小猪佩奇：聊聊关于Pig的表达吧

2019-03-28山东宁阳县第四中学柳玉英

疯狂英语·新读写 2019年2期

山东宁阳县第四中学柳玉英

2018年最火的网红是谁？非小猪佩奇莫属！这只长得像吹风机的粉红猪小妹在诞生的第15个年头突然在中国“爆”红。而最近另一个网络词“大猪蹄子”也开始流行，通常是女生用来吐槽男生变心、说话不算数，也可以用来吐槽男生不解风情、钢铁直男，带有卖萌撒娇的成分。

2019年2月就进入猪年了，英语里关于pig的常用表达都有哪些呢？让我们一起来阅读吧。

扫码听测

Ⅰ.听力理解

听下面一段录音并从题中所给的A、B、C三个选项中选出最佳选项。本题考查的重点是学生对意义的理解能力和信息获取能力。

1.According the record，what can piggy bank be used for?

A.Put a lot of money into a bank.

B.Save your pocket money in it.

C.Keep the pigs in a certain room.

2.Which is the synonym for pig in the following options?

A.Hog. B.Pork. C.Bacon.

Ⅱ.听写练习

一边听录音一边阅读以下文字材料，这些文字材料不是录音的全部内容，而是以提纲、摘要、笔记、图表等形式再现的录音的主要内容，需要补全的内容一般是录音中的关键信息。注意一空一词。

1.The expression “casting pearls before swine” means wasting something on someone who will not be thankful or care about it.

2.Piggy bank is a small_______shaped like a pig and used for saving money.

3.If one of your children is taking up too much space sitting in front of the television，other children might say： “Do not______the couch.”

4.All Americans want to be able to bring home the_______，which means to earn enough money to provide the necessities of life.

文本解说

猪是一种自由幸福但又令人悲哀的动物，除了每天吃好睡饱的幸福，最后只能是是人们的肉食来源，也与人们的生活息息相关。但作者认为猪是聪明可爱的动物，在英语中有许多关于猪的表达，让我们一起来看看吧。

Americans often use expressions about animals.

In 2008，the maincandidatesfor president each used this expression： “You can put lipstick on a pig， but it is still a pig.” This means that it is a waste of time to change something from ugly orunpleasant-looking to beautiful.

There are other expressions about improving a pig's appearance，like this one：“A hog （猪）in a silk waistcoat is still a hog.” Hogsare similar topigs， only bigger.

Americans use many other expressions about pigs，hogs and female hogs called sows（母猪）.

Like this one： “You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.” This means you cannot create somethingvaluablefrom something that has no value.

“In a pig's eye” is another unusual expression.It means something that is not so， or will never happen.Then there is the expression “casting pearls （珍珠）before swine（猪）”.That means wasting something valuable on someone who will not be thankful or care about it.

However，at least one kind of pig can be useful insaving money.It is called apiggy bank.You can buy a small container shaped like a pig.It has a hole where a child can put money into it.

Hogs are very large animals.If you say you ate high on the hog during a holiday，it means you ate very good or costly food.If you went whole hog on your trip，it means you did everything possible to have fun.But you should never go hog-wild at any time because that means behaving badly. Hogs take up a lot of space but people should nottake upmore than their share.If one of your children is taking up too much space sitting in front of the television，other children might say： “Do not hog the couch.”

And a road hog is a driver who uses more than his share of the road.Such a driver increases dangers for other drivers.

Pig terms are also used in American politics.In politics， earmarks（专项拨款）are money set aside for projects in a congressman's（国会议员）home state or locality.And politicians might say there is a lot of pork in abudgetproposal，meaning wasteful spending.

In many areas，pigs provide ham，bacon and other pork products to eat.All Americans want to be able to bring home the bacon.That means to earn enough money to provide the necessities of life.

Experts say this term was first used in the 1920s.But it is believed to come from the much older game of catching a pig.