. Although I’ve always wanted to use a jackhammer.

Ella:  What do you want to do with a jackhammer?

Jeff:  You know, construction stuff, like go get a big gut, hang it over the top of the jackhammer…

Ella:  Sounds a little unpleasant.

Jeff:  Be a pro at it.

 

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Discussion

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There has been a lot of construction happening near Ella’s house recently, and she is getting fed up with all the noise and traffic it’s been causing. She is so annoyed, she is even considering filing a complaint with the city. But Jeff doesn’t think that will help. Construction is just one of those things we all have to learn to live with.

Sometimes construction work causes traffic delays. So Jeff tries to take detours in order to avoid it. But detours don’t work when everyone else has the same idea. You still end up sitting in traffic, just on a different road.

Is there a lot of construction where you live? How do you deal with it?

 

Comments

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luoliwa

China

Our city is full of constructions, when i meet it ,i usually go through it ,hurry up to go.

02:45 AM Sep 03 2010 |

felicityxben

China

My city is full of tons of construction right now. Not only detours, but also I need to take a lot more time to get to destination.

01:39 AM Sep 03 2010 |

john

johnSuper Member!

United States

When I see construction I get jealous about driving the big cool machines.

12:43 AM Sep 03 2010 |

ahkenhaton

ahkenhaton

Turkey

if there be lots of construct i should am happy much cause its my job(civil engineer)

08:05 AM Aug 24 2010 |

Zambuka

Zambuka

United States

One of the most important jobs ever. They have to know all the technique of work , otherwise the houses will destroy fast. And yes, sometimes it gets to me to take detour because of works. But i’d better grin and bear it , and then will see one more beautiful part of my city :)

07:39 AM Aug 22 2010 |

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