Nobita had a very long and trying day at work. He left feeling exhausted and decided to eat dinner at his favorite Japanese restaurant. As he entered the restaurant, he noticed a vacant seat. He plopped down and called the waitress over. He ordered a bowl of miso soup, a small plate of nigiri, and a shrimp-and-asparagus◆ hand-roll. Within minutes, the waitress brought his hot miso soup and placed it on the table. She said she would be right back.
Nobita noticed that his hot bowl of soup was very slowly moving across the table. Then he noticed that inside the bowl a mysterious dark ball was forming. The bowl continued to slowly slide across the table. “Ghost!” he cried. He then ran out of the restaurant.
What happened here? No, it’s not a ghost story. Nobita wasn’t hallucinating◆, either. The bowl did move. An unexplainable ball did form in the middle of the bowl. How could these events have happened?
Once placed in front of Nobita, the hot bowl began heating the table, causing steam to form. The steam turned to water and collectedat the bottom of the bowl. This reduced friction◆ and allowed the bowl to slide. The hot soup also heated air trapped in the indentation◆ under the bowl. The expanding hot air actually lifted the bowl up, causing it to slide on the wet table. As for the ball inside the bowl, the particles◆ of miso simply followed the convection◆ of heat rising in the liquid, like thunderclouds◆ rising and forming on a hot summer day. Someone please tell Nobita that what he saw was not supernatural. It was the natural world of physics.
◆ asparagus n. 蘆筍 ◆ hallucinate vi. 產生幻覺 ◆ friction n. 摩擦力 ◆ indentation n. 凹陷,凹口 ◆ particle n. 粒子,微粒 ◆ convection n.(液體、氣體的)對流 ◆ thundercloud n. 雷雨雲 ◆ thunderstorm n. 大雷雨
1. haunted a. 鬧鬼的
A number of odd things took place in that haunted house.
那棟鬼屋裡發生過一些怪事。
2. trying a. 令人難受的;惱人的;困難的
Taking care of those naughty kids is a very trying job.
照顧那群頑皮的小鬼是一個非常煩人的工作。
3. exhausted a. 疲憊不堪的
Both Darren and I felt exhausted after our long hike.
達倫和我在長途健行後都感到筋疲力盡。
4. vacant a. 空著的;空缺的
vacancy n. 空位;空缺(= opening)
When Lisa arrived at the auditorium, there were no vacant seats.
麗莎抵達禮堂時已經沒有空位了。
Now that Mr. Smith has left, we have a vacancy for a new English teacher.
史密斯先生既然已經離開,我們會有一個新的英文老師職缺。
5. mysterious a. 神祕的
The storybook Anna is reading tells of a mysterious city beneath the ocean.
安娜正在讀的故事書講的是一個海底的神祕城市。
6. unexplainable a. 無法解釋的
explainable a. 可解釋的
My encounter with the ghost was an unexplainable story.
我的撞鬼經歷是一個無法解釋的事件。
7. collect vi. 積聚;聚集 & vt. 蒐集
The rain water collected at the bottom of the well.
雨水積聚在這口井底。
Bill has been collecting stamps for more than 30 years.
比爾集郵已有三十多年之久。
8. trap vt. 困住
A few people trapped in the burning building died from smoke inhalation.
有幾個被困在火場的人因吸入濃煙而死亡。
9. inhalation n. 吸入
expand vi. & vt.(使)膨脹( 本文為現在分詞作形容詞用)
The air in this balloon expanded when heated, and then it burst.
這顆氣球裡的空氣受熱後膨脹,接著氣球爆掉了。
10. supernatural a. 超自然的
The witch is able to communicate with the dead; the power she has is supernatural.
那名女巫能與死者溝通;她擁有超自然的力量。
11. physics n. 物理學
Einstein’s theory of relativity was a landmark in physics.
愛因斯坦的相對論是物理學上的里程碑。
1. plop down 一屁股坐下
plop vi. & vt. 重重地坐下;隨便地放下
Joe walked into the classroom and plopped down next to me.
阿喬走進教室,一屁股坐在我旁邊的位置。
2. in the middle of... 在??的中間;在??之中
There is a fountain in the middle of the square.
廣場中央有一個噴水池。
3. at the bottom of... 在??的底部/末端
You can find the page number at the bottom of each page in the book.
你可以在這本書的每一頁下面找到頁碼。
slide vi. 滑動,滑行
三態為:slide, slid, slid。
• On weekends, we like to slide down the grassy slope at the park.
我們週末喜歡在這座公園裡溜滑草坡。
-------------------------------- 以下介紹其他與「滑動、滑行」相關的動詞:
1. glide vi. 滑行,滑動
The ice skater glided gracefully on the ice before jumping in the air.
該滑冰選手先在冰上優雅地滑行,再縱身一躍。
2. slip vi. 滑倒
Adam slipped on the wet floor and hurt his back.
亞當在溼答答的地板上滑了一跤,跌傷了背。
3. skid vi. 打滑
That car skidded and turned over on the highway.
那輛車在高速公路上打滑後翻車。
4. slither vi.(尤指蛇)滑動/爬行
Gina watched a snake slither away into the grass.
吉娜看到一條蛇溜進草叢中。
5. coast vi.(通常指憑藉慣性)滑行/下滑
Alex coasted downhill on his bike as he enjoyed the picturesque scenery.
艾利克斯一邊騎著自行車滑下坡,一邊欣賞著美麗的風景。